re: #338 Citizen K

The greatest fucking coup Trump ever had, outside of the actual presidency, was the co-opting of “fake news” from accurately describing false stories in service to him, to falsely smearing correct stories criticizing him.

And the media slavishly followed along by the nose, because only the GOP is ever deserving of the assumption of good faith.

Yesterday I had the following unpleasant thought.

1) If Gore had won the presidency in 2000, and

2) If 9/11 had happened basically the same as it did in real life, and

3) If the same story of presidential/administration indifference to the AlQaida threat had come out after the fact

then we’d have at least the following

1) A Republican wins the presidency in 2004 and serves two terms. A Republican wins the presidency in 2012 and is reelected in 2016. There is universal agreement in the media, talking heads etc. that it will be decades before Democrats can be trusted with the presidency.

2) At least a 50% chance of Gore being impeached and removed from office before 2004 for incompetence.

It’s OK if (and only if) you are Republican is the fundamental rule of US politics. That’s the 800 lb gorilla in the room.