Trump Has Almost Cashed His Check

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2018/7/27/114142/762

Trump Has Almost Cashed His Check
by BooMan
Fri Jul 27th, 2018 at 11:41:42 AM EST


History is more an art than a science which becomes clear when you realize that it rhymes without ever quite repeating itself. We can read some strikingly similar stanzas when we go back to a rough time period in Richard Nixon’s second term and compare it to what Donald Trump is currently careening through in his first.

The following is from Hunter S. Thompson’s September 1973 feature for Rolling Stone entitled Fear and Loathing at the Watergate: Nixon Has Cashed His Check.

One of the most extraordinary aspects of the Watergate story has been the way the press has handled it: What began in the summer of 1972 as one of the great media-bungles of the century has developed, by now, into what is probably the most thoroughly and most professionally covered story in the history of American journalism.

When I boomed into Washington last month to meet Steadman and set up the National Affairs Desk once again, I expected — or in retrospect I think I expected — to find the high-rolling newsmeisters of the capital press corps jabbering blindly among themselves, once again, in some stylish sector of reality far-removed from the Main Nerve of “the story” … like climbing aboard Ed Muskie’s Sunshine Special in the Florida primary and finding every media star in the nation sipping Bloody Marys and convinced they were riding the rails to Miami with “the candidate” … or sitting down to lunch at the Sioux Falls Holiday Inn on election day with a half-dozen of the heaviest press wizards and coming away convinced that McGovern couldn’t possibly lose by more than ten points.

My experience on the campaign trail in 1972 had not filled me with a real sense of awe, vis-a-vis the wisdom of the national press corps … so I was seriously jolted, when I arrived in Washington, to find that the bastards had this Watergate story nailed up and bleeding from every extremity — from “Watergate” and all its twisted details, to ITT, the Vesco case, Nixon’s lies about the financing for his San Clemente beach-mansion, and even the long-dormant “Agnew Scandal.”

I’m still fairly frustrated with the superficial understanding of the Russia scandal displayed by a lot of commentators and even some decent reporters, but there’s no doubt that the media has picked up their game since they largely dropped the ball during the election year. The president is truly bleeding from every extremity at this point and the FBI and Justice Department are considerably more dedicated to getting to the rotten bottom of things than they were during Watergate.

snip//

Things are coming at Trump fast now, with emoluments reaching the charts for the first time yesterday, his former fixer looking to reprise John Dean’s role, his former campaign manager about to begin the first of two doomed trials, and the Southern District of New York hauling his finance chief before a grand jury. He’s getting caught in his big lies on an almost daily basis now, with his feigned ignorance of hush payments to ex-girlfriends and foreknowledge of collusion-rich meetings with Kremlin emissaries turning to ash in his mouth.

snip//

So, no things are not exactly the same as they were in 1973. Back then, the country was watching Congress hold hearings and steadily losing faith in the administration. If we have hearings this time, they’ll probably have to wait until next year. But in every other way, Trump is in a weaker position than Nixon was a year before he was forced to resign. Nixon had just won by one the biggest margins in American history, while Trump lost the popular vote and is still arguing about the size of his minuscule inaugural crowd. Nixon had showed competence and even excellence in several areas during his administration, while Trump stumbles from one self-inflicted disaster to another. Nixon had loyal soldiers lining up to take a bullet for him, but Trump is now virtually alone.

What Trump has that Nixon did not is Republican majorities in Congress. That is the only thing propping him up. If he loses that advantage (and maybe even if he doesn’t), he’ll be cashing his check.

His roots are thoroughly rotted out and all that should be required now is the strong breeze provided by Manafort’s trial, Cohen’s evidence, Mueller’s report, and some Democratic committee chairs to help make sense of it all.

[malaise]

1. Excellent read

Get thee to the greatest page

Lock him up!

[heaven05]

15. LOCK HIM UP!!!!!!!!!!

we are in deep, deep doo-doo, as a human race

[Farmergene]

2. The Brainwashed masses

I worry though. We are a divided country.

