Alternative Facts

[MilSpecs]

That is as funny as it sounds.

Yes, using facts and telling truth is highly overrated in the post-truth World. Don't have any need for it. Everything is just an opinion. Who can know for sure?

We've always been in a post-truth world. Trump merely capitalized on that reality. A post-truth world didn't simply emerge as a new state of affairs that arose as a result of modern communication technology, that merely exacerbated an already existent condition.

Because these are minor issues, it doesn't matter as much, but what happens when the lie is 'China has attacked us'? We're at war with China, we've always been at war with China.

I blame this on the media too, for being lazy and relying on parroting other news stories instead of doing their own investigating, and mixing opinion with news. It's led to the current state of distrust. That said, a free press is essential to democracy. It absolutely cannot be hobbled when it comes to monitoring the white house.

[StCapps]

Because these are minor issues, it doesn't matter as much, but what happens when the lie is 'China has attacked us'? We're at war with China, we've always been at war with China.

No one is making convincing and entertaining lies of that magnitude. As long as the beefs with the "facts" are limited to minor issues that serve as clever distraction I don't see the need to be overly concerned.

[K@th]

No one is making convincing and entertaining lies of that magnitude. As long as the beefs with the "facts" are limited to minor issues that serve as clever distraction I don't see the need to be overly concerned.

More like, if he's willing to lie about clearly provable facts on a completely irrelevant issue, he's willing to lie about anything. What did these lies do? Did everyone shut up? No? You think they are all focusing on how clear and obvious the lie was, by using facts & data?

When your primary mouthpiece (Fox News in this case,) tells you you're talking out your ass, you're probably talking out your ass.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/529249765000 ... show-clips

So, adwinistrator, to summarize your point.... Trump is embarrassed about the things he is doing so he's throwing tantrums about nonsense to deflect attention to non-issues.

Okay - I see your point. I thought he was proud of his agenda, but you're saying he's not.

[adwinistrator]

So, adwinistrator, to summarize your point.... Trump is embarrassed about the things he is doing so he's throwing tantrums about nonsense to deflect attention to non-issues.

Okay - I see your point. I thought he was proud of his agenda, but you're saying he's not.

I mean, his agenda hasn't really been implemented yet. A few executive orders, nothing worth demanding the media's full attention on. The positives don't overshadow the negatives.

Now, the Trump team can have a slap fight over things that are not important, and they set the stage for the coming months... "You're either with us, or against us"

If the press were really focusing on the state of the transition, which some have been, he would be on the defensive.

Foreign Policy Magazine - Trump’s National Security Team Is Missing in Action (1/18/17)

Instead of hitting the ground running, the Trump team emerged from the election ill-prepared for the daunting task of assembling a new administration and has yet to fill an array of crucial top jobs overseeing the country’s national security and diplomacy, fueling uncertainty across the federal government.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” one career government official told Foreign Policy.

The delays and dysfunction threaten to cripple the incoming administration from the outset and raise the risk the White House will present confused or contradictory policies to the outside world. Without his team in place, the new president will likely be unprepared should an early-term crisis erupt abroad, or an adversary test the new administration’s mettle, said former officials who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

The Washington Post - Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far (updated 1/20/17)

Of 690 key positions requiring Senate confirmation… 660 Awaiting announcement. 28 Nominee announced. 2 confirmed.

The Post and Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, are tracking nearly 700 key executive branch nominations through the confirmation process. These positions include Cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsel, heads of agencies, ambassadors and other critical leadership positions. These are among the roughly 1,200 positions that require Senate confirmation.

[StCapps]

More like, if he's willing to lie about clearly provable facts on a completely irrelevant issue, he's willing to lie about anything.

No it means he'll lie when truth isn't as effective and tell the truth when it's more effective than any lie. Assuming that if someone lies about anything they'll lie about everything is just asinine.

What did these lies do? Did everyone shut up? No? You think they are all focusing on how clear and obvious the lie was, by using facts & data?

The lies portrayed a more entertaining and compelling narrative than the lies and facts of his opposition and while undermining the narrative portrayed by his opponents. That's what they were designed to do.

When your primary mouthpiece (Fox News in this case,) tells you you're talking out your ass, you're probably talking out your ass.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/529249765000 ... show-clips

Talking out of your ass can win over the electorate rather effectively in certain situations, you hate on Trump for exploiting these situations to his advantage.

So, adwinistrator, to summarize your point.... Trump is embarrassed about the things he is doing so he's throwing tantrums about nonsense to deflect attention to non-issues.

Okay - I see your point. I thought he was proud of his agenda, but you're saying he's not.

