One of the central arguments in former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign is the false claim that the United States is a crime-infested hellhole under the Biden-Harris administration.
Exactly. However, in Chicago my city still has 2 major papers, and I have a local community daily as well. I would say that these are Sinclair free, but we are in danger in our nation that we have allowed fascists to take over the ownership of our newsmedia. That would be an important thing for Harris to address as president. In Germany, where I mostly live, the broadcast news is paid for by everyone. Each household pays ~18€ a month for this coverage whether you have a tv or radio or not. It is more highly trusted too.
Linda, Chicago Tribune is not conservative free at all. (If that one of the papers you refer to) it’s owned by a Venture Capitalist-Hedge Fund Company in NY. WGN is owned by a company run by Republican, John Muse. I cannot stand watching WGN except for weather & traffic. The right wing bias is sickening!
Since the Chicago Tribune has endorsed Republicans for President most of my life, I DO consider it conservative. I just said that in my city papers are Sinclair free, but I don't know about television news. What I do know is that my city is True Blue, whereas I was referring to small towns that have no press anymore because Venture Capitalists bought them out, and any press owned by a Hedge Fund is not about news. We have some other options in Chicago besides the Tribune. That is not true of people in many small towns, and smaller cities is what I have been reading.
Difficult to do. Our free speech rights are extensive. We have public (PBS, NPR) news & tv, Voice of America. The GOP cut the funding to a trickle. (They even attack Big Bird, etc.) Their donations which ebb and flow with the economy.
That said DOJ announced yesterday the result of their investigations and charges are expected soon against RT for instance. For the deliberate spreading of false propaganda to interfere with elections without letting the public know the source.
Sad to say, Tucker Carlson’s father who was Tucker’s ticket to the media world, began as an award winning investigative reporter who was director of VOA for a few years.
Ann, I like when countries have standards on what can be called news. Otherwise it is called a Tabloid and people know it is full of lies. However, in Germany, every household pays a 18 € monthly fee for broadcast news, whether you have a radio or television or not. People of all political parties mostly watch the news on one station, but I watch on both, as well as Austrian news, and French news, and British news. It sets a standard. In Chapter 8 Media Agencies of Project 2025, they basically talk about doing away with VOA and all of the public sources you have listed above. A formula like Germany and other European countries have for public television news, is something I would like to see in the USA. The problem is, that when one has a long history of doing things one way, it is hard to do them differently. Ronald Reagan destroyed the country in so many ways, and people do not seem to understand or appreciate that Biden has made inroads into undoing that damage. It is unfortunate that people are so uninformed about government. I would recommend that every high school civics, and government teacher have their students read and discuss select parts of Project 2025 as I am doing in a Democrats Abroad book club. It will teach them a lot about government, and perhaps about what policies the Republican party, and particularly the MAGAs have stood for and stand for. These seem to be important tools for understanding how to be a citizen in the USA today.
I read your entire comment. Taxes here in the past paid for public broadcasting (PBS) whether you watched or listened to it or not. Congress controls the purse strings / budget. Same for VOA, which the GOP wants to do away with because it’s reports include news critical to all administrations.
Standards are good. It isn’t that there are no journalism standards in the US. The US government cannot set & then enforce them. There is that pesky “freedom of the press” thing in the Constitution.
If the government can set standards & enforce standards, there is no guarantee they would be good ones. (Without enforcement they are worth nothing.) We could ask DJT about his plans for the media if he can stop talking about mosquitoes & sharks long enough to answer. He has plans.
The ‘Fairness’ Doctrine only applied to the airwaves. Not “print media”. Definitely not cable and or social media which didn’t exist. Both of which are where more people receive news these days. It required “equal time” to opposing views. It was helpful. SCOTUS would probably strike it down.
We need to require statistics to be included at the end of every bloody news story which spell out the percentage of the population affected by such a crime in that area in the past year. I used to say the same thing about Stock Market Reporting - that it needed to report the percentage of increase in the value of a stock's value and the overall market rather than just the "points." This change has been made (at least in the news outlets I hear). Surely we can do the same with other news items.
I wonder about that"dumber than dirt" comment because now, as I drive through New York and New Jersey I am seeing political signs sprout and I see a lot of Trumps in nice neighborhoods. I don't think these people are dumb, but I do think of them as suckers and losers. As their fearless leader has said, "What's in it for them?"