On the one side are the Trump supporters, a zealous lot that has been brainwashed by the "news" Fox (faux?) News. You know what I'm talking about. Hillary and the Uranium "sale" to Russia, and so many other successful misinformation spins.

On the other are folks that just don't buy into the whole misinformation thing.

Oh sure there are lots of people inbetween but my worry is on how to repatriate the brainwashed masses and keep the peace at the same time.

[Duppers]

17. These brainwashed masses desperately want to stay that way.

As posted below, Republicans need to hate, it's their life force. They seem to be full of misplaced anger - why else would they be drawn to Fox News to begin with?

[Achilleaze]

3. The press has yet to do its job

Weak tea. Hell, very often frikken polluted tea. Gack.

[Duppers]

10. Yes. Although the press has stepped up their coverage,

I don't think they're yet doing their jobs. Talking mainstream, not Faux.
We're still getting the "entertainment tonight" treatment instead of hard coverage.

[CrispyQ]

19. They also need to apologize for their part in this catastrophe, although that will never happen.

Their "both sides do it" bullshit. The softball questions asked to republicans. The total lack of followup questions on comments made by candidates/politicians. The lack of serious investigation on issues & candidates. This has been MSM news coverage since Reagan.

How many hours were TV cameras trained on Trump's empty stage waiting for him to appear, while other GOP candidates & Clinton/Bernie were campaigning, too? It was totally, "we want to be live when he spews shit from his mouth" coverage. CBS president said that Trump was bad for America but good for CBS. WTF? And he still has his fucking job?

A bumper sticker I saw a long, long time ago:

The media is only as liberal as the conservative corporations that own it.

When you've privatized all industry, the only thing left is the government, & then, government no longer serves The People.

[Duppers]

21. +1000

Amen.


Footnote: CBS president, Les Moonves, will eventually be losing his job! Soon, I hope. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/06/les-moonves-and-cbs-face-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct

[liberal N proud]

4. Still waiting for the media to wake up

[babylonsister]

6. Really??

Who exactly is doing all the breaking news and writing the informative stories? I think they're on it and are angry.

[Roy Rolling]

11. "The Media Wake Up"?

Demanding "the media" wake up is like yelling at the sun for the shade under a rock. "The media" is not to blame if someone is asleep, it is because they prefer to remain asleep.

You can awaken someone who is asleep, you cannot awaken someone who pretends to be asleep.

[Grasswire2]

24. B.S. Just B.S. nt

[Grasswire2]

23. Thank you for supporting the press.

Anyone who thinks the Washington Press Corps is asleep is not paying attention. Seriously not paying attention.

I recommend watching Brian Williams at 11 EDT on MSNBC to review the news of the day DRIVEN BY watchdog reporters. Reporters who stared down Putin and put the right questions to him with professional finesse. Reporters who diligently pursue leads, who battle the politicos of the press office and the slurs and sneers of the president himself.

Were it not for the White House reporters, we would not have a chance against this mess. They literally stand between us and tyranny since the Republican majority of Congress has abdicated its oath to protect the Constitution.

See FB page "People's Bill Of Rights For White House Transparency."

[elleng]

27. They may be doing it now,

but they are among the major perps of this catastrophe. Everyone recall the constant drumbeats, pre-and post-primaries?

[babylonsister]

29. Yes, we know, but we're talking about now.

WE need their input and help. They're delivering.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

9. Rachel Maddow does a pretty good job of summarizing MSM findings.

She almost always hosts the reporter who broke the day's biggest story, talks with a Democratic congressman or Senator, and has a stable of former U.S. attorneys to draw on to explain the legal aspects of what's going on. And then there's presidential historian Michael Beschloss, who examines the precedents for what is going on in Trumpworld. Many times his response to Rachel's questions is, "There is no precedent in history for a president to act this way."

