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RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
Sun Jan 7, 2018, 08:50 PM Jan 2018

Sarah Kendzior on Fire and Fury -- good insights

- I had a few other thoughts on "Fire and Fury" that I couldn't touch on in this article due to space. They add to my belief that the book is in many respects helpful for Trump. So I'll tweet them out here.

- Wolff often writes about his subjects through their own eyes, imagining their thoughts. This narrative device conveys Trump as sincerely believing himself to be innocent -- afraid of being framed, not found out.

- This narrative of course flies in the face of all evidence in the public domain (emails, meetings) as well as Trump's own admissions of obstructing justice.

- To my surprise, Wolff -- a very sharp media critic -- largely takes Trump's portrayal of the media as an enemy at face value. There is almost nothing on how the sycophantic members of the press or even the sheer volume of coverage helped Trump.

- Some of the most obsequious journalists -- who write fawning profiles and who Trump actively seeks out -- are presented as if Trump truly considers them his enemies. It's odd that a savvy media critic like Wolff did not break these relationships down.


Trump is no genius, but he’s smart at playing dumb SARAH KENDZIOR
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/trump-is-no-genius-but-hes-smart-at-playing-dumb/article37518954/
From his days as a tabloid staple to his scandal-ridden campaign, Donald Trump operated under the rubric that there is no such thing as bad publicity. As long as the focus was on him – and as long as a ruthless team of NDA-granting lawyers could help him buttress the blows – all attention was welcome. Mr. Trump could not be shamed, for he had no shame; he could not lose, because he'd rewrite the rules. Lies were always truths for Donald Trump.

Pundits who expected Mr. Trump to become presidential found instead that the office exacerbated his worst tendencies: the narcissism was now backed by executive power, and the media now had no choice but to cover him constantly as the leader of the free world. Under political pressure but still craving the spotlight, Mr. Trump controlled the press by communicating almost entirely through Twitter, a one-sided relationship that continues to this day.

... But Fire and Fury is also an incomplete portrayal – and here is why the book is useful to Mr. Trump.

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Sarah Kendzior on Fire and Fury -- good insights (Original Post) RandomAccess Jan 2018 OP
he is NOT playing dumb Skittles Jan 2018 #1
K&R smirkymonkey Jan 2018 #2
Yes, I suspect that this book is a whitewash, if anything. He's a pathetic, laughable clown, pnwmom Jan 2018 #3

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
3. Yes, I suspect that this book is a whitewash, if anything. He's a pathetic, laughable clown,
Sun Jan 7, 2018, 09:21 PM
Jan 2018

according to the book. The reality is far worse.

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