I knew it was provocative. I mean the people I have heard interviewed, which is the clips I see on Jeff Tiedrich or Jay Kuo's Substacks. Even reading that Jeff Bezos supports Trump, when we read that he sold 5 bil of stocks in his company, at a time when it looked like Trump would win and he know Trump is bad for the economy, so he is backing Trump for what reason? So that he can keep his tax breaks, but allow the US to turn into a third world country, which is what implementing Project 2025 would do. In which case, isn't voting for someone who would do that, not dumber than dirt? I have been reading Project 2025, and anyone who would support Trump without reading it is also dumb, since his plans are laid right out there. If they just trust him, that is dumb too. So, by my teacher definition of dumb, which I do not apply to children ever, but at some point adults get it. You can feel sorry for them, but if Trump wins because of them, I am going to feel sorry for us.
I'm on Nextdoor in my neighborhood. Since 2020, there is a steady stream of car ransacking, car break ins, theft of catalytic converters. Local news, video clips of gangs of two or three masked thieves storming stores and stealing bags of jewelry, groceries, etc. This week, the same pair pulled two jobs in a local mall that involved use of smoke bombs to escape.
Porch pirate videos are numerous on Nextdoor and local news.
DC, 10 miles away, has suffered through a state of carjackings.
I don't recall seeing or reading about these types of crimes before covid. I'm not sure how many of these incidents make it into the official crime reports.
Having said that, I don't blame this type of crime on the President. Crime is a local issue. I do know that only one President in my lifetime has been convicted of multiple felonies. He's his own crime wave.
I think this newsletter is specific to violent crime (murder, assault, rape, mugging, etc). The stuff you're referring to is more on the property crime side of things.
I agree 100% with what you said though. Crime is a local issue and things like car jackings and theft are generally crimes of desperation due to lack of education and opportunity.
Even with a potential rise in property crime in some cities, we are still living in one of the safest eras in American history- much safer than the 80s and 90s and likely the 00s as well.
Car jackings are definitely violent crimes, but your point is well taken.
When my local grocery stores start closing some entrances, it does give me pause at not feeling safe. Then again, if the stores were fully staffed I think that would discourage shoplifting. Complex issue for sure.
Frequently many things are blown out of proportion on Next Door. They have an interesting history, and they, like Facebook, make money on users data, posts, and thru advertising https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nextdoor
Many of these kinds of crimes are based on coordination happening over social media and "how to" videos regarding how to carry out such crimes, but we don't seem to have the stomach for holding social media sites responsible for spreading such criminal behavior or the producers and re-posters of such videos responsible for the results of their actions. I suspect that it won't be until Wall Street banks get cleaned out by "setec astronomy" techniques or major corporations get the "lotec" treament that we'll suddenly decide we must reign in such things (as some other countries and the E.U. already do).
Nothing new about scary crime. For 100 years, if it bleeds, it leads. Thirty years ago, with the advent of CNN and he 24-hour news cycle, a little girl abducted and killed a thousand miles a away became local, and was repeated 50 times a day, amplifying the horror.
What's new is a politician lying through his teeth about every fn thing in the world to get elected and those people (I see the signs!), who don't seem to care about a man lying to them to gain power for his cronies. Wtf do they get out of it, the suckers and losers?
I worked for a local tv station (long before Sinclair et al). "If it bleeds, it leads" brought up the ratings. Local school board meetings did not. Simple finances...
So, what is the true and practical mind-calming script for Harris and Walz to deliver to the public about safety and crime? First, they should show that Trump avoids dealing with the NRA and guns by lying to us that crime is up when actually crime levels are down.
Trump relies on fear to win support from all quarters: he inspires his minions to act in loyalty or suffer his ostracism; he threatens those who publicly criticize him with derision; he holds the Republicans in office to vote at his command (eg, trashing Langford's border agreement bill) by threatening no more political support. And, probably threatens Melania with not a penny more if she leaves him. If fear is running many consciously and unconsciously, how can we make the falseness of this obvious?
