The Winner of Our Discontent — 2016 U.S. Election Results Discussion

[Flintlock]

The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.

Jesus. The irony is strong with this one.

 

[Ghost X]

I was going to comment on this before, but forgot, and now I can't find the post: Someone here mentioned that in photos Trump looked miserable or something. I think that's actually his resting face.

Obama and Kerry have stated words to the effect of how public office has a way of "waking people up" and how the job makes you look at things differently, etc. I think it was Stephen Colbert who said it best: You know something is wrong when the President-elect has to say "Don't be scared".

If the northern hemisphere blows up, isn't it fortunate you have a friend in the southern hemisphere with a large property you can escape to... if you aren't locked up indefinitely in one of Australia's offshore detention centres for mostly legitimate refugees . I suggest arriving here by plane .

 

[Flintlock]

Given the choice between spiders and nuclear war, I think I'll take the nukes, thanks.

 

[Carlie]

Ghost's reaction:

 

[ForceStealer]

Trump Leaves Press Behind for Steak Dinner, Showing Lack of Transparency - NBCNews

This...is an Onion headline if I've ever heard one. The article does mention some things that are actually emblematic of a lack of transparency, but he didn't tell you he was going to dinner?
This is why people often find you whiny, reporters.

 

[Cthulhu]

aka "I Am A Journalist And Everything I Say Is Important", or something. Feck off, go back to doing real news

Also the best thing to come out after the election is bidenbro.

 

[Kionae]

Trump Leaves Press Behind for Steak Dinner, Showing Lack of Transparency - NBCNews

This...is an Onion headline if I've ever heard one. The article does mention some things that are actually emblematic of a lack of transparency, but he didn't tell you he was going to dinner?
This is why people often find you whiny, reporters.

Oh for god's sake... Next they'll be bitching that he didn't let them in to watch him take a dump AFTER dinner. There's lack of transparency and then there's just plain stupid demands.

 

[Random Nobody]

Kobach trying to revive NSEER and Gangrene talking about resurrecting HUAC.

ETA: Unrelated, but living in comparatively diverse metropolitan aread does not make people less racist, nor is racism the result of ignorance that can be corrected by mere exposure. They might be less likely to be card-carrying Klansmen, the sentiments are there, just with rationalistions and extreme lack of self-awareness. Important to keep in mind that cities are equally as or more segregated than they were ~50 years ago, to the same material effect.

Case in point, the uproar over that one lady with the shitty television show.

 

[Strangelove]

there is another article that does into more detail about why him leaving to go have dinner without a press pool might be an issue:

Okay, we get it: It's hard to get fired up about a man deciding to have dinner with his family without a bevy of reporters in tow. But the most fundamental purpose of the protective pool is to be present to document an unexpected emergency or catastrophic event that could involve the president of the United States. (Remember the outcry about the Clinton team's media blackout during the Democratic nominee's health scare this fall?) Trump's not the president yet, and his team acknowledges that it is still working out the kinks in how it handles reporters. But if they continue to ignore the traditions of press access, it'll mean further additions to a list of norms Trump has dismissed. And that list has been getting very long already.

 

[Random Nobody]

I'm sure it will be, given he was the first candidate to threaten litigation against news media for reporting on him. Again, the technocratic infrastructure and precedent for proscription is here already, so I guess we'll just have to see if Obama is the last president qua president.

 

[Dashell]

This just in, Trump sneezed and didn't tell reporters

 

[Random Nobody]

.....Anyway, you would think someone on Trump's team with experience and brains (assuming anyone has any) would try to reel back all these obviously illegal campaign promises and crony appointments.

Or maybe Pence is trying to lay some Yugi-oh-ass trap card and is waiting until Trump gets himself relieved. Like...I know none of those clowns were prepared to enter the White House, but zon't know how none of them have even tried to throw up a veneer of reasonableness.

 

[ForceStealer]

there is another article that does into more detail about why him leaving to go have dinner without a press pool might be an issue:

Okay, we get it: It's hard to get fired up about a man deciding to have dinner with his family without a bevy of reporters in tow. But the most fundamental purpose of the protective pool is to be present to document an unexpected emergency or catastrophic event that could involve the president of the United States. (Remember the outcry about the Clinton team's media blackout during the Democratic nominee's health scare this fall?) Trump's not the president yet, and his team acknowledges that it is still working out the kinks in how it handles reporters. But if they continue to ignore the traditions of press access, it'll mean further additions to a list of norms Trump has dismissed. And that list has been getting very long already.

