It was inevitable, I suppose. The signs were there for us to see all this time, so it certainly should be no surprise.
Donald Trump has launched his own NEWS SERVICE to give the minions the “real” news. He’s fed up with that fake stuff dished out by the networks that they back up with obviously faked video, doctored photos, falsified documents and biased stories about his bogus university, his refusal to divest himself from his business interests and his coziness with the Russians.
Well, what ostrich-head-in-the-sand couldn’t see that coming?
Of course, the real head-scratcher is why he would go to all that trouble when he has the biggest blowhard of all spewing the right wing extremist line for three hours every day on a smaller-than-before-but-still-large radio network.
But Rush (“Praise the Lord and Pass the OxyContin”) Limburger is basically a mouthpiece for the Republican Party as a whole and that party is going to have to separate itself from ol’ Orange Hair with all due haste if it has a chance to hold its ground in the 2018 elections. So, in that respect, maybe his own “news” network would seem in order to Trump.
After all, this is the man whose motto would seem to be ut per eos testacles in cordibus et in animis sequentur. That’s Latin for “Get ‘em by the testacles; the hearts and minds will follow.” (And he’s certainly known for grabbing those areas.)
Any student of history knows that a dictatorship requires a suspension of all citizens’ rights (see his efforts to clamp down on dissent) and to muzzle all criticism (his repeated attacks on the media). The third requirement, of course, is to take over the media so the dictatorship’s lies can be saturated without fear of challenge.
We may as well start referring to Trump as DEAR LEADER a-la Kim Jong-Un. Somehow, though, I just don’t think I can bring myself to call him Herr Trump.
But the signs are already there. His repeated boasts of non-existent accomplishments, his exploring the possibility of pardoning himself, his exaggerated claims of voter fraud, claims that he had the biggest inauguration crowd in history, attacks of “fake news,” and the list goes on and on ad nauseum. And all easily refutable lies but still he barges ahead with still more lies. His favorite, of course, is calling the special prosecutor’s investigation into collusion with the Russians “a witch hunt.” He uses that one on a regular basis these days.
Adolf Hitler was the first to describe the benefits of the repetitive lie, which he said people would come to believe if they heard it often enough. He called it the “Big Lie.”
In Mein Kampf, Hitler said, “…In the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie…Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation.” (emphasis added.)
He would go on to say in Mein Kampf:
“The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses’ attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.
The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make and objective study of the truth, insofar as it favors the enemy, and then set before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.”
Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, would later expand on der Führer’s philosophy when he said:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Extreme examples? Perhaps. But the track that Trump is on is frighteningly familiar to students of history and should not be dismissed lightly.
After all, look at the people with whom he has surrounded himself. Not the least of these is one STEPHEN BANNON who has described Trump as a “revolutionary on the world stage,” and who described himself as a LENINIST who desired “to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.”
So, is Bannon Trump’s Joseph Goebbels or will he be his Martin Bormann (Hitler’s private secretary who controlled access to der Führer)? Or worse, will he be Trump’s Heinrich Himmler (commander of the Gestapo)? From this vantage point, the vote would have to go to Bormann.
All these scenarios were unthinkable 18 months ago. No one seriously thought Trump would ever be president. The day of his announcement, I confidently predicted he would “crash and burn” in six weeks.
But then, no one thought Hitler would rise to a position from which he could plunge the world into war.
But now we have an official Trump news service through which he can reach the masses with his own skewed version of reality. And for now, at least, he has an official Minister of Propaganda in Kayleigh McEnany.
Hard to read this garbage.
No harder than having to listen to a madman and to read his daily idiotic tweets. You have just identified yourself as a member of the masses Hitler was describing as vulnerable to the Big Lie.
Congratulations. You should be proud.
This should be a wake up call for everybody.
Be sure to go to the very first link Tom has provided. Look at the “report.” Then look at the comments and be sure to watch the video of North Korea’s top anchor person.
Politico, MSNBC, and others, have also been quietly reporting on the disturbing growth, abetted by Trump’s FCC, of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, a much broader concern than the Trump Facebook News and the daily stir-the-pot Trump tweets.
Watch this video:
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/how-sinclair-broadcast-group-made-local-news-pro-trump-1019478595832
Can you say, “Insidious?” A full description of the Sinclair Broadcast Group is below. Look at their current span of control and consider how quickly it could grow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Broadcast_Group
I am not normally a conspiracy theorist, but this goes beyond theoretical.
Well from this and past editorials it seems your position is as far left as Trump may be far right. As for the national news media it is well known that they are biased for their own personal interest which is sometimes the truth and many times skewed just enough to make it believable to the masses. Maybe they all read Huckleberry Finn in school. I know you are fond of old saying well you know the old saying to exaggerate is to lie. Personally, I find neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party have the best interest of their constituents in mind when they constantly are voting party lines and the press is certainly on the Democratic Party side.