Perhaps it is not so effective because the average person worries more about their personal safety where they live than their national safety. I would say that guns are our biggest problem but to the non-critical thinker the fact that we just had another school shooting makes it look like nothing is improving on that front either. I think it is really important for people to understand the policies that are behind the crimes. Rape maybe not, but murder of strangers, and even of family members is tied to policies on guns. In Germany, where I live most of the time now, because I cannot stand the gun situation in the USA, there are murders too. The government is having a big discussion about making tougher knife laws. Do you think most Americans would feel as afraid if they were worried about being knifed, not shot? I don't know, but German mom's don't tell their children that if there is shooting in the day when they are out, roll under a car if they cannot see the shooter. No one in Germany has to do that. Germany has guns, but they have sensible gun laws like you have to have 1.2 mil € of personal liability insurance, and under 25 you have to pass a psychological evaluation, and you need training and a license, and if you own guns you must store them safely and the police can stop by to randomly check that you have. They know who owns guns legally.
I live in a swing state and lived 34 of my years in deep red, rural parts of the state. Here's my reaction to what you said:
- While stabbings are still horrific, I would much rather deal with a mass stabber than a mass shooter. I could arm myself with almost anything and defend myself from someone with a knife. Not so much against someone with a firearm.
- Even if you do convince one of these 2nd Amendment hardliners that we need to regulate guns, they will bring up potential income discrimination when it comes to things like liability insurance and more expensive licensing (because being able to own a weapon is an American right). I think what would be more effective here would be a prohibitive tax on specific types of firearms and specific types of ammunition and accessories. No need to tax a low income person who just wants a hunting rifle (non semiautomatic) and a box of bullets for hunting a few times a year/target practice. But owning a semiautomatic weapon should have a massive federal sales tax.
Owning a gun is a right in a well-regulated militia. But the people that own guns are not in well-regulated militias so how is that all right for the masses? It’s not. Somehow it got interpreted that way because of money. It’s such a lucrative industry, and the people running it are laughing all the way to the bank.
I agree that it is easier to defend against a knife though in Solingen it happened that the attacker slit throats of people who were busy watching a musical performance, and not wary of the people around them. That is hard for me to be, unwary. It comes from a life of being aware of who is around me. When I was teaching in a Carribean Island school where people were pretty chill, everyone from there said, you could tell who the Americans were, because we always turned to look if someone came up behind us and got too close. It took me weeks to shake it. I remember a New Yorker coming and it took him even longer. As for gun regulation, the courts are the problem. Why some Red State AG protests that my Blue state has enacted gun law controls which our state agrees on, and then overturn our laws, is why SCOTUS needs to be fixed before the US can have any serious gun control. Until then, the US remains at number #132 on the Global peace scale, or will drop even lower, as I have seen it go from 129 to 132 over the last few years. Scroll down to page 9 here and see how many other countries, including many African nations are higher on the safety scale than we are. https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf
A big issue with corporate media is they constantly blame "Congress" for nothing getting done, when most of the time, it's the Republican party members of Congress who are obstructionist and waste taxpayer time on ridiculous investigations and culture wars. That's why it's important to remind people that a Democrat president needs Democratic control of Congress to get progressive policies enacted into law
Trump relies on fear just as an abused wife lives in fear of the abuser. Why don't they run away? How powerful is fear? I guess it is the most powerful motivator there is, over common sense and even self preservation.
Virtually every media conglomerate is owned by the right. Sinclair Bros own in the range of 294 tv stations. ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, CBS, SONY…all the most widely watched stations are monopolized by the right. This is as dangerous as Putin’s puppet, orange trumpolini.
Fox let people believe that Trump’s illegal campaigning in Arlington was a memorial that Harris did not attend. This is Fascism.
A small point, but important: local news dedicating a large proportion of airtime to local crimes is often inaccurate reporting. If a news station runs 40 stories on theft this month compared to 20 a few months ago, but rates of theft are going down, then they are presenting an inaccurate picture to their watchers/readers. Even if a crime is more violent/sensational, giving a larger proportion of air time to a single crime while overall the area is safer than it has been for the past few years is a dereliction of duty to inform the public.
"During an August 20 campaign stop in Howell, Michigan, Trump said that people 'want to be safe' and, therefore, he would win the election. 'You can't walk across the street to get a loaf of bread ... You get shot. You get mugged. You get raped. You get whatever it may be. And you've seen it, and I've seen it. And it's time for a change." At the same time as he spews these lies -- the orange sadist SUPPORTS gun ownership which DOES kill people, including innocent young children sitting in their classrooms. Talk about deliberate cognitive dissonance. Sickening.
