US Civil War

[MarkMas]

But does Biden refusing to condemn ANTIFA almost act as an 'approval' of what they are doing.

Just spoke to a work colleague whose sister lives in Portland. She told him they have literally wrecked the city, yet nothing even makes it to the news.
Reckons the damage done is in the billions!

I think your colleague's sister must be thinking of the great fire of 1866.

The Night Portland Burned

July 4, 1866. In one historic night 150 years ago, an intense fire swept across the peninsula and left more than 10,000 people homeless, 1,500 buildings destroyed and a third of the bustling city in smoking ruins.

specialprojects.pressherald.com

All reputable sources suggest that the material damage to Portland from the protests is limited to less than 15 city blocks (and concentrated on 4) and is valued at less than $5m. Some figures of around $20m to $30m are being quoted, but this is from business leaders complaining about lost trade, not actual damage.

(Sorry to be late to the fact checking. - Do we really have to do this every forking day in yet another thread, @CatmanV2 ?)

 

[MarkMas]

 

[Oneball]

 

[midlifecrisis]

FBI are looking at a suspected pipe bomber who laid devices at both Rep and Dem offices.

Evidence of my claim is the link below.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1347387151890178048

 

[CatmanV2]

(Sorry to be late to the fact checking. - Do we really have to do this every forking day in yet another thread, @CatmanV2 ?)

We don't have to



C

 

[Felonious Crud]

(Sorry to be late to the fact checking. - Do we really have to do this every forking day in yet another thread, @CatmanV2 ?)

Thank you for your service.

Unsubstantiated bollox is a plague. That the UK is willing to licence Fox-esque right-biased ‘news’ channels really won’t help.

 

[dgmx5]

Thank you for your service.

Unsubstantiated bollox is a plague. That the UK is willing to licence Fox-esque right-biased ‘news’ channels really won’t help.

But we need it for balance for the left-biased media we have in the UK.

Following the Trump insurrection, I was surprised at how little coverage there was on Sky/BBC and went through the Sky channels and sought out CNN at 4am EST. It was amusing to watch in some ways and it was the graveyard shift editorial, but I hadn't realised how little journalistic balance there was on CNN.

Hardly surprising Trump hates CNN but you can hardly complain when you also have the Fox mouthpiece onside.

An hour with CNN/Fox and you see the UK TV mainstream media is not biased, and the complaints from both sides of the political spectrum would bear that out.

UK print media is a different matter and there are more right wing than left wing papers out there.

 

[MarkMas]

But we need it for balance for the left-biased media we have in the UK.

An hour with CNN/Fox and you see the UK TV mainstream media is not biased, and the complaints from both sides of the political spectrum would bear that out.

 

[Felonious Crud]

But we need it for balance for the left-biased media we have in the UK.

Following the Trump insurrection, I was surprised at how little coverage there was on Sky/BBC and went through the Sky channels and sought out CNN at 4am EST. It was amusing to watch in some ways and it was the graveyard shift editorial, but I hadn't realised how little journalistic balance there was on CNN.

Hardly surprising Trump hates CNN but you can hardly complain when you also have the Fox mouthpiece onside.

An hour with CNN/Fox and you see the UK TV mainstream media is not biased, and the complaints from both sides of the political spectrum would bear that out.

UK print media is a different matter and there are more right wing than left wing papers out there.

You're right, CNN is very openly anti-Trump. It really doesn't help. Balance is clearly not achieved with extremities. That way lies polarisation.

 

[MarkMas]

You're right, CNN is very openly anti-Trump. It really doesn't help. Balance is clearly not achieved with extremities. That way lies polarisation.

I may be a little biased, but it seems to me that CNN is indeed very openly anti-Trump when it says things like: "Trump attempted to use public money to coerce the Ukrainians to investigate a political rival" or "Trump lied when he said there was lots of evidence of electoral fraud" or "Trump told insurgents that he loved them". And rightly so. Fox provides 'balance' when it claims a satirical quote from Monty Python and The Holy Grail as Antifa policy, broadcasts photos edited to make people look more Jewish, shows video of fake large crowds at right-wing gatherings, and just lies and insinuates pretty much all the time.

This is a pretty startling video compilation of actual Fox coverage highly critical of Obama, for things that they have been totally supportive of Trump doing.

 

[dgmx5]

As it appears to have escaped people's notice, I was being facetious in my comment that we need Fox News in the UK to balance an inherent left-wing TV media bias. I think we need neither CNN nor Fox in this country; both inflame tensions and report opinion as news.