I couldn’t agree with you more on the distinction between the two parties. But you are wrong about my politics. I’m more of a fiscal moderate than you think but I do confess to being a social liberal in that I believe in the rights of all people—not a select few. I was no fan of Hillary by any means but I simply cannot stomach Trump.
Hi, Gary. I agree with Tom. All things being equal, your points would be even better taken. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the grip of a person whose interests clearly run no deeper than his own. An optimist and supporter would say his interests are largely consistent with those of the average citizen and the nation, itself. I wish I could be an optimist.
Who would I ask was Mr. Obama’s Joseph Goebbels? The propaganda that spewed forth from that administration would do Goebbels proud. The press(all press including Fox) is biased and reports opinions rather than the news. We are living Orwell’s “1984.”
Fairness, a regular contributors in the comments section, voiced similar sentiments, Sidwit, but his comment went into my spam folder and I inadvertently deleted it. If he cares to re-submit, I promise to post his comment. He itemized the sins of Hillary and I don’t disagree. But what Trump is doing is far more dangerous than either Obama or Hillary. I’m not sure what “propaganda” you’re talking about from Obama. Anything he tried to say was usually drowned out by the Republican majority.
Gary Hall said it best when he criticized both parties. Obama installed an attorney general who refused to prosecute the Wall Street bankers for their part in the 2008 collapse and then that same AG went back to his former employers—those same Wall Street bankers. I can’t forgive Obama for that. Hillary’s team undermined the campaign of her rival, Bernie Sanders.
So, let’s face it: Washington is a pit of vipers but the head viper scares me to death because he is now at the controls and he had no idea where he’s taking us on this ride.
Bottom line: you cannot govern by tweets.
P. S. NEWSFLASH, this just in: Hillary did not get elected. Obama served 8 years, but is no longer President. Trump has changed this country and its stature in the world more in 6 months than Obama did in 8 years. If you like him, that’s a plus. If not…
Hi Stephen hope you are doing well. Tom thank you for your response I appreciate your hard work and the significant effort it takes to prepare and clearly report abuses in our government.
Jay Carney from Time Magazine joins the Obama Administration and it’s all good. A commentator from CNN joins the RNC and suddenly we live in Hitler’s Germany? I don’t follow the logic.
Or – “you cannot govern by tweets,” fair enough. This means that because of those tweets we live in Hitler’s Germany? Again, I don’t follow the logic.
No, and you are deliberately (I hope) trying to cloud the main point of my argument. Governing by tweets has nothing to do with my point and again, I hope you know that and like Trump, are simply trying to confuse the issue.
What I was attempting to point out and which you and other Trump supporters refuse to acknowledge is that the man has actually set up his own news bureau to provide a forum for his constant—and obvious—lies. His lies go so far beyond what is the norm for politicians that it calls his very sanity into question.
All politicians lie. Obama, Hillary, Bush, all of them. It’s an unfortunate fact and one I consider unacceptable. But Trump has elevated lying to a new level to such a point that I find them comparable to the Big Lie philosophy of Hitler and Kim Jung Un.
I find the man more paranoid than Nixon, more dishonest than Bill Clinton, more arrogant than Ted Cruz, and more mentally imbalanced than Earl Long.
And no attempt to compare his utterances to anyone before him carries any validity.
Tom… how do you infer I am a Trump supporter? Just by one small comment of mine, trying to follow the logic of your argument? Again, I fail to see the logic of your own statement (that I am a Trump supporter).
Tom – you raised Hitler’s Germany prominently in your blog piece. Thus, do not escape from your own argument.
Fine, you do not like Trump. I get it. You know what, neither do I in many respects. And you do not like the fact that he tweets, and that the RNC named a CNN commentator. Fair enough. This means that Trump is setting up his own news network? Really? Is that the logic?
But let’s play along: suppose it’s all true what you say – just suppose. So what? This is a free country with many competing outlets. George Soros funded several outlets critical of Republicans. Does this mean that we live in a totalitarian country, because Soros did that?
If you do not like Trump’s tweets, don’t read them. If you do not like Rush, don’t listen to him. Listen to a good opera instead – like The Magic Flute from Mozart. Or read a good book. Again, just because Trump tweets, and just because the RNC named a CNN commentator, we live in Hitler’s Germany? Again, it was you who mentioned this prominently in your own blog piece.
George Soros isn’t the president, the man who holds the launch codes. If Trump the private citizen launched his own news service, that’s one thing. But Trump (or anyone) else as President doing so is another matter. He already has his own press secretary and communications director, why does he need his own news service if not to spread his warped version of “alternate facts”?