In my more than six decades of reading, listening to and viewing local news programs it has always been true that crime stories are reported much more diligently than all others. So, I do not accept arguments that the media have suddenly switched their emphasis in reporting.
My suspicion then is that it is society as a whole that has changed in its attitude toward violence. There seems to be both a fascination and revulsion with it, paradoxical as that might seem. As to why, I have no idea.
Trump and supporters are continuing year after year to break the law(s) Local, State, Federal, and International. The charges and evidence, fill..,countless file boxes ....which fill court rooms across.... most literally all the states across this country.
He continues to spread lies and conspiracy theories, he knows are not true.
He has violated all sorts of norms, rules, laws, acts, and what have you.
He is a 43 time convicted felon...he can't vote, can't get most any government job or security clearance...but can run for President and if so inclined can launch a nuclear attack on any of his perceived enemies if in office again. Pretty cool, huh?
And people wonder why persons want to vote for a change.
Get this fool, his supporters and these miscreant corporations and the wealthy under control please.
Biden and Harris have done amazingly well on righting the economy and infrastructure, all things considered... but they haven't dealt with their number one outside election, legislation, problem solving, threat despite all options available. Is this a terrific example of the impotency of the law enforcement when it comes to certain criminals of wealth, power, misinformation, espionage, treason, and the power of corrupt media and specific corporations to ruin peoples lives.
Trump is an inept individual... although when effectively positioned as a figure head to the mass of under-educated/inexperienced voters... he is very effective.
Perhaps there is a grand end game plan... we don't know about... I have my doubts. Without a proper value placed on truth...
This is line of malarkey is also how they keep the 2nd Amendment front and center to fend off reforms. I’ve asked but never received an answer to why so many firearms are stolen out of vehicles — often unlocked vehicles — if the owners need them for “protection.”
(This is a HUGE national issue & it really spur crime and encourages a vicious cycle: more theft from vehicles, gun running, violent crimes, more theft from vehicles. The info on how to get into locked vehicles is all over the internet - complete with videos. But of course UNlocked vehicles are faves.)
You are right. I didn't hear about these much before COVID, but COVID was a big disruption, and I don't even recall if I was on NextDoor before then. Now I hear about catalytic converter thefts and porch pirates from all over my metropolitan neighborhood. This definitely feeds the perception that crime (petty theft) is rampant, but I have no way of knowing whether there is really an increase, or whether the NextDoor app just makes me more aware of it.
NextDoor is nothing more than a media gossip rag - allows neighbors to vent just as TikTok pushes inane "influencers". Would be better for all of us if we ignored the "next door" gossip and scare tactics. Let's do something about GUNS, another school killing in a no holds barred guns for all state - not lax laws, NO laws!
And the hand wringing from the "opinionators" at NYTimes, WAPO and other MSM does nothing more than excuse Trump, go after Harris. Take them all with a grain of salt until/unless they stop the "both sides" delusion!
Actually, the changes came because of "how to" videos on Social Media and the legislators failing to keep up with novel crimes. Catalytic Convertor thefts have virtually disappeared in states where laws were passed to crack down on the body shops/fencing organizations accepting and paying handsomely for stolen convertors. Thefts of certain car models went through the roof when videos were posted showing how easy it was to steal the particular models. We need to reign in the posting of these things on Social Media, but we can't seem to figure out how to do that.
Wondering if Sinclair Broadcast Group is helping the convicted felon riff about crime?Trump's shameless, bombastic declarations about crime conveniently ignore the his own white collar fraud and rape convictions. Sourced from NPR, here is a link to efforts by local, regional, and national GOP media operatives to hype crime in Aurora, Colorado: https://denverite.com/2024/09/04/venezuelan-gang-aurora-colorado-factcheck/
Well some of us think genocide is a crime, and that has certainly gone up under this administration, but perhaps that's not worth talking about, as both mainstream parties support it.
...and who controls local news outlets... Sinclair, Newsmax and Fox...
Exactly. However, in Chicago my city still has 2 major papers, and I have a local community daily as well. I would say that these are Sinclair free, but we are in danger in our nation that we have allowed fascists to take over the ownership of our newsmedia. That would be an important thing for Harris to address as president. In Germany, where I mostly live, the broadcast news is paid for by everyone. Each household pays ~18€ a month for this coverage whether you have a tv or radio or not. It is more highly trusted too.