But as it says right there, he's not the president yet. And once he IS the president, he won't be able to go out to steak dinners anyway, so I highly doubt this is the thing they should be concerned about.

 

[Strangelove]

but barring some major twist, he is going to be the next president. which should make knowing if something happens to him newsworthy

what if he chokes to death on a piece of steak and no one is there to write 40 articles and about 70 think pieces about it

it's not like they were trying to barge into his house, he's the next president and he went out in public to have dinner. that's going to get attention

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

it's not like they were trying to barge into his house, he's the next president and he went out in public to have dinner. that's going to get attention

You'd think they would quickly hear about it happening then and get on the scene to report on the momentous occasion.

Honestly, journalists today are a bunch of fucking whiny ass douches. What happened to finding the news and reporting it instead of expecting it pre-packaged and spoonfed in pseudo events (complete with Press Packet and Kung Fu Grip!) from the very figures who are going to be involved? That's a big part of what's wrong with journalism in every industry today (comics, video games, etc.), but when it comes to politics, it's the most concerning place of all to find it.

 

[Kionae]

I think Trump is going to be in for one hell of a shock. He's not a private citizen anymore, and that means giving up a lot of freedom and privacy. He doesn't get to go hide when things get overwhelming anymore.

 

[ForceStealer]

it's not like they were trying to barge into his house, he's the next president and he went out in public to have dinner. that's going to get attention

You'd think they would quickly hear about it happening then and get on the scene to report on the momentous occasion.

Honestly, journalists today are a bunch of fucking whiny ass douches. What happened to finding the news and reporting it instead of expecting it pre-packaged and spoonfed in pseudo events (complete with Press Packet and Kung Fu Grip!) from the very figures who are going to be involved? That's a big part of what's wrong with journalism in every industry today (comics, video games, etc.), but when it comes to politics, it's the most concerning place of all to find it.

The temper tantrum they threw over, was it Marhsawn Lynch, earlier this year was crazy. How convinced they were that this guy owed them the useless post-game platitudes of "everyone did their part" or "I gotta do better." Firstly, who cares. Secondly, why does he owe you that? Thirdly, the fact that he actually gives very thoughtful interviews when he respects who was asking the question just made it all the more delicious.
(I hardly know anything else about him, so he may well be a dick, but the whininess of the press was on full display during that.)

 

[Ghost X]

Another conspiracy theorist joins the list of Trump's potential picks.

Leader of Trump's Great America PAC, Carl Higbie, uses the example of Japanese internment camps as precedent for a Muslim registry in an interview with Megyn "Blood coming out of her wherever" Kelly, who then told him off for doing so . Remembering that far-right white Christian terrorists (though I think now Odinism is trending ) have caused at least about the same amount of deaths as Muslims terrorists. Is there or is there going to be a registry for the groups the latter extremists are associated with? I'm guessing not .

 

[Strangelove]

You'd think they would quickly hear about it happening then and get on the scene to report on the momentous occasion.

Honestly, journalists today are a bunch of fucking whiny ass douches. What happened to finding the news and reporting it instead of expecting it pre-packaged and spoonfed in pseudo events (complete with Press Packet and Kung Fu Grip!) from the very figures who are going to be involved? That's a big part of what's wrong with journalism in every industry today (comics, video games, etc.), but when it comes to politics, it's the most concerning place of all to find it.

just to clear this up, are there more article out there actually whining about this, or are we now classifying a few paragraphs (among other examples of a lack of transparency) as a tantrum by journalists? am i getting this right?

as far as i can see, the complaint isn't 'he went out for dinner, how dare he'. it was that his team said that was it for a day, then he left unannounced and didn't tell people where he was going and the press apparently only found out because another reporter happened to be at the restaurant he went to and made a tweet about it.

this is on top of his attacks against journalists, denying access to critical outlets, saying he wants to make it easier to sue for libel, no press conferences since the summer (remember when that was a complaint thrown at hillary clinton, that she hadn't had a press conference in a while?), and the general opaqueness of his campaign.

