The following passage, from a New York Times article yesterday, does not seem to have stirred much discussion — but it should:
The biggest concern, people who have spoken recently with members of his team said, is that Mr. Trump, in trying to forge a rapport, appears to be unwittingly siding with Mr. Putin. Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin has expressed disdain for the news media, and he asserted in a recent interview that secretive elements within the United States government were working against the president’s agenda. Two people close to Mr. Trump said they expected the men to bond over their disdain for “fake news.”
“Two people close to Trump” might say anything, of course, so I don’t put a lot of stock in the notion that this will actually happen. If it does, however, it will be monstrously disgusting. Would you like to know why? Because when Vladimir Putin doesn’t like what he sees in the news, he doesn’t whine on Twitter or post a GIF.
Putin kills the journalist.
It is (somewhat dubiously) claimed that Stalin said: “If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics.” So, I won’t dwell at length on the statistics that show that, as of January 2016, at least 34 journalists had been murdered since 2000 in Russia. (By comparison, only two journalists were murdered in China during the same period.)
……
Putin never commits the act himself, of course. When a journalist is thrown off the roof of an apartment building in Moscow, Putin isn’t holding the right leg and counting “adin, dva, tree!” as he and Sergey Lavrov swing the body over the roof’s edge. But Putin orders such things to happen. It would be supremely naive to believe that Putin is not behind the murders of journalists in Russia. Nothing significant to Putin’s standing in Russia happens without his say-so.
Incidentally, our vaunted news media is predictably missing the point. Responding to the report that Putin and Trump planned to bond over “FAKE NEWS!!” (never forget the ALL CAPS and the exclamation points!) CNN’s Jim Sciutto responded: “Remarkable as Mr Putin’s Russia has weaponized fake news against Mr Trump’s own country.”
No, Mr. Sciutto, that’s not what makes it remarkable. What makes it remarkable is that when Vladimir Putin sees what he considers “FAKE NEWS!!” in Russia, he simply orders the journalist to be murdered. And then, when a critic accuses Putin of killing the journalist, Putin calls that “FAKE NEWS!!” as well. And then kills the critic. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
So the idea that Trump, who has been engaged in a petty pissing match with whiny overreacting journalists in the U.S., would commiserate with Putin about so-called “FAKE NEWS!!” is not just “troubling” or “concerning.” It’s repulsive — and should make all aware citizens feel sick to their stomach.
- Discussion
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Report: Trump and Putin to Bond Over “Fake News” https://t.co/5tWPBTUKq4
— RedState (@RedState) July 6, 2017
Putin will play Trump like a fine fiddle.
Why not, Granny? Didn’t Putin get Trump elected? Putin owns Trump now.
It sure looks most of the time like Trump is trying to deliver doesn’t it?
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