Linda, Chicago Tribune is not conservative free at all. (If that one of the papers you refer to) it’s owned by a Venture Capitalist-Hedge Fund Company in NY. WGN is owned by a company run by Republican, John Muse. I cannot stand watching WGN except for weather & traffic. The right wing bias is sickening!
Since the Chicago Tribune has endorsed Republicans for President most of my life, I DO consider it conservative. I just said that in my city papers are Sinclair free, but I don't know about television news. What I do know is that my city is True Blue, whereas I was referring to small towns that have no press anymore because Venture Capitalists bought them out, and any press owned by a Hedge Fund is not about news. We have some other options in Chicago besides the Tribune. That is not true of people in many small towns, and smaller cities is what I have been reading.
Difficult to do. Our free speech rights are extensive. We have public (PBS, NPR) news & tv, Voice of America. The GOP cut the funding to a trickle. (They even attack Big Bird, etc.) Their donations which ebb and flow with the economy.
That said DOJ announced yesterday the result of their investigations and charges are expected soon against RT for instance. For the deliberate spreading of false propaganda to interfere with elections without letting the public know the source.
Sad to say, Tucker Carlson’s father who was Tucker’s ticket to the media world, began as an award winning investigative reporter who was director of VOA for a few years.
Ann, I like when countries have standards on what can be called news. Otherwise it is called a Tabloid and people know it is full of lies. However, in Germany, every household pays a 18 € monthly fee for broadcast news, whether you have a radio or television or not. People of all political parties mostly watch the news on one station, but I watch on both, as well as Austrian news, and French news, and British news. It sets a standard. In Chapter 8 Media Agencies of Project 2025, they basically talk about doing away with VOA and all of the public sources you have listed above. A formula like Germany and other European countries have for public television news, is something I would like to see in the USA. The problem is, that when one has a long history of doing things one way, it is hard to do them differently. Ronald Reagan destroyed the country in so many ways, and people do not seem to understand or appreciate that Biden has made inroads into undoing that damage. It is unfortunate that people are so uninformed about government. I would recommend that every high school civics, and government teacher have their students read and discuss select parts of Project 2025 as I am doing in a Democrats Abroad book club. It will teach them a lot about government, and perhaps about what policies the Republican party, and particularly the MAGAs have stood for and stand for. These seem to be important tools for understanding how to be a citizen in the USA today.
I read your entire comment. Taxes here in the past paid for public broadcasting (PBS) whether you watched or listened to it or not. Congress controls the purse strings / budget. Same for VOA, which the GOP wants to do away with because it’s reports include news critical to all administrations.
Standards are good. It isn’t that there are no journalism standards in the US. The US government cannot set & then enforce them. There is that pesky “freedom of the press” thing in the Constitution.
If the government can set standards & enforce standards, there is no guarantee they would be good ones. (Without enforcement they are worth nothing.) We could ask DJT about his plans for the media if he can stop talking about mosquitoes & sharks long enough to answer. He has plans.
The ‘Fairness’ Doctrine only applied to the airwaves. Not “print media”. Definitely not cable and or social media which didn’t exist. Both of which are where more people receive news these days. It required “equal time” to opposing views. It was helpful. SCOTUS would probably strike it down.
Despite control of local news outlets, "if it bleeds, it leads" has long been the motto of news outlets.
We need to require statistics to be included at the end of every bloody news story which spell out the percentage of the population affected by such a crime in that area in the past year. I used to say the same thing about Stock Market Reporting - that it needed to report the percentage of increase in the value of a stock's value and the overall market rather than just the "points." This change has been made (at least in the news outlets I hear). Surely we can do the same with other news items.
Exactly. I refuse to watch WJLA 7 in the DC area, it's Sinclair owned.
Who controls the data collection and reporting on crime? The Democrat Regime.
Perhaps because Democrats value facts and statistics, while Conservatives prefer anything that supports their preconceived notions.
That makes a lot of sense! Stop crime by electing a felon!
The people who support Trump when interviewed sound dumber than dirt, so I expect they are not gifted with logic.
I wonder about that"dumber than dirt" comment because now, as I drive through New York and New Jersey I am seeing political signs sprout and I see a lot of Trumps in nice neighborhoods. I don't think these people are dumb, but I do think of them as suckers and losers. As their fearless leader has said, "What's in it for them?"
