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30 million Americans ready to ‘take up arms’, MSNBC claims
In the press, fear, and fear alone sells
12 Dec, 2021 22:10
MSNBC’s national affairs analyst John Heilemann shocked many Americans by claiming on a Sunday show that “20 to 30 million people” are ready to “take up arms” to remove President Joe Biden from office.
On Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’, host Chuck Todd focused on a recent Atlantic article declaring that Donald Trump’s “coup has already begun” for a segment, finding Heileman in total agreement with the statement with the piece's premise.
“There is this research that shows something like 8% and maybe up to 12% who say that Joe Biden was illegitimate and that violence is a suitable tool to remove him and restore Donald Trump. This represents between 20 and 30 million people,” Heilemann said, claiming these supposed “20 to 30 million people” are ready to “take up arms.”
These Trump supporters, he added, represent a “mass movement in favor of political violence.”
In the Atlantic article, by Barton Gellman, it is argued that Trump’s “coup” will “rely on subversion more than violence” and the January 6 Capitol riot is described as “practice” for the former president. Gellman claims political maneuvering by Trump and his supporters and putting the right supporters in the right positions nationally and locally could lead to a 2024 presidential election that is not decided by ballots.
Gellman’s ‘prediction’ had already faced some scrutiny from people chalking it up as hyperbolic partisanship, and Heilemann’s declaration that tens of millions are waiting in the wings to “take up arms” was met with some eye rolls and criticism against MSNBC for airing such “irresponsible journalism.”
“The last few years have convinced the press that fear - and fear alone - sells,” journalist Drew Holden tweeted.
“Too much of our news has become PANIC TV to get you fearful and grab your attention. It’s irresponsible,” author Daniel Darling added.
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Moscow likens treatment of Assange to ‘cannibalism’
15 Dec, 2021 22:10
April 11, 2019. © REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
The treatment of Julian Assange amounts to “real cannibalism” by Western governments, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, pointing out that the WikiLeaks founder is being punished for publishing the truth about US atrocities.
“The actions of recent years are real ‘cannibalism’ shown by our Western partners,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Friday, answering a question about Russia’s official position on Assange.
Given Russia's history of murdering journalists who are anti-government, this is more than a little hypocritical.
“This is no longer about double standards or about trampling the principles and ideals [the West claims to champion]”, she added, calling the West’s treatment of Assange “revenge” for his decision to share with the world the information that shed light on “lies and deception” by multiple governments.
“One way or another, this is a person committed to the principles of freedom of speech, which is of fundamental importance for international relations. With his life and deeds, he defended the very values that many only issue statements about,” said Zakharova.
Assange spent years trapped inside the embassy of Ecuador in London, before a new government in Quito revoked his asylum. He was dragged out of the embassy by British police in April 2019, and has been kept at the Belmarsh maximum-security prison ever since. His health has deteriorated considerably, and his fiancé, Stella Moris, recently revealed that he had suffered a stroke back in October.
Zakharova noted that Assange had become a “completely different man” as a result of his captivity, deprived of fresh air, walks and sunlight.
I don't know about cannibalism, but this is torture, and a warning from Deep State not to expose their criminal activities. What possible justification can there be for keeping him locked up 24/7?
If this is part of the mindset of Western civilization, then everything else about it
is canceled automatically. There cannot be any other interpretation.
The UK high court ruled last week to allow his extradition to the US, where he faces “espionage” charges for publishing documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.
Poll reveals how many Americans think media
pushes own agenda over facts
17 Dec, 2021 16:45
More than three quarters of all Americans from across the political spectrum think the news media’s primary goal is “advancing their own opinions or political agendas,” according to a new poll.
A Trafalgar Group poll published this month found that 76.3% of Americans agree that the primary focus of the mainstream media is “advancing their own opinions or political agendas,” with 23.7% saying the media’s focus is “finding and reporting the facts.”
Republicans were the most cynical group surveyed, with more than 90% believing that the media pushes its own political agenda. 76% of independents felt the same.
Democrats were the most trustful of the media, but only just, with 37.3% trusting news outlets to deliver the facts and with 62.7% accusing them of pushing partisanship.
The difference here between Republicans and Democrats reveals the direction of the news spinning is to the left.
"Thanks to the decentralization of the news through the internet and social media, the mainstream press outlets no longer have a monopoly on controlling the news,” Convention of States Action President Mark Meckler said in a statement to the Daily Caller, a conservative news site.
"Unfortunately, the mainstream media has been slow to adjust to this reality and don’t seem to realize that the average American can now see in real time the difference between the actual facts of a story versus what the mainstream media says.”
The hyper-partisanship of the Trump administration - which saw the president treated to scathing coverage by liberal outlets and adulation by the comparatively fewer conservative ones - has not done the media any favors in terms of public trust. A poll by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism this summer found that out of 46 countries surveyed, the US ranked last in media trust.
Another Gallup poll in October found that only 36% of the American public expressed “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the news media, the lowest figure since 2016 and nearly 20 points lower than at the turn of the millennium.
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