Hysterical Media Headlines (Funny or Absurd) for August 23rd:
Bottom Line: These are your daily headlines brought to you by your friends in the Godless, soulless and slanderous news media...For my full commentary on these headlines click the audio below.
Killing Terrorists Is Not a Strategy Fred Kaplan, Slate
Excerpt: “Victory will have a clear definition,” he promised. But that definition—“attacking the enemy, obliterating ISIS, crushing al-Qaida, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terrorist attacks against America before they emerge”—held little relevance for this war that has gone on for 16 years, the longest war in U.S. history.
Umm, how could you be more clear without detailing military ops? Oh, I forgot that's what you'd been trained to do under the former President. How'd that work out?
The Divider: Donald Trump's True Allegiances David Remnick, The New Yorker
Excerpt: "In 2015, a week after Trump had declared his candidacy, he spoke in favor of removing the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s capitol: “Put it in the museum and let it go.” But, last week, abandoning the customary dog whistle of previous Republican culture warriors, President Trump made plain his indulgent sympathy for neo-Nazis, Klan members, and unaffiliated white supremacists, who marched with torches, assault rifles, clubs, and racist and anti-Semitic slogans through the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia."
Be Careful, Latinos. Trump Is In Phoenix to Provoke Us Elvia Diaz, Arizona Republic
One Year Without Gawker When We've Needed It Most Michael Socolow, Wash Post
Excerpt: Now that Gawker’s buried, we might consider what we lost when that mischievous and irresponsible purveyor of gossip was shuttered. Gawker was not simply an influential Web outlet; its proudly independent sensibility and critical autonomy remain rare in today’s corporate media sphere. But to consider Gawker simply a minnow in a sea of whales is to miss its true value. Gawker might have been foolhardy, reckless and ultimately self-destructive, but it was also, above all, courageous. With the hindsight of Donald Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency, we should all recognize that courage in the media is needed now more than ever.
Let's see. Foolhardy - check. Reckless - check. Self-destructive - check. I think you've got it covered at the Washington Post!
Now here's a break for some brilliance from Dilbert...The piece below is the best depiction I've ever come across addressing the absurdity of political extremes.
The Magical Thinking Opposition Scott Adams, Dilbert
Excerpts: My hypothesis is that the political side that is out of power is the one that hallucinates the most – and needs to – in order to keep their worldview intact.
Hallucination:
Based on President Trump’s tweets and speeches, I can see into his soul, and it is all darkness and racism in there.
Real:
If the President of the United States tries anything racist in the real world, the Supreme Court, Congress, and the voters would shut him down in a heartbeat.
Hallucination:
I can spot a racist by how long it takes them to properly disavow other racists.
Real:
That isn’t a thing.
Hallucination:
The president has accomplished nothing!
Real:
The president has accomplished a long list of things.
Hallucination:
President Trump is performing poorly!
Real:
Compared to what?The imaginary president in your head?
Hallucination:
If you thought some “fine people” were marching with Nazis and KKK in Charlottesville, you are a racist.
Real:
I condemn all racists and anyone who marches with them. But It turns out that some non-racists were at the event to support the absolute right of free speech, including the worst kinds of speech.
Hallucination:
This country needs moral leadership and we are not getting it!
Real:
The country does not need moral leadership in 2017. Social media has filled that void. The country is unified (let’s say 98%) in condemning the KKK and other racists in Charlottesville. We did that without moral leadership. We want moral leadership, but there is no evidence we need it.
Hallucination:
The way you worded your statement, you made a moral equivalence between the KKK and people protesting the KKK.
Real:
Literally no one but the KKK and other extreme racists has any trouble understanding that Nazis are worse than the people protesting against hate.
Well done Dilbert!
The material here is amazing and wonderful in it's absurdity simultaneously. Once again, if you look at these through the prism of Donald Trump being President, and more elected Republicans serving in the United States since the 1920's...it's pretty hilarious! The air of desperation, advocacy and instructions for their "resistance" is comical. These people really do take themselves completely seriously!