Stasi Raid Mar-a-Lago

[Ronson]

I don't claim that Huffington Post is all that reliable, but the article contains a link to the video of Trump saying what they quoted.

So rather than attacking the source, you should check out the claim.

I was suspicious, too. So I kept my eye on the quote and not the accompanying text. As bad as HuffPo is, they wouldn't create a quote out of thin air.

[Juvenal]

[...] (assuming he couldn't get more accurate information special to the Commander in Chief anyway).

Trump regularly rejected more accurate information in favor of information that was more flattering, including the famous incident where he sided with Putin in rejecting U.S. intelligence.

Trump sides with Russia against FBI at Helsinki summit
.

US President Donald Trump has defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 presidential election.

After face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies and said there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the vote.

Mr Putin reiterated that Russia had never interfered in US affairs.

The two men held nearly two hours of closed-door talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday.

• Even Trump allies shocked by Putin summit

At a news conference after the summit, President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections.

"President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," he replied.

US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media.

[NorrinRadd]

I'd like to think he'd never succeed, but he's already tried.

Esper Breaks With Trump on Using Troops Against Protesters
Mark Esper’s comments reflected the turmoil within the military over President Trump, who has said he could put active-duty troops on the streets to perform law enforcement functions.
.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper broke with President Trump on Wednesday and said that active-duty military troops should not be sent to control the wave of protests in American cities, at least for now. His words were at odds with his commander in chief, who on Monday threatened to do exactly that.

Mr. Esper’s comments reflected the turmoil within the military over Mr. Trump, who in seeking to put American troops on the streets alarmed top Pentagon officials fearful that the military would be seen as participating in a move toward martial law.

Speaking at a news conference at the Pentagon, the defense secretary said that the deployment of active-duty troops in a domestic law enforcement role “should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”

The president was angered by Mr. Esper’s remarks, and excoriated him later at the White House, an administration official said. Asked on Wednesday whether Mr. Trump still had confidence in Mr. Esper, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said that “as of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper,” but that “should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future.”

Senior Pentagon leaders are now so concerned about losing public support — and that of their active-duty and reserve personnel, 40 percent of whom are people of color — that Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a message to top military commanders on Wednesday affirming that every member of the armed forces swears an oath to defend the Constitution, which he said “gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.”

Not the same.

[NorrinRadd]

‘Yes Sir’: Texts Reveal Sean Hannity Took Direct Orders From Team Trump on Campaign Coverage
.

In what can hardly come as a shock, it turns out that Fox News host and professional punchable face Sean Hannity was a literal, as well as figurative, yes-man to the Trump administration. A trove of texts published by CNN on Monday between Mark Meadows and a coterie of conservative lawmakers and influencers included a short exchange between the former White House chief of staff and Hannity, in which the Fox News talked took direct instructions on talking points for election coverage from Meadows. On Nov. 3, 2020, the host texted Meadows: “NC [North Carolina] gonna be ok?” To which Meadows responded, “Stress every vote matters. Get out and vote. On radio.” Hannity replied: “Yes sir. On it. Any place in particular we need a push.” The chief of staff named a number of states, including Pennsylvania and Nevada. “Got it,” Hannity said. “Everywhere.” The on-air personality’s sycophantic fealty to Donald Trump’s presidency had never been a secret, but his network has had to lecture him before for displays of overzealous campaign support. It was unclear as of Monday night if Hannity would be receiving another slap on the wrist over the texts, as representatives for Fox News did not immediately offer comment.

vs.

CNN fires Chris Cuomo
.

While the contours of Chris Cuomo's involvement with the governor's office were reported several months ago, the specifics were detailed in a massive document dump on Monday. The documents -- released by New York Attorney General Letitia James after an investigation into the governor -- showed that Chris Cuomo, while working as one of CNN's top anchors, was also effectively working as an unpaid aide to the governor.

The cozy and improper nature of the relationship was conveyed through text messages obtained by James' office. The texts between the anchor and several aides and allies of the governor revealed that Chris Cuomo sought to use his connections in the press to help prepare Andrew Cuomo's team as accusers started to make their stories public.

First, the two cases are not analogous. There may be other, worse stories, but the one you cited literally only shows Hannity being urged to encourage people to vote.

Second, no, FNC has not altered Hannity's behavior. I blame him for Meh winning the GOP Senate primary in PA. All three top candidates were BOM-supporters, which is fine with me, but Hannity slavishly followed BOM in endorsing Meh because his name-recognition supposedly made him the "most electable." Uncle Festerman is an ultra-left wacko who, since his stroke, is positively Bidenesque when speaking "live," but he's trouncing Meh.

[NorrinRadd]

One major difference. Cuomo claimed to be a journalist. Hannity insists he is not. That would put hannity on par with someone like Colbert, Kimmel, Letterman.

I didn't know Beef Boy claimed to be a "journalist." Yeah, everything *between* "Special Report" and "Fox News at Night" is opinion/analysis or in the case of Gutfeld!, comedy/opinion/analysis. They've always been clear about that.

[NorrinRadd]

Except for when he insists he is:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/m...annity-go.html

Seems he wants to have it both ways, whenever one of the ways suits him.

Those of us with working brains understand his point. He's an "opinion journalist" as opposed to "straight" journalist. "Straight" journalists would include Bret Baier. Pretend-to-be-straight journalists would include Chris Wallace.