come on, man. that's hardly the death of investigative journalism just because the people who were there specifically to cover the next president's activities were given the slip just so he could go have a fancy dinner. this wasn't watergate, he was just eating steak. what was there for them to go out and find? why not just have his staff say 'that's it for the day, now he's going out for dinner'? i'm not sure what you're expecting people to be using their journalistic skills to uncover here. was the steak cooked by undocumented immigrants? is the meat imported from a country that supports terrorism? what's the story meant to be here? how is trying to be there in case of some newsworthy event beforehand indicative of the press being 'whiny' and lazy with the expectation of news handouts, rather than having to gather the details after the fact?

i mean, in the midst of rumours about a rocky transition effort, he has time to go to a restaurant and meet floyd mayweather and apparently call conspiracy theorists to thank them, but not deal with the press? is he going to stop sneaking out in the future or is he going to continue doing so?

he's just been given a job with a massive about of responsibility that goes way beyond being on tv or sticking your name on buildings. he's not a regular citizen now. complaining about how he might now have to inform people of his whereabouts is daft.

 

[ForceStealer]

You're talking like he just walked over to the place on his own. He had his security detail, he just didn't tell THE PRESS. Hardly a crucial part of the dinner equation. And yes, it was on all the 24-hour news networks because of course it was, what else are they going to talk about ad nauseum?

I said it my original post the article actually mentioned some things that were actual examples of insufficient transparency, but using him going out to dinner as your headline for that fact sounds petulant and whiny. No one said anything about the rest of Trump's behavior with regards to the press. And if Trump's pattern of behavior is so crucial to making the press' reaction to this completely reasonable, why is the press' pattern of behavior doing everything Tres listed not relevant?

If he had forbidden the press from entering the restaurant with him, then maybe they would have some ground to stand on. Them being miffed that they had to find out something unimportant for themselves, less so.

 

[Kionae]

And yes, it was on all the 24-hour news networks because of course it was, what else are they going to talk about ad nauseum?

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Some of those networks have been covering Trump almost non-stop for the past year and a half. They don't know what to do with themselves now that the election's over and he's not campaigning/actively inciting half the country.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

X

 

[Strangelove]

I said it my original post the article actually mentioned some things that were actual examples of insufficient transparency, but using him going out to dinner as your headline for that fact sounds petulant and whiny.

it was used as a further example of trump's treatment of the press, since it was the latest example to happen. after the press had been told that he was going to be staying in trump tower for the night. it's a pattern of behaviour that ran through his election campaign that was frequently antagonistic to the media, and doesn't look like it's coming to an end. other presidents have done similar things, but probably not following on from the amount of vitriol than trump has shown. not sure how many former presidential candidates rounded the press up at rallies and events where he pointed them out and called them 'disgusting', 'horrible people'.

he might not have formally forbidden press from covering his restaurant visit, but saying that you're going to be staying in then leaving unannounced and not revealing where you're going makes it seem like you're trying to avoid the press. if it's just something as inconsequential as 'dinner at a restaurant', what is the problem with telling the press pool that? why try to keep that a secret? what's the point of trying, if not to outright deny access to the press then to make it needlessly difficult, in not letting it be known where he will be? saying you will be in one place then quietly going out to an undisclosed location looks a lot like you're trying to mislead and shut people out.

if it's such a trivial matter for the press to 'whine' about, why isn't it a trivial matter to inform the press about? why say you're going to be one place then suddenly leaving to go to another?

the idea behind a protective press pool is to document unexpected events and get the response of the president (or president-elect). the whole point is to be there just in case, even if you're only out for dinner. that doesn't mean they need to or should file a report on every little detail, but it doesn't mean you should ditch them.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I just don't get what's so important for the press to be there "just in case" for. In case the waiter gets his order wrong?

And if it's "In case he gets shot," well, the police being on scene is probably more important in that eventuality. I'm also quite confident that word would quickly make its way to the press if that happened anyway.

Besides, this guy isn't President yet. Is it not possible he wants to go out to dinner a couple more times without a bunch of microphones in his face before that?

Take it from somebody who went to school for journalism, worked for a couple of small papers (however briefly), and has known journalists for years: Journalism in this country sucks. Its status as a "watchdog" on politics is vestigial at this point at best, and the age of the intrepid reporter who gets to the bottom of things in the face of a corrupt administration ended with Watergate.

Anything that cripples a Presidency now is going to come from Anonymous or out of Wikileaks. It won't be from a corporate journalist who's following the paint-by-numbers rubric handed out by their producers and the politicians they're covering themselves.

 

[Dashell]

To clarify


We're arguing about Donald Trump going to dinner, correct?