I believe that broadly the UK TV news is balanced and neutral. I do not consider the same about the print media but that bias, and the extent of that bias, is at least clear and historic.

I find it interesting to see how critical the Daily Mail has been of Boris during the pandemic, although the rumour is they are briefing against him in order to insert Sunak in his place. The Telegraph and The Times have also been fairly critical.

The Express is the only right wing paper that has remained resolutely loyal to Boris.

In our print media, there is journalism and editorial; papers like the Telegraph and Guardian (for balance) are journalistically neutral whilst having strong editorial bias.

The reality is that whoever is in power at any time will come under greater scrutiny than the opposition, and journalism as the Fourth Estate scrutinises power alongside Parliament and the courts (the latter from a legal and not political point of view).

 

[DrDavid]

I’ve only two things to add to all the highly apposite responses above:

• the cult of individual responsibility is very strong in ‘murica. They don’t much go for societal/collective responsibility. As a consequence a significant proportion of the population live in mortal fear of socialism or even “big government”. This group feels that it is their patriotic duty to oppose, violently if need be, any federal regime or institution seen to be infringing their individual freedoms. And their trigger for such action is easily pulled by any competent demagogue.
• what appears to be widespread unwillingness (or even inability) of parts of the population to think critically when it comes to finding, assimilating and inwardly digesting news and political commentary. These folk emote rather than analyse. They are driven by their hearts and instincts. It’s not helped by the polarised news channels and by social networks’ algorithms pushing them deeper into their own faction’s echo chamber.

Long may the BBC continue to be publicly funded and reviled by both sides of the political spectrum here. That means they’re probably getting the balance right!

 

[MarkMas]

• the cult of individual responsibility is very strong in ‘murica.
• what appears to be widespread unwillingness (or even inability) of parts of the population to think critically

I've long argued that this has been 'selected for' in the ancestors of most (white) Americans - they are descendants of people who, when offered the chance to cross an ocean to a new land said, "Yes, I'm up for that". Which means (to me) that they are the descendants of people who were strong on 'individual responsibility' who were filled with 'get-up-and-go'. But also prone to faith (religious or just in the dream of 'murica) and a little gullible (in believing the streets might be paved with gold). So that's what you end up with as a national character (in the broadest possible sense). Vigorous and credulous. It gets you to the moon, but it also gets you faith-based fascists.

 

[Felonious Crud]

I may be a little biased, but it seems to me that CNN is indeed very openly anti-Trump when it says things like: "Trump attempted to use public money to coerce the Ukrainians to investigate a political rival" or "Trump lied when he said there was lots of evidence of electoral fraud" or "Trump told insurgents that he loved them". And rightly so. Fox provides 'balance' when it claims a satirical quote from Monty Python and The Holy Grail as Antifa policy, broadcasts photos edited to make people look more Jewish, shows video of fake large crowds at right-wing gatherings, and just lies and insinuates pretty much all the time.

This is a pretty startling video compilation of actual Fox coverage highly critical of Obama, for things that they have been totally supportive of Trump doing.

I've no reason to doubt any of that, my point was only that people already highly supportive of Trump would object to what they might see as further evidence of the media briefing against him. As a result, they might be even more likely to take comfort and validation in the media that they do agree with, thus exacerbating the polarisation.

Personally, I'm more of a CNN guy.

 

[Phil H]

It gets you to the moon

Allegedly

PH

 

[midlifecrisis]

There's always a risk in the UK or US that if you are critical of a particular government policy then you must belong to the opposition.
I've been critical of Boris but I'm no way a Corbynite, in fact Corbyn was bad for Labour and bad for UK politics as he couldn't hold the government to account. A government is only as good as its opposition.
Likewise, the Democratic Party now have to perform, to show that they are a party of Unity, Equality and Justice. Otherwise, the far right of the Republican party will prosper.

 

[Zep]

I listened to this last week. Found it quite thought provoking.

The Death of Nuance - Losing My Nuance - BBC Sounds

Oliver Burkeman asks, are we losing our nuance?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[dgmx5]

The need for free speach, why even intolerant voices should be heard and how banning Trump from Twitter could make him a martyr:

 

[CatmanV2]

The need for free speach, why even intolerant voices should be heard and how banning Trump from Twitter could make him a martyr:

Definitely a challenge. It's easy to quote Voltaire, but somewhat harder, sometimes, to live it when it's in your face....

C

 

[MarkMas]

The need for free speach, why even intolerant voices should be heard and how banning Trump from Twitter could make him a martyr:

Love "Jonathan Pie", but it is increasingly hard to tell satire from news these days.

Jonathan Pie - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org