He never cared about his positions on policies, he was deliberately vague to allow for flexibility, you shouldn't be taking his outrageous opening offers as hard policy positions he'd never budge on. Trump is a pragmatist not an ideologue.

[MilSpecs]

Because these are minor issues, it doesn't matter as much, but what happens when the lie is 'China has attacked us'? We're at war with China, we've always been at war with China.

No one is making convincing and entertaining lies of that magnitude. As long as the beefs with the "facts" are limited to minor issues that serve as clever distraction I don't see the need to be overly concerned.

Yet.
We are being primed for the big con.

[K@th]

If the press were really focusing on the state of the transition, which some have been, he would be on the defensive.

Foreign Policy Magazine - Trump’s National Security Team Is Missing in Action (1/18/17)

Instead of hitting the ground running, the Trump team emerged from the election ill-prepared for the daunting task of assembling a new administration and has yet to fill an array of crucial top jobs overseeing the country’s national security and diplomacy, fueling uncertainty across the federal government.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” one career government official told Foreign Policy.

The delays and dysfunction threaten to cripple the incoming administration from the outset and raise the risk the White House will present confused or contradictory policies to the outside world. Without his team in place, the new president will likely be unprepared should an early-term crisis erupt abroad, or an adversary test the new administration’s mettle, said former officials who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

The Washington Post - Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far (updated 1/20/17)

Of 690 key positions requiring Senate confirmation… 660 Awaiting announcement. 28 Nominee announced. 2 confirmed.

The Post and Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, are tracking nearly 700 key executive branch nominations through the confirmation process. These positions include Cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsel, heads of agencies, ambassadors and other critical leadership positions. These are among the roughly 1,200 positions that require Senate confirmation.

Right. So, instead of trying to positively spin this, he deflects, because reasons. Which reasons are those? He has an actual thing he can spin. That's the Press Secretary's job. To put positive spin on stuff.

That story is showing up on my FB wall, with peeps saying WTF? And he's worried about crowd size? He clearly isn't taking his job seriously.

That's my take as well.

[Dand]

No, Kath, the press deliberately ran with a lying story about how incredibly small the crowd was for the inaugural address, showing a photo taken well before the crowds showed up as alleged proof.

Metro ticket sales don't lie. Period.

What were the Uber sales like in 2008?

Do they lie?

[StCapps]

That story is showing up on my FB wall, with peeps saying WTF? And he's worried about crowd size? He clearly isn't taking his job seriously.

That's my take as well.

He is not worried about crowd size. He is simply countering the media lying about crowd size and that being the most compelling and entertaining narrative out there if he doesn't read. The media lying about crowd size to make Trump look bad and than making Trump's inauguration seem as large as possible is more compelling than the media's narrative, and fighting back, not just sitting back and taking the media's lies make Trump and Spicer's narrative more entertaining than media's.

[adwinistrator]

Right. So, instead of trying to positively spin this, he deflects, because reasons. Which reasons are those? He has an actual thing he can spin. That's the Press Secretary's job. To put positive spin on stuff.

That story is showing up on my FB wall, with peeps saying WTF? And he's worried about crowd size? He clearly isn't taking his job seriously.

That's my take as well.

Positively spin what?

Here's a list of all actions he's taken so far:

• Issued an executive order aimed at rolling back former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.
• Halted a reduction to the annual mortgage insurance premiums borrowers pay when taking out government-backed home loans.
• Ordered agencies to freeze new regulations, giving the new administration time to review them.
• Received a key legal OK from the Justice Department for Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to take on a role in the White House.
• Met with the CIA, where he addressed employees. Trump also took over the nuclear codes
• Spoke to the Mexican president and said the two will meet at the end of January.
• Spoke to the Canadian prime minister about the two nations' economic relationship.
• Announced he has meetings with leaders in Mexico and Canada to begin re-negotiating NAFTA.
• Announced his first foreign leader meeting will be Friday with the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May.
• Signaled a shift in the Justice Department's civil rights efforts when it requested a delay in the lawsuit over a Texas law requiring voters to present certain types of government-issued IDs.
• Told the National Park Service not to tweet after it retweeted side-by-side images showing the crowd at former President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration and Trump's inauguration.
• Began discussions about moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
• Confronted his first national disaster as President, deadly tornadoes in Georgia.

The goal of starting this unimportant fight with the media is to cement the media as the enemy, and to keep control of where the headlines are. They don't want the headlines about dramatic shifts in Israeli foreign policy, or a transition that is missing thousands of employees in key positions across the government, including the non-confirmation positions.