With the exception of Fox, reporters for nearly ever news source -- even the Wall Street Journal -- are digging into Trump's life and scandals, both financial and personal. Mueller probably views these reporters as unofficial investigators who continue to provide new sources to question.

While it would have been nice to have had this dedicated reporting during the campaign, it's going on now, and will continue on whether Trump fires Mueller or not. Donnie Two Scoops is going to learn the hard lesson that the pen is truly mightier than the tweet.

[Grasswire2]

25. Look around. Just look around.

Look at the bylines. Imagine yourself covering this story. Get to know the print reporters. Diligent, smart, tough.

[NBachers]

5. An excellent article - I urge everyone to read the entire content.

[90-percent]

7. Hunters ESPN essay on 9/12/2001

Last edited Sat Jul 28, 2018, 07:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Well, not the entire essay because there's DU rules about that.........

The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives.

It will be a Religious War, a sort of Christian Jihad, fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics on both sides. It will be guerilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy. Osama bin Laden may be a primitive "figurehead" -- or even dead, for all we know -- but whoever put those All-American jet planes loaded with All-American fuel into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon did it with chilling precision and accuracy. The second one was a dead-on bullseye. Straight into the middle of the skyscraper.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hunter-s-thompson-911-column_us_59b6b389e4b036fd85ccc97a

-90% Jimmy

[2naSalit]

8. +1

[Duppers]

16. Indeed, it is still a "religious war"

Culturally we are divided by the lack of objectivity and analytical skills. This lack correlates with racism and religiosity. The buy-bull belt buys all kinds of bull, especially if it's directed at minorities.

Republicans need to hate, it's their life force. They seem to be full of misplaced anger.

Social psychological studies, over many decades, have found the same thing: The more religious people are, the more likely they are to manifest an “us vs. them” orientation. As leading Canadian social-psychologist Bob Altemeyer has observed, most relevant studies illustrate that “the more one goes to church, the more likely one will be prejudiced against a variety of others.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secular-life/201807/religion-secularism-and-xenophobia

[90-percent]

18. Republicans need to hate, it's their life force.

i'm gonna plagiarize that!

-jim

[Duppers]

20. Please do.

A wee bit of personal history: I've been observing Republicans up close and personal for decades. 30yrs ago, when I was in my 40's, I made this comment to a friendly neighbor who said I was right. She was married to one.

With the exception of my sister, my whole family, for generations, had been Republican. The same was true for my dh's very racist family. I observed that, although they were very religious, hate was the emotion that drove them - their hatred of anyone not exactly like them.

For decades I've proudly worn the moniker of black sheep of the family. They do not like me; my hub's mother even told him to divorce me. She saw him only twice in the last 30ys of her life and we celebrated our 50th anniversary last year.

Sometimes folks just have to remove themselves from their dysfunctional families in order to be sane and happy.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Trump has anti-intellectual Pravda-esque news outlet

as well as the thuggery parts of society.

Once they quiet down and Gonorrhea Old Perverts are shaken by elections from their rigid theo/ideology it will be all but over. If chaos doesn't ensue, or McConnell can't reinvent himself, we will muddle through but a de facto headless State vis-a-vis the world will be a grave concern. You really appreciate how much Obama looked out for America around the world. If things play out royally, succession of a Congress-Person could ensue until 2020.

[Brogrizzly]

13. Fucking awesome post, thanks

[heaven05]

14. I hope

that's all I have left that this beast/pervert/liar is not going to escape justice. Nailed it, as usual.

[Grasswire2]

22. Also, Trump has the Mighty Wurlitzer of FOX, Breitbart and AM radio...

....plus 40 years of the RW investing money into think tanks and talking heads to propagandize nearly half the people and to support Trump. Nixon did not have that apparatus.

[Initech]

26. Hunter Thompson was truly a man ahead of his time.

Crazy to think this was predicted in 1972!

[Demovictory9]

28. "careening" is a great word to describe his presidency