DL Open Thread: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024

Trump Vs. ‘Uppity Black Women’.  That context seems to have been absent from reporting on the the brow-beating of Fani Willis by his Georgia attorneys.  But, to me, that’s pretty much what it’s all about.  Looks like Letitia James will have the $450 mill last laugh:

 

Justice.  Speaking of Uppity Black Women or an approximation thereof:

Yep, we need more Bitches With Bad Attitudes.  Especially in positions where they can prosecute Donald Trump.

I think this excerpt from Judge Engeron’s decision sums it up best:

“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.”

Borders on?

NYTimes Headline, Translated.

The headline: “Trump Privately Expresses Support For A 16-Week Abortion Ban”.

Translation: “Trump Tries To Cut The Fetus In Half”.

Does anyone actually believe that Trump has thought about this? No.  Does anyone believe that these ‘private thoughts’ were leaked w/o his approval?  No.  This is just a weak attempt to make him seem less unreasonable on abortion.  Why the Times saw fit to run the headline and, for that matter, the story, is beyond me.  Besides, the real story has taken on a life of its own:

Former President Donald Trump on Friday refused to rule out a 16-week nationwide abortion ban — underscoring his mushy stance on an issue that has bedeviled Republicans across the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Trump, who has said that Republicans need to be “delicate” with how they discuss the issue, did not directly address the New York Times’ reporting that the Republican frontrunner is privately open to imposing a federal abortion ban at 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Gotta say, though, 16 is a nice round number.

The Fox Narrative On Biden Corruption Fell Apart.  Fox makes no mention of it:

Evidence of the bribery scheme has always been thin, at best, with most authoritative news outlets treating the claims with incredulity. But MAGA Media personalities like Sean Hannity quickly shifted into hyperdrive last year when a supposedly “highly credible” FBI informant claimed to have smoking gun evidence of the conspiracy.

The emergence of a confidential FBI informant coursed through right-wing media, where talking heads and outlets spotlighted the claims as damning evidence of criminal wrongdoing. It spawned scores of articles. Hundreds of Fox News segments. Republican lawmakers like James Comer and Jim Jordan, eager to bathe in the media spotlight, appeared on radio and television programs to stoke the conspiracy flames and demand investigations.

Hannity’s program served as the primary vehicle for driving the narrative to the GOP base. On his Fox News program alone, the claims formed the basis for a staggering 85 segments in 2023 alone, according to data from the progressive watchdog Media Matters. Hannity indicated to his millions of nightly viewers that Biden had been “compromised,” using the informant claims to declare the president was “very credibly accused of public corruption on a scale this country has never seen before.”

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Comer, who chairs the powerful House Oversight Committee, used the claims being extolled in right-wing media to accuse the FBI of engaging in a coverup and attempted to construct a corruption case against Biden. Those actions were then celebrated in right-wing media. And on and on the feedback loop went.

The problem? The informant, Alexander Smirnov, made the whole story up, federal authorities said Thursday, arresting the 43-year-old at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

The story has been dwarfed by Aleksei Navalny’s death and the Trump civil verdict.  It shouldn’t be.  This was a fraudulent conspiracy ginned up by a liar and amplified by a fake news organization and Rethug elected officials in order to help Trump get elected.

What do you want to talk about?