I knew it was provocative. I mean the people I have heard interviewed, which is the clips I see on Jeff Tiedrich or Jay Kuo's Substacks. Even reading that Jeff Bezos supports Trump, when we read that he sold 5 bil of stocks in his company, at a time when it looked like Trump would win and he know Trump is bad for the economy, so he is backing Trump for what reason? So that he can keep his tax breaks, but allow the US to turn into a third world country, which is what implementing Project 2025 would do. In which case, isn't voting for someone who would do that, not dumber than dirt? I have been reading Project 2025, and anyone who would support Trump without reading it is also dumb, since his plans are laid right out there. If they just trust him, that is dumb too. So, by my teacher definition of dumb, which I do not apply to children ever, but at some point adults get it. You can feel sorry for them, but if Trump wins because of them, I am going to feel sorry for us.
A vote for trump is a vote for a 34 count felon, rapist, Fascist-supporter, Putin puppet. I call that dumb.
I'm on Nextdoor in my neighborhood. Since 2020, there is a steady stream of car ransacking, car break ins, theft of catalytic converters. Local news, video clips of gangs of two or three masked thieves storming stores and stealing bags of jewelry, groceries, etc. This week, the same pair pulled two jobs in a local mall that involved use of smoke bombs to escape.
Porch pirate videos are numerous on Nextdoor and local news.
DC, 10 miles away, has suffered through a state of carjackings.
I don't recall seeing or reading about these types of crimes before covid. I'm not sure how many of these incidents make it into the official crime reports.
Having said that, I don't blame this type of crime on the President. Crime is a local issue. I do know that only one President in my lifetime has been convicted of multiple felonies. He's his own crime wave.
I think this newsletter is specific to violent crime (murder, assault, rape, mugging, etc). The stuff you're referring to is more on the property crime side of things.
I agree 100% with what you said though. Crime is a local issue and things like car jackings and theft are generally crimes of desperation due to lack of education and opportunity.
Even with a potential rise in property crime in some cities, we are still living in one of the safest eras in American history- much safer than the 80s and 90s and likely the 00s as well.
"He's his own crime wave" is an amazing quote!
Car jackings are definitely violent crimes, but your point is well taken.
When my local grocery stores start closing some entrances, it does give me pause at not feeling safe. Then again, if the stores were fully staffed I think that would discourage shoplifting. Complex issue for sure.
Frequently many things are blown out of proportion on Next Door. They have an interesting history, and they, like Facebook, make money on users data, posts, and thru advertising https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nextdoor
Many of these kinds of crimes are based on coordination happening over social media and "how to" videos regarding how to carry out such crimes, but we don't seem to have the stomach for holding social media sites responsible for spreading such criminal behavior or the producers and re-posters of such videos responsible for the results of their actions. I suspect that it won't be until Wall Street banks get cleaned out by "setec astronomy" techniques or major corporations get the "lotec" treament that we'll suddenly decide we must reign in such things (as some other countries and the E.U. already do).
Nothing new about scary crime. For 100 years, if it bleeds, it leads. Thirty years ago, with the advent of CNN and he 24-hour news cycle, a little girl abducted and killed a thousand miles a away became local, and was repeated 50 times a day, amplifying the horror.
What's new is a politician lying through his teeth about every fn thing in the world to get elected and those people (I see the signs!), who don't seem to care about a man lying to them to gain power for his cronies. Wtf do they get out of it, the suckers and losers?
I worked for a local tv station (long before Sinclair et al). "If it bleeds, it leads" brought up the ratings. Local school board meetings did not. Simple finances...
It's only "breaking news," if that girl is white.
So, what is the true and practical mind-calming script for Harris and Walz to deliver to the public about safety and crime? First, they should show that Trump avoids dealing with the NRA and guns by lying to us that crime is up when actually crime levels are down.
Trump relies on fear to win support from all quarters: he inspires his minions to act in loyalty or suffer his ostracism; he threatens those who publicly criticize him with derision; he holds the Republicans in office to vote at his command (eg, trashing Langford's border agreement bill) by threatening no more political support. And, probably threatens Melania with not a penny more if she leaves him. If fear is running many consciously and unconsciously, how can we make the falseness of this obvious?
