At the bottom of this post, I'm going to link to what is probably the most important article you can share this year.
But first, here's proof of what Donald Trump really thinks about the Navy SEAL he honored in his first address to Congress...
Even Donald Trump's enemies in the media and the Democratic Party, who have been relentlessly, fever-pitch critical of everything about his candidacy and his short time in office, suddenly heaped praise, admiration, and respect for Donald Trump for comforting the dead soldier's wife on television and calling him a hero.
The entire four minutes of this grieving woman crying for her loss is very difficult to watch, and naturally stirs up a lot of emotion and empathy for her:
Of course, Donald Trump's use of her emotions and ours as we watch is exploitative, as at least a few commentators are willing to point out, despite the completely false accusations that doing so is somehow disrespectful.
This is textbook war propaganda, and of course Trump is hardly the first person to use it. By some kind of moral alchemy, these televised moments transfer the soldier's nobility onto the war itself, and onto the commander in chief.
The form of the argument is at least coherent: how unjust could the war be if such an admirable and honorable soldier is giving up his life for it?
But if all the pundits who praised Donald Trump didn't just go into a trance en masse to accept that logic, then why did all of you, every single one of you except for me it would seem, just have collective amnesia and forget what Trump said about John McCain barely one year ago?
So now that you remember what he said about John McCain for getting captured, do you really think Donald Trump just genuinely honored the soldier who died in a raid he ordered earlier this year, or was he using him for political gain?
And isn't it weird how everybody forgot about Trump's McCain remarks so easily?
This mass amnesia is evidence that something irrational is going on here with this televised moment and the conversation about it. That irrational thing is war frenzy.
The Media Is Going to Get People Killed
CNN contributor and Democrat, Van Jones gushed effusively over Trump's show this week:
Even the Washington Post, a stalwart Trump critic heavily praised Trump for what he did:
It's telling that after a sustained attack by the mainstream media on Trump for more than a year, for everything from wanting to repeal ObamaCare to caring too much what people are tweeting about him, the first time these people warm up to Trump, it's for getting an American soldier killed.
The article:
What you just saw your press corp do this week was beat the war drum and encourage the president to start another war. They are either viciously bloodthirsty or damnably foolish!
Listen, you've said you want to make a difference in the world. You've said now you're scared that things are going to fall apart and become much worse and you don't want that to happen.
Here's your chance to potentially save hundreds, thousands, or even tens or hundreds of thousands of human lives. Read the rest of this article in its entirety (it's very short, cuttingly insightful, and deadly serious)... and share it!
Not with your friends on Facebook (sure if you want)... share it with major media figures via email and tweet it at them. Especially ones who have praised Donald Trump for this. If they get even a dozen of messages like this, it'll get their attention and maybe wake some of them up from the deadly trance they're in.
Make it your mission through the end of this week to become part of a small but effective campaign to cool down the rhetoric and the beat of the war drums.
Because this kind of thing never takes us anywhere good.
But first, here's proof of what Donald Trump really thinks about the Navy SEAL he honored in his first address to Congress...
Even Donald Trump's enemies in the media and the Democratic Party, who have been relentlessly, fever-pitch critical of everything about his candidacy and his short time in office, suddenly heaped praise, admiration, and respect for Donald Trump for comforting the dead soldier's wife on television and calling him a hero.
The entire four minutes of this grieving woman crying for her loss is very difficult to watch, and naturally stirs up a lot of emotion and empathy for her:
Of course, Donald Trump's use of her emotions and ours as we watch is exploitative, as at least a few commentators are willing to point out, despite the completely false accusations that doing so is somehow disrespectful.
This is textbook war propaganda, and of course Trump is hardly the first person to use it. By some kind of moral alchemy, these televised moments transfer the soldier's nobility onto the war itself, and onto the commander in chief.
The form of the argument is at least coherent: how unjust could the war be if such an admirable and honorable soldier is giving up his life for it?
But if all the pundits who praised Donald Trump didn't just go into a trance en masse to accept that logic, then why did all of you, every single one of you except for me it would seem, just have collective amnesia and forget what Trump said about John McCain barely one year ago?
What Donald Trump Really Thinks About Ryan Owens, The Slain Navy SEAL:
Donald Trump: John McCain "not a war hero," "He's a 'war hero' because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
So now that you remember what he said about John McCain for getting captured, do you really think Donald Trump just genuinely honored the soldier who died in a raid he ordered earlier this year, or was he using him for political gain?
And isn't it weird how everybody forgot about Trump's McCain remarks so easily?
This mass amnesia is evidence that something irrational is going on here with this televised moment and the conversation about it. That irrational thing is war frenzy.
The Media Is Going to Get People Killed
CNN contributor and Democrat, Van Jones gushed effusively over Trump's show this week:
Even the Washington Post, a stalwart Trump critic heavily praised Trump for what he did:
"There was one moment in President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night that people will remember for a very long time.
...what he proved last night — and for one night at least — is that he is capable of growth, capable of harnessing the powers of the presidency to work for him."
It's telling that after a sustained attack by the mainstream media on Trump for more than a year, for everything from wanting to repeal ObamaCare to caring too much what people are tweeting about him, the first time these people warm up to Trump, it's for getting an American soldier killed.
Probably the most important article you can share this year...
The article:
"You think Donald Trump noticed how the first thing he did that actually got the TV guys to like him was kill a troop?
Here are some things Donald Trump is famous for:
1) Noticing which things he does that elicit positive attention and then doing those things over and over and over again.
2) Craving the validation of the press, generally the sort of press a 70-year-old upper class New Yorker pays attention to, especially cable news.
If one dead American service member won him this much praise, just imagine how much they’ll respect him when he kills a couple hundred—or a couple thousand!"
What you just saw your press corp do this week was beat the war drum and encourage the president to start another war. They are either viciously bloodthirsty or damnably foolish!
Listen, you've said you want to make a difference in the world. You've said now you're scared that things are going to fall apart and become much worse and you don't want that to happen.
Here's your chance to potentially save hundreds, thousands, or even tens or hundreds of thousands of human lives. Read the rest of this article in its entirety (it's very short, cuttingly insightful, and deadly serious)... and share it!
Not with your friends on Facebook (sure if you want)... share it with major media figures via email and tweet it at them. Especially ones who have praised Donald Trump for this. If they get even a dozen of messages like this, it'll get their attention and maybe wake some of them up from the deadly trance they're in.
Make it your mission through the end of this week to become part of a small but effective campaign to cool down the rhetoric and the beat of the war drums.
Because this kind of thing never takes us anywhere good.
