The article boils down to Trump is gaslighting the press on purpose to make them look as goofy as possible.
He says outrageous stuff and starts silly squabbles that they report on, this lowers the public’s opinion of the press and makes it harder for them to cause him harm.
They are too stupid to figure it out and too impulsive to stop.
bump
This fits nicely with Scott Adams analysis that President Donald Trump is using outrage overload to neutralize the media.
Still not tired of winning!!
I was going to comment on this before actually reading the article, but I know better than that. Because I know and see every day how the president is manipulating the media to his advantage. He’s been doing it all along and it’s an obvious strategy to anyone who’s paying attention. This is how he won the primaries. This is how he rolled over Hillary and her flying monkeys. And this is how he’s going to accomplish his policy goals and reach his stated objectives.
The article is fairly complete except that the author fails to mention the deft slight of hand that’s going on. The media is paying attention to and reporting on the big flashy and outrageous tweets that the president posts. Whenever he does that you should watch because somethings going on in the background. Spicer comes up and talks about a 20% tarrif to pay for a border wall distracts from the fact that the entrenched executives at the state department has just been Scalped. By the time the myopic media comes around to report about the state department, it’s old news and nobody cares. The deed is done, the blood is let and the scab is already in place. Hopefully he’ll do the same at the justice department and start deinstalling some of the leftist judges that have been poisoning the legal system for the past 5 decades.
It’s a strategy that would be mitigated by the article writers resolution to have a self respecting media. But the way it turns out I think that DJT’s going to be doing this Flash Pan routine for a long time before they catch on to it. And I’d also say that this is not the only trick this billionaire mogul has up his sleeves. So if the media does catch on to this strategy he’ll find another way to manipulate them.
So I say stay tuned folks it’s going to be a hell of a ride. The president is going after the ‘progressive machine’. Like the Islamic machine, there’s the ‘moderates’ who like to talk about peace and cooperation. And then there’s the jihadists who take to the streets and roll burning dumpsters into the starbucks when it’s not moving in their direction. That is war and we’d better fight it with conviction and no repentance. Because the leftists certainly will.
Makes sense to me. The press is too dumb to get professional and regain credibility. They are radical/angry slogan shouting smut purveyors. Trump is way over their heads.
Glenn Reynolds is aware of things that are wrong in the press but what he proposes to make things right is twisted and misses the mark.
> “The killer counter-move for the press isn’t to double down on anti-Trump messaging. The counter-move is to bolster its own trustworthiness by acting (and being) more neutral and sober, and by being more trustworthy.”
Yes, Glenn. Very good.
> “If the news media actually focused on reporting facts accurately and straightforwardly, on leaving opinion to the pundits, and on giving Trump a clearly fair shake, then Trump’s tactics wouldn’t work, and any actual dirt they found on him would do actual damage.”
No Glenn, you went off the rail here after starting off well. If you media types gave PRESIDENT Trump (not Trump) the respect he deserves, then his tactics would no longer be needed. His tactics would have suited their purpose as they indeed did work. And appearing sober, neutral, and trustworthy in the face of finding ‘dirt’ on him to do him ‘damage’ negates all the aforementioned traits of serious journalism. This sentence of yours is prima facie evidence that you a-holes have lost your minds and have your heads planted firmly up your anuses.
> “He’s betting on the press being insufficiently mature and self-controlled to manage that. So far, his bet is paying off.”
You are a fool and an idiot Reynolds. Those terms define you. They are not hurled by me or others as wanting to engage in name-calling. They are in fact nouns that describe you. A ‘fool’ as in unaware of the reality in and around you, and an ‘idiot’ as in a childlike mind that has no capacity for understanding adult issues.
President Trump is not betting on or gaslighting anything. He is educating you on how to act respohsibly and how to do your jobs satisfactorily.
The best thing for you and your ilk is to bury your egos and report respectfully and completely what the White House is announcing. If you want to fact-check, then do it smartly or do some investigative reporting to be published later.
Most importantly, tell your editors to change priorities from democrat led priorities. And if you can’t survive or stay in the game after that, then get another job!
Agreed Must Read.
Gaslighting is convincing a target person that it is insane or going insane.
That is not what Trump is doing.
What Trump is doing is using the media’s bias to bait them into acting in ways that damage their credibility with the wider audience.
Trump is an innate master in many sophisticated levels in what he is doing (decimation) to the media & now the politicians.
I’ve worked with a rare breed of very high IQ people who had this mastery.
What makes him in a league of his own is the added character of being absolutely fearless. He is also mastered a persona that perfectly hides his IQ/chess mastery as looking like a type of random thinker & partial loose cannon. It is an act.
The pinnacle to his talent is his openness, humor, warmth, & ability to connect with people when he needs to (he has a true heart of caring).
If you notice, he is always way ahead of any “gotcha” type of interviewers. It takes a wide range of constant IQ ability of “moves ahead” to pull this off.
Even pre-planned “gotcha” interviewees - George Stephanopouls - even complained at how difficult it was to corner Trump.
Trump is best off where he doesn’t let on to the levels of his game. With Twitter & social media he is the perfect person for these times (bypassing press). Let’s hear it for the “bull in a china closet”.
A First, they always keep a personna or method behavior that hides their deep skills, multi-level strategies & moves,
Sounds like a reasonable analysis. But whether President Trump is doing this intentionally or it is just the way he is is debatable.
Nice.
President Trump has the so called press out thought, out planned and out gunned. He should perhaps enter the fray with both hands tied behind his back to help make it fair.
It’s almost cruel to be having this battle of wits with such an unarmed opponent....
Trump and his staff have been using this strategy since the start of the campaign. They’ve been very open about it. During the campaign, I told my left-leaning friends exactly what he’s doing, and why it works.
Instead of taking heed, they just get more enraged. Like the bull, they know where the matador is, but can’t help chasing after the red cape instead, over and over again.
You’d think at least one of them would figure it out and coach his comrades, but that should have happened months ago, a year ago. They can’t help themselves. If they could, they’d cease to be leftists.
When did THIS start???
Trump has more media experience than probably 99% of the people covering him. (As Obama operative Ben Rhodes gloated with regard to selling a dishonest story on the Iran deal, the average reporter the Obama White House dealt with “is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns.” In Rhodes’ words, “they literally know nothing.”)