This is the latest Lincoln Project campaign ad. It is called Job One. https://youtu.be/3mkMoKfdHAc?si=oHBzQdK_a5XbNt_z
Perhaps it is not so effective because the average person worries more about their personal safety where they live than their national safety. I would say that guns are our biggest problem but to the non-critical thinker the fact that we just had another school shooting makes it look like nothing is improving on that front either. I think it is really important for people to understand the policies that are behind the crimes. Rape maybe not, but murder of strangers, and even of family members is tied to policies on guns. In Germany, where I live most of the time now, because I cannot stand the gun situation in the USA, there are murders too. The government is having a big discussion about making tougher knife laws. Do you think most Americans would feel as afraid if they were worried about being knifed, not shot? I don't know, but German mom's don't tell their children that if there is shooting in the day when they are out, roll under a car if they cannot see the shooter. No one in Germany has to do that. Germany has guns, but they have sensible gun laws like you have to have 1.2 mil € of personal liability insurance, and under 25 you have to pass a psychological evaluation, and you need training and a license, and if you own guns you must store them safely and the police can stop by to randomly check that you have. They know who owns guns legally.
I live in a swing state and lived 34 of my years in deep red, rural parts of the state. Here's my reaction to what you said:
- While stabbings are still horrific, I would much rather deal with a mass stabber than a mass shooter. I could arm myself with almost anything and defend myself from someone with a knife. Not so much against someone with a firearm.
- Even if you do convince one of these 2nd Amendment hardliners that we need to regulate guns, they will bring up potential income discrimination when it comes to things like liability insurance and more expensive licensing (because being able to own a weapon is an American right). I think what would be more effective here would be a prohibitive tax on specific types of firearms and specific types of ammunition and accessories. No need to tax a low income person who just wants a hunting rifle (non semiautomatic) and a box of bullets for hunting a few times a year/target practice. But owning a semiautomatic weapon should have a massive federal sales tax.
Owning a gun is a right in a well-regulated militia. But the people that own guns are not in well-regulated militias so how is that all right for the masses? It’s not. Somehow it got interpreted that way because of money. It’s such a lucrative industry, and the people running it are laughing all the way to the bank.
I agree that it is easier to defend against a knife though in Solingen it happened that the attacker slit throats of people who were busy watching a musical performance, and not wary of the people around them. That is hard for me to be, unwary. It comes from a life of being aware of who is around me. When I was teaching in a Carribean Island school where people were pretty chill, everyone from there said, you could tell who the Americans were, because we always turned to look if someone came up behind us and got too close. It took me weeks to shake it. I remember a New Yorker coming and it took him even longer. As for gun regulation, the courts are the problem. Why some Red State AG protests that my Blue state has enacted gun law controls which our state agrees on, and then overturn our laws, is why SCOTUS needs to be fixed before the US can have any serious gun control. Until then, the US remains at number #132 on the Global peace scale, or will drop even lower, as I have seen it go from 129 to 132 over the last few years. Scroll down to page 9 here and see how many other countries, including many African nations are higher on the safety scale than we are. https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf
A big issue with corporate media is they constantly blame "Congress" for nothing getting done, when most of the time, it's the Republican party members of Congress who are obstructionist and waste taxpayer time on ridiculous investigations and culture wars. That's why it's important to remind people that a Democrat president needs Democratic control of Congress to get progressive policies enacted into law
Oh, I think Melania is long gone.
Trump relies on fear just as an abused wife lives in fear of the abuser. Why don't they run away? How powerful is fear? I guess it is the most powerful motivator there is, over common sense and even self preservation.
It's the money, an agreement for an on-going income.
Virtually every media conglomerate is owned by the right. Sinclair Bros own in the range of 294 tv stations. ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, CBS, SONY…all the most widely watched stations are monopolized by the right. This is as dangerous as Putin’s puppet, orange trumpolini.
Fox let people believe that Trump’s illegal campaigning in Arlington was a memorial that Harris did not attend. This is Fascism.
A small point, but important: local news dedicating a large proportion of airtime to local crimes is often inaccurate reporting. If a news station runs 40 stories on theft this month compared to 20 a few months ago, but rates of theft are going down, then they are presenting an inaccurate picture to their watchers/readers. Even if a crime is more violent/sensational, giving a larger proportion of air time to a single crime while overall the area is safer than it has been for the past few years is a dereliction of duty to inform the public.
