White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks in the press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington. CREDIT: AP Photo/Alex Brandon.
During his first appearance before the press as President Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer attacked the media for accurately reporting that Trump’s inauguration was attended by a relatively small crowd. […] In the latest sign that the Trump administration plans to wage war on reality, Spicer refused to accept that attendance for Trump’s inauguration was smaller than for President Obama’s in 2009.
“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration. Period,” Spicer said. “Both in person and around the globe.”
He blamed “floor coverings [that] were used to protect the grass on the mall” for making it look like there was lots of empty space. In fact, there was just lots of empty space.
“These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong,” Spicer said of the reporting.
It’s official – reality is shameful and wrong, oh my yes! I’m starting to think we’d be better off with Nixon’s head in a jar.
Neither Trump nor Spicer said a word about the fact that earlier Saturday, about 500,000 people were marching in the streets of D.C. in response to Trump’s inauguration, or about twice as many as turned out for Trump’s ceremony the day before .
I like reality. Reality is good. This slice of reality is excellent! It is shameful Pendejo Trump refuses to face it. As Spicer was close to a full tantrum over this, Stepford Kellyanne came to the rescue, with alternative facts:
During an interview on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd asked Conway why Spicer felt the need to berate the press over the weekend for accurately reporting that Trump’s crowd sizes were dwarfed by the attendance at President Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration.
“Don’t be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck,” Conway scoffed. “They’re saying it’s a falsehood and our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that.”
I don’t think the people who prefer facts, truth, and reality are the ones being dramatic. Melodramatic is a good descriptor of Pendejo Trump, and his supporting soap opera.
“Wait a minute,” Todd interrupted. “Alternative facts! Four of the five facts that he uttered were just not true. Alternative facts are not facts, they’re falsehoods.”
Conway tried to deflect, but the host pressed on: “You sent the press secretary out there to utter a falsehood on the smallest, pettiest thing. And I don’t understand why you did it.”
“I don’t think you can prove those numbers one way or the other,” the Trump aide opined. “You can laugh at me all you want. You are, and I think it’s actually symbolic of the way we’re treated by the press. I’ll just ignore it. I’m bigger than that. I’m a kind and gracious person.”
Actually, you can estimate those numbers very well, and Pendejo Trump knows that all too well, which is why he shut down the people who do those estimates every year. This isn’t about proof or absolute numbers. It is very much about just how thin and tender Pendejo Trump’s skin is, and it doesn’t bode well.
Additionally, Spicer tried to claim that floor coverings and magnometers were to blame for the poor turn out:
“This was the first time in our nation’s history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the [National] Mall,” Spicer said. “That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual. This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past.”
This is not true, either, and so easily refuted. It was the U.S. Secret Service who put paid to the magnometer story, but I guess they are all liars too, you betcha!
Via Think Progress and Raw Story. Also see #AlternativeFacts.
Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as “the truth” exists. … The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, “It never happened” – well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five – well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs. – George Orwell, 1943.
Let there be no illusions as to the truthfulness of anything this president and his cohort will say. I’d consider this ‘small lie’ a public service for those who, against all reason, still wanted put some stock in their new government’s word.
“The presidential canditate was lying all though his campaing but surely as the president … oh, no, wait, he started lying as president even while he was still being made official. Never mind.”
Petty lies are practice for the big ones and Trump started practicing long ago.
“Alternative facts”. Oh my. You do not need Detritus’s brain cooled by a blizzard to know this is stupid. They really have no sense of shame.
The real problem is that a lot of people in the USA will and do believe these “alternative facts” and nothing you can say or do will convince them differently. Trump says “no more dresses”, it’s no more dresses and you could probably take those people to a shop and buy them one and they’d still accuse you of manufacturing this.
No, They have a well-developed finely-tuned sense of shame: If a competitor you haven’t yet had eliminated has or
earnsobtains more money, you sue them for being embarrassed by you.Another example of this sense of shame: Sue everyone who has / obtains less money then you for being so embarrassed by you.
Lawsuits best filed in courts owned by you, where only lawyers who voted for you / your candidates are allowed to practice. All legal fees to be paid by the richer & poorer people you are suing for embarrassing them. The winning & losing lawyers, as well as the judge, court’s staff, and other flunkies (such as the legislature) are then sued for both being embarrassed by you, and for having to file all the various lawsuits.
Blf, I don’t think a sense of embarrassment is the same as a sense of shame. Having a sense of shame implies one might actually feel guilty.
You know who else talked about “alternative facts”? Orwell.
Lets see if we can count the propaganda tactics at work:
1. Blatant lying: The first and most obvious step, but it has to be backed up by…
2. Alternate facts: Objective reality says Trump’s crowds where small? Well Breitbart says they’re the biggest crowds ever! Its the same tactic the GOP has always used to deny global warming, create your own ‘experts’ to back up whatever you say, just applied more broadly. Trump could say the sky is green and there’d be a hundred articles pouring out from far-right propaganda about how obviously green the sky is and only evil lying elitist SJW cucks believe its blue.
3. Abuse the media’s fetish for being ‘objective’: In this case a journalist was willing to call them out on their lies, but most of the time the media will b
At least CNN had a large runner up, saying “alternative facts are lies.”
We’re in an alt world now -- alt-right, alt-government, alt-freedom, alt-facts, alt-history, alt-justice.
Ok that time my finger didnt even go near the post button.
So ya short 3. The media is too chickenshit most of the time to call out a lie. Blatant lies and objective reality will be presented as two equal sides of a disagreement. To do otherwise would be ‘biased’.
And 4. Present yourself as being the bigger person. Notice how when backed into a corner she tried to act like she was some innocent victim being attacked by the big nasty media? That was deliberate. To Mr. and Mrs. Drooling Idiot Voter what they’re seeing is some sweet nice lady being attacked by some obnoxious elitist reporter, not the spokeswoman for one of the most powerful men on earth smugly lying to our faces and an exhausted reporter doing the basic duty of his job by calling her lies out.
Caine, you left out alt-healthcare, alt-science (None) and alt-peace, to name but a few, although that last one has been around for a long time.
Speaking of which, Trump’s mere presence in office is already having some nasty side-effects abroad. For instance, Israel is feeling brave enough to indulge in some more ‘settling’ in spite of international condemnation, something they apparently weren’t so comfortable with while Obama was still around. (BBC) For Trump just opening his mouth is enough to stir up conflict, and now the world will have to listen to him go on for years to come.
Komarov, yeeeeeaaah, I was just reading about that. Fuck. I have to stop, I can only take so much each day. It’s gonna get very bad from here.
“There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!”
Whatever Trump (or his spokespeople) says will be taken as truth, because what matters is what he says, not what he does or what happens. Because Obama and liberals and things like that.
A journalist on some methods, referring back to his time covering Rob Ford. Small potatoes.