[NorrinRadd]

I thought it began with Megan Kelly, and then furthered by the Chris Wallace debate moderation.

I hate all TV news.

Yeah, those two peed him off, and he found OAN and Newsmax were smooching his hiney better. I'm not sure, but he may have also been annoyed by Fox dumping Eric Bolling, who was and remains mega MAGA.

I don't know what Meg's venue is now, but occasionally I see a Daily Wire piece where she's vigorously *defending* Bad Orange Man.

Bad Orange Man is not as tight with the FNC peeps as he was in the past, but I think they've reconciled somewhat. I think he's always been tight with Hannity.

[Gondwanaland]

Those of us with working brains understand his point. He's an "opinion journalist" as opposed to "straight" journalist. "Straight" journalists would include Bret Baier. Pretend-to-be-straight journalists would include Chris Wallace.

Sorry, he doesn't get to have it both ways.

[Ronson]

Yeah, those two peed him off, and he found OAN and Newsmax were smooching his hiney better. I'm not sure, but he may have also been annoyed by Fox dumping Eric Bolling, who was and remains mega MAGA.

I don't know what Meg's venue is now, but occasionally I see a Daily Wire piece where she's vigorously *defending* Bad Orange Man.

Bad Orange Man is not as tight with the FNC peeps as he was in the past, but I think they've reconciled somewhat. I think he's always been tight with Hannity.

I scan the Newsmax website online every day. About 1/3 of their stories are original content, while the others are mostly AP or Reuters. OAN is too far right field for me.

[Stoic]

Trump regularly rejected more accurate information in favor of information that was more flattering, including the famous incident where he sided with Putin in rejecting U.S. intelligence.

Trump sides with Russia against FBI at Helsinki summit
.

US President Donald Trump has defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 presidential election.

After face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies and said there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the vote.

Mr Putin reiterated that Russia had never interfered in US affairs.

The two men held nearly two hours of closed-door talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday.

• Even Trump allies shocked by Putin summit

At a news conference after the summit, President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections.

"President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," he replied.

US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media.

To be fair, Trump claimed the next day that that was a misstatement. (Not that his attempt to walk it back was very believable.)

“President Putin says it’s not Russia,” Trump said at a joint news conference after that summit. “I don’t see any reason why it would be.” Trump attempted a day later to clean up his remarks after engendering fierce criticism, including from some Republicans. He said he had misspoken and that he had full faith in the FBI.

source

[Ronson]

To be fair, Trump claimed the next day that that was a misstatement. (Not that his attempt to walk it back was very believable.)

“President Putin says it’s not Russia,” Trump said at a joint news conference after that summit. “I don’t see any reason why it would be.” Trump attempted a day later to clean up his remarks after engendering fierce criticism, including from some Republicans. He said he had misspoken and that he had full faith in the FBI.

source

Some twit from AP asked Trump at a joint news conference if he would condemn Putin - right there - for election interference. And that really angered me. This unknown bonehead from AP, undoubtedly trying to make a name for himself, was attempting to insert himself into US-Russian relations by demanding a nuclear-power world leader condemn another nuclear-power world leader on stage. Who the heck does this creep think he is? I thought Trump was too kind when bothering to answer him. I would have ignored him at least, or had him booted out of the building at best. The nerve of the guy.

In short, it put Trump in an awkward, no-win position. If he condemned Putin there in public, it would have created some really bad relations damage. He chose to wing it and say he had no reason to doubt Putin. Again, Trump should have told the guy to get his big, fat nose out of world affairs.

[Ronson]

Trump regularly rejected more accurate information in favor of information that was more flattering, including the famous incident where he sided with Putin in rejecting U.S. intelligence.

Trump sides with Russia against FBI at Helsinki summit
.

US President Donald Trump has defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 presidential election.

After face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies and said there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the vote.

Mr Putin reiterated that Russia had never interfered in US affairs.

The two men held nearly two hours of closed-door talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday.

• Even Trump allies shocked by Putin summit

At a news conference after the summit, President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections.

"President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," he replied.

US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media.

Trump said that after being pressured by a worthless AP reporter that was trying to stir up trouble and create an international scene (probably to advance his worthless career). Trump shouldn't have said it, but he felt he had little choice. I would have told the reporter ... . It still makes me seethe thinking about it. Imagine, an anonymous unelected journalist from some company trying to steer international relations by demanding ultimatums. I would have used some choice words and told the guy to get lost. But I would have used a lot of special characters to do it (like # % & @ !).

[Ronson]

To put a slightly different spin on this...

Imagine while Biden was in Saudi Arabia and doing a joint news conference that some unknown journalist from Fox demanded Biden condemn the Saudi Crown Prince - right there on stage - for murdering Khashoggi? How would you feel about it?

[Mountain Man]

I don't claim that Huffington Post is all that reliable, but the article contains a link to the video of Trump saying what they quoted.

So rather than attacking the source, you should check out the claim.

What Trump said isn't the issue. It's Huffington Post setting it up as "Trump then seemed to imply he was receiving some of his intelligence about that probe from Fox News and Fox Business shows" when, in fact, Trump implied no such thing. It's classic well poisoning.

[Ronson]

I'm still enraged over this. For all, please watch the video starting at 2:10 and tell me if this reporter wasn't WAAAAY out of line. If you were POTUS, how would you respond?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccKmRBTB8oU