"During an August 20 campaign stop in Howell, Michigan, Trump said that people 'want to be safe' and, therefore, he would win the election. 'You can't walk across the street to get a loaf of bread ... You get shot. You get mugged. You get raped. You get whatever it may be. And you've seen it, and I've seen it. And it's time for a change." At the same time as he spews these lies -- the orange sadist SUPPORTS gun ownership which DOES kill people, including innocent young children sitting in their classrooms. Talk about deliberate cognitive dissonance. Sickening.
In my more than six decades of reading, listening to and viewing local news programs it has always been true that crime stories are reported much more diligently than all others. So, I do not accept arguments that the media have suddenly switched their emphasis in reporting.
My suspicion then is that it is society as a whole that has changed in its attitude toward violence. There seems to be both a fascination and revulsion with it, paradoxical as that might seem. As to why, I have no idea.
So...What's new.
Trump and supporters are continuing year after year to break the law(s) Local, State, Federal, and International. The charges and evidence, fill..,countless file boxes ....which fill court rooms across.... most literally all the states across this country.
He continues to spread lies and conspiracy theories, he knows are not true.
He has violated all sorts of norms, rules, laws, acts, and what have you.
He is a 43 time convicted felon...he can't vote, can't get most any government job or security clearance...but can run for President and if so inclined can launch a nuclear attack on any of his perceived enemies if in office again. Pretty cool, huh?
And people wonder why persons want to vote for a change.
Get this fool, his supporters and these miscreant corporations and the wealthy under control please.
Biden and Harris have done amazingly well on righting the economy and infrastructure, all things considered... but they haven't dealt with their number one outside election, legislation, problem solving, threat despite all options available. Is this a terrific example of the impotency of the law enforcement when it comes to certain criminals of wealth, power, misinformation, espionage, treason, and the power of corrupt media and specific corporations to ruin peoples lives.
Trump is an inept individual... although when effectively positioned as a figure head to the mass of under-educated/inexperienced voters... he is very effective.
Perhaps there is a grand end game plan... we don't know about... I have my doubts. Without a proper value placed on truth...
This is line of malarkey is also how they keep the 2nd Amendment front and center to fend off reforms. I’ve asked but never received an answer to why so many firearms are stolen out of vehicles — often unlocked vehicles — if the owners need them for “protection.”
(This is a HUGE national issue & it really spur crime and encourages a vicious cycle: more theft from vehicles, gun running, violent crimes, more theft from vehicles. The info on how to get into locked vehicles is all over the internet - complete with videos. But of course UNlocked vehicles are faves.)
I feel more like you, Mr. Trump, are attempting to mug, shoot, or rape me.
You are right. I didn't hear about these much before COVID, but COVID was a big disruption, and I don't even recall if I was on NextDoor before then. Now I hear about catalytic converter thefts and porch pirates from all over my metropolitan neighborhood. This definitely feeds the perception that crime (petty theft) is rampant, but I have no way of knowing whether there is really an increase, or whether the NextDoor app just makes me more aware of it.
NextDoor is nothing more than a media gossip rag - allows neighbors to vent just as TikTok pushes inane "influencers". Would be better for all of us if we ignored the "next door" gossip and scare tactics. Let's do something about GUNS, another school killing in a no holds barred guns for all state - not lax laws, NO laws!
And the hand wringing from the "opinionators" at NYTimes, WAPO and other MSM does nothing more than excuse Trump, go after Harris. Take them all with a grain of salt until/unless they stop the "both sides" delusion!
Actually, the changes came because of "how to" videos on Social Media and the legislators failing to keep up with novel crimes. Catalytic Convertor thefts have virtually disappeared in states where laws were passed to crack down on the body shops/fencing organizations accepting and paying handsomely for stolen convertors. Thefts of certain car models went through the roof when videos were posted showing how easy it was to steal the particular models. We need to reign in the posting of these things on Social Media, but we can't seem to figure out how to do that.
Wondering if Sinclair Broadcast Group is helping the convicted felon riff about crime?Trump's shameless, bombastic declarations about crime conveniently ignore the his own white collar fraud and rape convictions. Sourced from NPR, here is a link to efforts by local, regional, and national GOP media operatives to hype crime in Aurora, Colorado: https://denverite.com/2024/09/04/venezuelan-gang-aurora-colorado-factcheck/
Well some of us think genocide is a crime, and that has certainly gone up under this administration, but perhaps that's not worth talking about, as both mainstream parties support it.
Joy, do you have statistics to back this up? Just wondering where you are getting your data from.
Does Sinclair broadcasting play a role here too?