President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation hold a joint press conference | July 16, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)
Should President Trump “just move on,” as Karl Rove suggests in the WSJ? Mr. Rove urges Trump to focus on positive messages, including the strong economy.
Don’t Let the Perpetrators Off the Hook
Francis Menton at the Manhattan Contrarian argues that it is of “great importance not to let the perpetrators of the Russia hoax — both media and deep state actors — off the hook.”
More Freedom, Less Government Dependency
… getting out the positive message of more freedom and less government and less government dependency — whether by the President or anyone else — is critically dependent on maximally discrediting and sidelining these hoaxers. Their point was never just about weakening and ousting the President, but also about strengthening their own power and the power of the government over the people. The same people and institutions that have hyped the Russia hoax for two years are poised to pivot right over to throwing relentlessly negative coverage on everything else about the President, his supporters, and every positive achievement of private citizens and the private economy.
The Media Ready to Pounce on Next Hoax to Hurt Trump and His Supporters
Do you think that the Russia hoax was somehow unique, or do you think that the same media that hyped the Russia hoax will quickly jump on the next remotely plausible hoax if it appears to discredit the President and his supporters, despite lack of any ability to confirm the facts?
Jussie Smolett MEGA Hoax a Perfect Example
If you hesitate for even a moment answering that question, then you have already forgotten the Jussie Smolett hoax. Smolett’s story did not dominate multiple weeks of news just because he fit the sympathetic demographic categories (black, gay) of the identity-obsessed left. It dominated the news because the (invented) attackers were white, were wearing “MAGA” hats, and were shouting, “This is MAGA country!”
This was a tailor-made opportunity to paint not only the President, but also anyone who supports him or might consider doing so, as evil and racist; and thereby to scare potential supporters away and enhance the political power of the left at all levels of government. Do you have any doubt that there will be more such hoaxes in the coming months? Perhaps fewer than if Smolett hadn’t gotten caught and exposed; but plenty of would-be hoaxers can be more adept than the hapless Smolett in covering their tracks.
Mr. Menton warns readers that they have no idea how much the media and specifically the NYT hate Trump and his followers. A relatively new NYT columnist, Farhad Manjoo, had a piece this week in which he wrote that Mr. Trump was the choice …
“of a citizenry mired in partisan mistrust, seething with racial grievance, informed by a beleaguered and fracturing news media, and laboring under an economic and political system that had long ceased functioning for all but the wealthiest of its citizens.”
The NYT Has No Need for Factual Support
That’s you — “seething with racial grievance.” Factual support? We don’t need factual support. We are the New York Times.
Gotta Love Those “Experts”
In another example of how the Times can spin even the best economic news into a negative, the Manhattan Contrarian offers this:
…look no further than the lead position article in today’s print edition. Headline (in print edition): “Data Challenges Trump Optimism on the Economy.” Subheadline: “Experts See Slowdown.”
First line: “President Trump is getting exactly what he wants on the economy, but it may not last.”
It’s just relentless negativity, having no particular relationship to any actual facts, but all in the service of regaining political power. Believe me, there are more people than you think out there who buy into this stuff. The more discrediting that gets heaped on them, the better.
Read more from the Manhattan Contrarian here.
