This whole thing just shows us what exactly what will happen if/when trump keels over. It will be covered up as long as possible. Just like Iran’s new Ayatollah, who has never been seen, even to show up for his father’s funeral.
You know we’ve gone full 1984 dystopia when the fucking Senate Majority Leader stands there with a straight face and claims he had a conversation with McConnell about national security of all things (as if you’d really expect them to discuss that), and all the reporters just parrot what he said as unquestioned fact. And no one will bat an eye or ever mention his blatant lying, when it comes out that McConnell was dead the whole time.
I always heard the saying as, “A stopped clock is right twice a day.”
I’d say the downfall first started around the time 24-hour cable news came along (starting in 1980 but it didn’t happen right away) along with things like the abolishing of the fairness doctrine (1987). That and the need to fill 24 hours with “news” led to the shift to more op-ed content than news. More and more of these opinion news cable channels followed.
Then the deterioration really began to snowball with the internet and proliferation of “news” outlets tailored for specific audiences, culminating with the rise of social media (I mean, what hasn’t been negatively affected by the rise of social media/oligarch-owned web 2.0) and the purchasing of all media outlets, including newspapers, by corporations and later by the rising oligarchs.
All this meant the “news” became just another type of profit-driven enterprise, with a need to compete for ratings, that shifted it from hard news to entertainment and nothing more than parroting of press releases with no independent investigation. Ultimately leading to the demise of the last bastion of independence, print journalism.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t still some journalists doing good investigative work, just that they are pretty much on their own now. I don’t know much about Meidas Touch, but if they’re actually out there asking questions and reporting, instead of just sitting around spouting opinions and outrage like most political podcasts, that’s a good thing.
If we had a free independent press any more, all reputable news outlets would be writing about this every single day to apply pressure for proof of consciousness, so they can’t drag this out until the deadline.
They would demand that his office, which released a statement saying "The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session”, prove that they weren’t outright LYING.
They would go around asking his spokespeople to answer questions on camera and hound them, “is McConnell conscious?”, “Will you release a photo of him with his eyes open?”, “Why did his wife go to Beijing?” etc etc.
But they won’t. Because we don’t have a free independent press any more. A few journalists will speculate. None will keep demanding answers until they get them. Just the talking heads speculating.
Should have thought of that back when Platner’s giant red flags were first flown, i.e. from the beginning of his run, when there was still plenty of time to find a better candidate. But no, he had the charisma to suck everyone in, so it was deny, delay, and defend, up to now at the last minute when the evidence has, as it obviously and inevitably would, piled up to undeniable level and everyone is screwed again. smh. He can’t win now no matter what.
Aaaaaaaand … Trump just dumped on the whole tournament and put the US team in a worse position than they already were with the bad red card call. If they win now, the win is tainted by controversy and the corrupt stain of Shitfinger. The only way for the team to save face would be to keep him off the field for the game anyway, which would also piss people off. It’s a lose-lose situation and will probably impact the team’s play as well.
On Thursday, McConnell’s office told Newsweek via email, “Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
Translation:
On Thursday, McConnell’s office told Newsweek via email, “[We believe that] Senator McConnell [would, if he were conscious and aware,] appreciate the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The Senator continues to improve [not be dead, technically], and is working closely with his [ICU medical] staff on Kentucky and Senate [respiration] matters while the Senate [brain] is out of session.”
We need a picture of him with eyes open (without tape) and holding up the current day’s NYT and WaPo papers.