Must read - TPM - "The Case for Not Being Crybabies"

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-case-for-not-being-crybabies

By JOSH MARSHALL Published JANUARY 16, 2017, 11:08 AM EDT

read it all following the link. I am going to paste some important tidbits.

"But as a prediction of what awaits the American press, I think it is way, way off the mark and the kind of pusillanimous, defeatist attitude we've seen in this cattle call of Trump outrages listed above. Presidents don't validate what is and isn't news. If you're expecting them to, you're doing it wrong. Almost nothing that is truly important about the work of a free press is damaged by moving the press office across the street.

" It is vastly preferable to have a President who believes in or at least respects American and democratic values. But let's get real: we don't or wont't as of Friday. Trump is a would-be authoritarian and a bully. He's surrounded by mediocrities who owe all to him and Feel validated by enabling his endless transgressions. Of course, he's doing these things. We know Trump's MO. He will bully people until they're cowed and humiliated and obedient. He'll threaten to kick the reporters out of the White House and then either cut a 'deal' or make some big to-do about 'allowing' the reporters to stay. These are all threats and mind games meant not so much to cow the press as make them think Trump is continually taking things away from them and that they need to make him stop.

"They don't need to. That access isn't necessary to do their jobs. And bargaining over baubles of access which are of little consequence is not compatible with doing their job. Access can provide insight and understanding. But it's almost never where the good stuff comes from. Journalists unearth factual information and report it. If Trump wants to turn America into strong man state, journalists should cover that story rather than begging Trump not to be who he is. America isn't Russia. And I don't think he can change us into Russia. So unless and until we see publications shut down and journalists arrested or disappeared, let's have a little more confidence in our values and our history and our country.

"Trump's one true gift is his ability to get his critics to surrender up their own dignity somehow of their own free will. That is just what he is trying to do to the press at this moment. It's no different from the dominance politics he played on his opponents in the GOP primaries.

"Trump wants to bully the press and profit off the presidency. He's told us this clearly in his own words. We need to accept the reality of both. The press should cover him on that basis, as a coward and a crook.

"Trump is the most unpopular incoming President in American history. We only have data on this going back a few decades. But there's little reason to think any President in previous decades or centuries has been this unpopular. Indeed, he's getting less popular as he approaches his inauguration. People need to have a bit more confidence in themselves, their values and their country. As soon as you realize that the Trump wants to profit from the presidency and that the Republicans are focused and helping him do so, all the questions become easier to answer and the path forward more clear.

more. worth the read.

[cyclonefence]

1. + ten billion

[Wounded Bear]

2. Good read...

Let's hope the press has the courage to stand up to Trump.

[tblue37]

3. K&R for visibility. nt

[enough]

4. This may be the best thing I've seen dealing with the question of how we should

relate to and deal with the Trump presidency as citizens. It demystifies Trump and reminds us of the very robust tools we have for resistance.

[BadgerMom]

5. Excellent!

Thanks, Josh Marshall.

[bdamomma]

6. K&R

[highplainsdem]

7. K&R. And I just saw a Krugman tweet about Marshall's "words of wisdom":

https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/821040297350201344

[Initech]

8. If Twitler is the most unpopular incoming president in American history...

How the fuck did he get elected??

[NewJeffCT]

11. several reasons

1) He inspired much higher turnout than normal among rural racist types.
2) Russia and Wikileaks coordinated with the Trump campaign to damage the Clinton candidacy through selective leaking of information.
3) The media loved Trump and gave him upwards of $3 billion in free media coverage.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

14. Don't forget the deliberate dumbing down of and lying to Americans perpetrated by the RW

propaganda machine, with the help of low-brow entertainment peddlers.

[dsc]

15. He isn't the most unpopular person to have run

he is the most unpopular person to have won. But the point is that even people who won with lower popular vote percentages and/or lower EC wins have gained popularity upon being named President elect. Carter and Bush had lower EC totals, while Clinton, had a lower popular vote percentage. Yet all of them were more popular than unpopular by Inaguration Day, Trump will not be.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. kicking for exposure

[longship]

10. Please, please click through!

Josh Marshall nails this. He ends with a typical TPM flourish.
R&

[byronius]

12. Josh Marshall once again proving he's the new Walter Cronkite.

Words of true wisdom.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

13. K&R nt