Hedges on Dems and russiagate

This topic has 6 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 7 months ago by Billy_T.

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April 7, 2019 at 8:15 am #99721

wv
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April 7, 2019 at 11:07 am #99723

Billy_T
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I wish I could sit down and talk with Hedges about this. Greenwald too. It saddens me to note how quickly they embraced the three-page summary of the Mueller report, by Trump’s appointee, as some sort of “categorical” judgement.

(Hedges says “Mueller report” when no one has seen it. He should say the Barr summary, to be accurate.)

Doesn’t that contradict their (justifiable) skepticism of government in general? Why accept the word of a Trump appointee, who auditioned for the job with a 19-page (unsolicited) trashing of the investigation itself, with the added bonus (for Trump) of saying the president can’t “obstruct” justice?

In short, why this sudden about-face? And why the — to be overly generous — mischaracterization of even that summary as some kind of “categorical” refutation by way of Mueller himself?

Skepticism of the Powers that Be would also include Trump and his appointees, wouldn’t it?

April 7, 2019 at 11:10 am #99724

Billy_T
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I also think the host overdid it by saying Venezuela and Syria are “Russian client states.” Isn’t that, in effect, lending ammunition to the idea of “the evil empire”?

I don’t see Russia that way. But it appears the host does — or is confused about his own argument against a charge that hasn’t really made sense for nearly 30 years now.

April 7, 2019 at 11:25 am #99725

Billy_T
Participant

Finally — and, again, I hope my posts don’t stop others from voicing their opinions . . .

I wish Hedges, Greenwald and company would widen their eyes enough to note the main source of the discussion. They seemed obsessed with the Dems on that subject, but they need to look at the real source for coverage:

Trump. To me, it’s beyond obvious that no one keeps the story in the news more than Trump. He tweets about it daily. Often several times a day. He brings it up when no reporter has mentioned it. He even brings it up when the ostensible reason for the press gaggle is a foreign leader standing next to Trump.

And, there’s that rather inconvenient series of Republicans in charge of all phases of the investigation, before and after Trump took office.

“Context.” It’s missing from the arguments I’ve heard or read from the Greenwalds, Hedges and company.

April 7, 2019 at 11:33 am #99726

Billy_T
Participant

Here’s an example. Trump tweeted this today:

Looks like Bob Mueller’s team of 13 Trump Haters & Angry Democrats are illegally leaking information to the press while the Fake News Media make up their own stories with or without sources – sources no longer matter to our corrupt & dishonest Mainstream Media, they are a Joke!

If Trump had just shut up about Russia from day one, the amount of news coverage would have plummeted.

Of course, if he hadn’t fired Comey in the first place, there never would have been a Mueller investigation.

April 7, 2019 at 9:16 pm #99736

wv
Participant

Do you think the Rep-Amerikunz and the Dem-Amerikunz are ever gonna…um….wake up?

April 8, 2019 at 10:04 am #99752

Billy_T
Participant

wv wrote:

Do you think the Rep-Amerikunz and the Dem-Amerikunz are ever gonna…um….wake up?

I’ve never watched this show before, and don’t know the host, but he starts off with a howler, claiming Nicole Wallace is “from the left.” She’s a conservative Republican, worked for Dubya on his communications staff, and was a senior advisor to McCain in his campaign for president.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolle_Wallace

Anyone who watches her show knows she’s conservative. Yes, she’s a Never-Trumper, but she hews to center-right positions politically.

Methinks the host assumed she was “from the left” because she’s on MSNBC. Not a good assumption.

Anyway, as for the discussion: I am worried about the heightened tensions in America. But I personally think “the left” makes a big mistake whenever it thinks this is a symmetrical issue. It’s not. The vast majority of the tension is generated by Republicans and the hard-right.

. . . Right-wing Dems are a part of it as well, especially those who stand in front of AIPAC and denounce Ilhan Omar — thus making her point for her. But in general, this is primarily on Republicans, IMO.

(Nothing in politics is symmetrical. The two parties aren’t equivalent on anything, really. They’re both rotten and need to go away. But they’re rotten to different degrees, for different reasons, and with different effects. And their “bases” are ever further apart.)
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