dagblog - Comments for "Trump Asked Comey to Stop Investigating Flynn"

Huh? You were lecturing me, I

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 20 May 2017 20:45:00 +0000

In reply to I don't need the lecture PP.

Huh? You were lecturing me, I responded. Pretty much all Mensch's assertions are relatively concrete and will be verified or refuted in a matter of days, weeks, or max a few months. That's pretty non-Alex Jones. She regularly refers to various claims as rumors or unverified leads. That makes her pretty un-Alex Jones. Half of what she's doing is putting out requests for others to provide verification or insight - i.e. crowd sourcing. She may be a clown, but she's certainly not a clown like Trump, and the issues she's discussing are real issues, whether we have the answers yet or not. Impeachment is one of the top 3 tasks, not "sidetracked" by any means.

And in case it hasn't sunk in, anything that messes with them is also worthwhile - for too long they've held advantage.

this is also part of enjoyable rumor. Can't stand up, but good to mess with Trump's head either way. https://t.co/0QQ0B1TBXV
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) May 20, 2017

From Digby:

The world is laughing at us, Donald Trump tells audiences. Long before he took to the campaign trail, he was obsessed with the notion that the world was laughing at our country, the USA, American leaders. Over 100 times in public statements going back as far as 1987, the Washington Post found. It is another of Trump's "tells." Every time he repeats it, one can't help but feel it is he who fears being laughed at.

ETA - Oh my, now Melissa (aka Shakesville) is being scolded for I suppose Citizen Journalism transgressions - guess it's our new occupation - after 2 years of Donald tweeting every brain fart he had, we've decided to turn the whip on ourselves and self-flagellate, since if you can't beat 'em.... beat yourself!!!

Dunno what your point is, since I'm not a reporter. But my campaign writing, in which I never treated Trump as entertainment, is public. https://t.co/GrZuMaP9Su
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 20, 2017

I don't need the lecture PP.

tmccarthy0 — Sat, 20 May 2017 19:55:53 +0000

In reply to Bullshit on that - false

I don't need the lecture PP. I hope you've read her latest Alex Jones style bulkshit making the claim that the Supreme Court noticed Trump he's being impeached. That isn't how impeachment works. She's a clown like Trump. Our efforts should be to talk about health care and real issues. If we get sidetracked by loons it won't help us win. But you do you.

Again the "Hillary killed

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 20 May 2017 06:57:17 +0000

In reply to Bullshit on that - false

Again the "Hillary killed Seth Rich over Wikileaks" claim comes up. Meanwhile the Palmer Report at least tallies its success on stories. (Mensch could do a better job dissecting validity of claims and pieces of claims)

Bullshit on that - false

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 20 May 2017 05:39:00 +0000

In reply to PP I think you should be very

Bullshit on that - false equivalency. Alex Jones is all over the map, now apologizing for pizzagate after a murder and today for a legal case around sexual charges with refugees, elsewhere playing elvis on the moon and terrorists coming to get us etc.

The country's in freakout mode because the administration and the GOP are bizarre and daily astounding us. Nunes' midnight run? Trump meeting with Russians Lavrov and Aslyak (sp?) in the Oval Office the day after firing Comey? Jared's sister pitching real estate-with-visas on an official gov trip to China and removing the press, Trump discussing secret matters about a Syrian bombing with the Japanese PM in front of a crowded banquet at his FL resort?

Mensch isn't responsible for making Truth 2017 bizarre, yet Mensch isnt claiming her Twitter feed is accurate - she's piecing and pasting together docket listings and IP traces and speculation from different quarters, many/most unknown hoping some (20%?) is accurate. I don't think many think of her feed as much more than entertainment, fantasy football except a chance a tidbit here or there might kick the can forward or beat the news cycle.

But it's all about this crooked conspiracy-driven-and-stoking administration anyway. Use it or don't. Enjoy or don't. You folks seem awfully impressed with the state of journalism to ascribe such vaulted expectations. Maybe I should explain what Twitter is vs the starker danger of the background mechanics that ended Dan Rather's career and led us into war - where was our anointed press then? Oh, blindsided. Well done, chaps. So let's play 'kick a blogger' because we've moved on to better stuff. Hey, I get Dan Froomkin's Twitter feed - pretty diluted uninspiring stuff for what started out as a promising career. Etc.