Tom is correct; this smacks of the first stages of a dictatorial takeover.
“First stages of a dictatorial takeover”??
Really? With so many competing outlets in this country, and also from abroad? With outlets from Salon Magazine to the Wall Street Journal and to The Guardian and the Times of London? With the Internet that gives access to an incredible amount of magazines and newspapers around the world? With a First Amendment in the US Constitution that protects access to all those outlets? And this is a dictatorial takeover? This is supposed to be like the “Gleichschaltung” under the Nazis?
Is there anybody reading this blog piece and the comments alongside it, thinking and following the logic?
For anybody interested in logic, read this entry in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_Hitlerum
It is a variation of the fallacy “reductio ad absurdum”, and it was coined by Leo Strauss.
To be totally unoriginal, in at least a couple of cases what we’ve got here is a failure to communicate – A big problem in our country, generally. Our filters are sometimes so finely meshed we only see and hear what we want and the rest can’t get in.
Wow Tom, your whole analogy to Hitler throughout the piece is telling. You not only dislike Trump, you hate him. You should really try to step back and see the whole picture of what the President is having to put up with. Both inside and outside of the White House, this President has more enemies from the democrats working against him 24/7 than any President in the history of our great nation. On top of that, you have the republican never-Trumper’s (swamp creatures).
True, all politicians lie and most do it intentionally. While I will admit that President Trump has lied, most is him embellishing or repeating something incorrectly he has heard. I don’t see him going out and intentionally lying as all the MSM and you imply. President Trump speaks more off the cuff and what he believes than any other politician. All other politicians repeat talking points they have rehearsed, they are not speaking honestly. If the press and you would call out every politician every time one lies, make a mistake, mis-speaks, you could have a separate news channel just for that information.
President Trump has an ego, and what politician doesn’t. I can over look that. He is not perfect. However, I think you and everybody else that is against him thinks he should be. Because he has been shown to be crass, does not speak perfectly (rehearsed) like a politician and he is not the person the left wanted to win, the democrats and MSM has shown their true nature for all to see and it is ugly. If you could see everything all other politicians do their best to hide, President Trump would probably be considered a Saint. Example, Anthony Weiner.
Donald J. Trump is our President. Get over it. Grow UP! I did while Obama was President for 8 years.
By the way, there is finally a new News Channel that is just news. No slant to the left or right, no fake news, no one speaking/reporting that is educated beyond their intelligence. It is OAN, One American News, Channel 347 on Direct TV. Don’t know if Cox has it available yet.
Was anything in the 1-minute video incorrect, propaganda, false, or fake?
The video was paid for by President Trump, not with tax payer funds like Obama did in his weekly West Wing News spots. Hmmmmmmm.
OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA…HILLARY, HILLARY, HILLARY. If you want to get over something, how about trying to defend Trump without mentioning either?
You forget that,for the first several years of his 8 year presidency, President Obama himself blamed the Bush Presidency for everything and anything bad occurring around the world. And he was celebrated for it.
For the record, Alex, I hold Obama directly responsible for the failure to prosecute the Wall Street bankers who brought the recession down on the country. Eric Holder came to the AG’s office straight from Wall Street where he had worked previously and when he left the AG’s office, he went right back. It was Eric Holder who coined the phrase “too big to fail” and that responsibility goes right up the chain to Obama so while you may accuse me of a lot of things, please don’t call me (and you haven’t; I’m just saying…) an Obama apologist. You are correct in saying I don’t like Trump but the fact is, I don’t like a lot of politicians because they all dance to the big campaign contributors’ fiddle.
Thank you Tom for your insightful article. Unfortunately you didn’t have enough space to go into talking more about Trump’s frightful behavior, much of it due to his narcissistic, self-indulgent personality. As a History/Political Science major, I too see all the efforts Trump is making to eliminate opposition in so many ways. The founders of our country knew full well the value of freedom of the press.
Unfortunately, about 35% of the population still has their heads buried in the sand and refuse to see the methods behind the madman. And they will continue to do so unless his failure in some form is so terrible that even the blind will see.
I would also like to remind everyone that George Bush and Dick Cheney and his neo-cons are the ones who brought us into a quagmire middle east war that has cost this country trillions. And also let us remember that Bush and his administration brought us close to financial ruin. The Great Recession that brought us 10% unemployment and economic devastation. Obama brought us out of it and the 4% unemployment rate today is due to Obama and not Trump. He has so far kept his meddling fingers out of the economy.
I understand the frustration of the white citizens of this country (I am one of them), but let’s not think for a minute that Trump, the demagogue, with all his lies will ever lead us to a better America. He is incapable of it. He is in over his head and the world laughs at him.