Lawrence O'Donnell slams NYT for false reporting that was 'a total victory for Donald Trump'

[still_one]

MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell dissected President Donald Trump’s escalating battle with United States intelligence agencies during “The Last Word” on Wednesday.

The host came to two major conclusions: that even The New York Times has failed in covering Trump and that directors of the CIA, FBI and NSA are only remaining in their jobs because they believe they have a duty to protect the American people from the commander-in-chief.

O’Donnell read Trump’s latest broadsides against the intelligence community on Twitter, in which he said, “the Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive” and “perhaps Intelligence should go back to school.”

.........

"“The New York Times initial reporting of what the president said today made no attempt at all to convey the profound presidential perversity of Donald Trump issuing a tweet this morning in which he screamed, ‘they are wrong’ at what he called ‘the intelligence people,'” O’Donnell explained.

“It is unusual for the president to pick a fight with his intelligence chiefs,” The New York Times published.

“That kind of reporting is total victory for Donald Trump,” O’Donnell declared. “The brainwashing is working. The outrage fatigue is working.”

“The New York Times is completely wrong. It is not unusual. What the president did today was not ‘unusual’ — it has never happened,” he continued. “To be unusual it has to have happened before, but not very often.”

“Unusual is not the word for what happened today,” he added.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/brainwashing-working-lawrence-odonnell-slams-nyt-false-reporting-total-victory-donald-trump/

[leftynyc]

1. That's for the opinion pages

They reported the story - pointed out how unusual it was. Looks like good journalism to me.

[catbyte]

2. Well, for accuracy's sake, instead of "unusual" they should've used the word "unprecedented."

[leftynyc]

3. I don't know that unprecedented is true

Are you sure?

[NewJeffCT]

4. for a president to directly attack the entire intelligence community

yes, I'm pretty sure it is unprecedented.

Dick Cheney (Vice President) outing Valerie Plame was so unusual that there was a Special Prosecutor hired to investigate that one incident.

[leftynyc]

5. Now you see why I don't

like when the press uses words like that. You were able to come up with an example quickly that the right wing will make the story rather than what is important which is the highly unusual nature of what he did. I still call it good journalism and LOD made a mistake thinking the NY Times has the job of inserting opinion into their reporting pages.

[spooky3]

15. This is a matter of fact, not opinion. If no other president

Has criticized the intelligence community the way Trump has, then that (or “unprecedented”) is the way it should be reported. If it has happened occasionally, then “unusual” is appropriate.

[leftynyc]

17. Off the top of my head

I remember it happening (and I doubt it's the first ever) was when there were no wmds in Iraq and the bush administration went off on how the cia told them it was a slam dunk they were there.

[groundloop]

14. It's not only unprecedented, but also 'unpresidented'

[catbyte]

9. No president has launched such a consistent, sustained, public attack on

his own intelligence people. The CIA has been in existence since 1947; the FBI since 1908; the NSA since 1952. Yes, I can safely say that no president has ever done what this one is doing.

[leftynyc]

19. I agree with the nature of your post

Because donnie has been whining about them for as long as he's been infesting the oval office. But I remember the bush administration blaming the CIA for there not being wmds in Iraq when they claimed the case was a slam dunk. I doubt very much it was the first time a president has trashed the intelligence community.

[pangaia]

8. NOT UNUSUAL... NEVER HAPPENED........... fact......

[leftynyc]

20. So the bush administration

DIDN'T blame the intelligence community for there being no wmd's in Iraq when they said the case was a slam dunk? I remember it differently than you do, apparently.

[pangaia]

23. Forgot about that.. even now cannot remember exactly what went dowm.

[Apollyonus]

11. It is pussyfooting n/t

[Cryptoad]

6. Putin liked it,,,,,,

[The Wizard]

7. It's time for the Times

and other media leaders stop using euphemisms to describe the crimes and treason Trump commits to please his Russian overlord. He's compromised, and his tax returns will reveal a glimpse into his collusion and conspiracy with Putin to destroy the western alliance.
I'm not a big impeachment fan, but when is he stopped, when the damage is beyond repair?

[calimary]

10. Sometimes it's the effort to be completely objective. To a fault.

Personally, I think there are cases where the subject in question has already received WAY OVERBOARD benefit of the doubt.

Look at how long it’s taken ANYONE in the mass media (or, hell, anybody in official Washington or media capitol New York) actually to use the word “lie” regarding trump.

Seems to me that we passed the “but in fairness” point when applied to trump ‘n’ comp quite awhile ago.

[GeorgeGist]

12. NYT is in the business of selling.

[dlk]

13. The Mainstream Press is Overdue for More Accurate Descriptors of Trump's Bizarre Behavior

Here are a few: aberrant, abnormal, atypical, bizarre (again), deviant, odd, peculiar... There are more than just a few adjectives that would be more accurate of Trump's traitorous actions. They are doing America a huge disservice with their timid understatements. We have a president who is actively acting on behalf of a hostile foreign power. This is no time to be shy.

[triron]

24. Exactly. The phrase "timid understatements" is spot on.

Applies to a hell of a lot of the media, not just the NYTimes.
Then maybe they're afraid of Putin (sarcasm).

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

16. Give Little Donnie a break. He's only doing what Putin tells him to do.

Putin's goal is to destroy the United States from the inside. It started with IQ45 screaming "Voter fraud!" during the 2016 election and threatening to not accept the results (which wouldn't have mattered, but that's spilt milk under the bridge). Then he appoints corrupt and incompetent people to his cabinet -- or refuses to fill critical positions at all -- and fires anyone who has institutional knowledge under the pretext that they aren't loyal to him.

He attacks the foundations of our country -- the judiciary, rule of law and its enforcement, intelligence apparatus -- and says, "Only I can fix it."

He spouts nonsensical revisionist history about Russia that are only found in the headlines only found in Russian media.

And worst of all, he meets with our worst adversary alone, without advisers or a note taker or even at times an American translator. This isn't unusual, it's unprecedented. It is the actions of an agent of the Russian state.

Sorry to go off like that. I spent a major part of my life as an Air Force officer who had taken an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Trump is clearly an enemy of the United States, and should not only be removed from office, but also tried as a traitor.

Fuck his base. The other 70% are slowly awakening to the threat The Orange One (who I call "Donnie" ) poses to our nation.

[ehrnst]

18. What happens when you DON'T fact check the words of a politician... (nt)

[B Stieg]

21. Bad editing?

Noticing increasing #'s of errors like this in the Times over the past year or so.

[Faygo Kid]

22. I'm outraged. We must stop this man, and NYT says "unusual?"

We won't make it to 2020. We need to remove him from office now.

[Cha]

25. Those who write crap like this at the NYT..

are freaking gaslit Idiots. We have the Puppet.. we don't need Shite like this from the NYF*******T.

Thank You, LO'D!

Thanks, still_one