Here's what I think a useful tidbit from Palmer Report, another site I was scolded for referencing, that counter to Pence's denials that he didn't see Cummings letter addressed *only* to him, that there's a receipt and response proving he knew Flynn tainted. Outlandish accusation like pizzagate? Will life stop if not true?

Really, we're all sitting aroung navel-gazing, waiting for the next news blip from the usual pages to eagerly cite, pondering over meanings and discussing likelihoods and significance. What exactly is the big worry about citing something we all agree has questionable accuracy? It's grist for the "what-if" part of the discussion.

I'm curious how people thought Citizen Journalism/crowd sourced news would work in practice - like a perfect cloud version of the newsroom in All the President's Men? I see it as roughly a more chaotic and dodge His Girl Friday, which wasn't too flattering about the news biz to begin with.

PP I think you should be very

tmccarthy0 — Sat, 20 May 2017 01:46:28 +0000

In reply to From your favorite leaker.

PP I think you should be very careful about sharing anything this Louise Mensch or her twin in Infowars for liberals that Taylor guy. These two are snake oil salesmen, and while the NY Times and the Washington Post are doing the hard work of real journalism, Mensch and her friends are in daily freak out mode on twitter basically trying to twist each turn of the legitimate news into support for their latest conspiracy.

There is really good work being done and none of it is being done by twitter investigators. The only way Trump goes down is with real investigations and facts, it will take some time, but it will be quicker than we think. Remember, Mensch is a better looking Alex Jones, but she is still as crazy, and she has no inside knowledge of anything.

Funny - an alternate

PeraclesPlease — Fri, 19 May 2017 22:02:00 +0000

In reply to It's not about accepting that

Funny - an alternate politician can break all the rules to bring on the revolution, including a truckload of haphazard irresponsible half-truthtelling and self-centered rolling over every political precedent possible, but a "citizen journalist"/couch aggregator has to uphold the vetting and record correcting of the NYTimes.

Whatever, the world gets stranger.

It's not about accepting that

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 19 May 2017 17:50:44 +0000

In reply to "Better" is a thoroughly

It's not about accepting that you make mistakes. It's about correcting the record. Journalistic integrity means providing as accurate a record of the facts as you can. Mensch isn't concerned about accuracy--as evidenced by the gross inaccuracy of her reporting and her failure to correct the record. In essence, she's neglectfully if not deliberately spreading falsehood. And frankly, it's hard for me understand why you're defending that.

"Better" is a thoroughly

PeraclesPlease — Fri, 19 May 2017 16:17:00 +0000

In reply to I don't know what "better"

"Better" is a thoroughly considered personal but largely objective evaluation while typing this stream of conscious style list of media personalities in a 2.7 minute tram ride.

Mensch showed an ounce of journalistic integrity by accepting she makes mistakes. We can argue whether she has 2 oz of integriity though. That will be fun, I'm sure.

I'm sure somewhere someone is worried about the reputation of "honest" journalism. Me, I though 67.29% of theprofession was whoring themself to some editor or cause.

But considering the love given to a Hunter S Thompson or Christopher Hitchen as boozing drugged-out icons of abrasive take-no-prisoners journalism - investigative or not - I don't see where this litmus test comes from. I've literally worked with hundreds of journalists, and if more than a handful were like Mensch I'd likely panic, but the profession is as safe as it is conservative.

I don't know what "better"

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 19 May 2017 15:27:00 +0000

In reply to She's better than Maureen

I don't know what "better" means in this context. Some of those folks are columnists who don't really do reporting, and whether you find them smart or fair or interesting is beside the point. Mensch is not offering opinions. She purports to present facts but doesn't have an ounce of journalistic integrity. If you want to compare her to MSM, then compare her to the thousands of career journalists and editors who work hard to report the facts and avoid misinformation as best they can. By putting Mensch on the same level with them, you discredit honest journalism and encourage people to believe whatever and whomever they want to believe.

She's better than Maureen

PeraclesPlease — Fri, 19 May 2017 14:44:00 +0000

In reply to Thanks for the very full

She's better than Maureen Dowd, Gail Collins and blowhard Keith Olbermann. She's worse than Matt Taibbi who's somewhat worse than Krugman buy produces more interesting stuff .She's roughly on par with Rachel Maddow in clowning but knows she's clowning. Much more transparent about bias and confidence in facts than Fox News. As annoying and self-righteous as Greenwald. Need more?