War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. George Orwell imagined a world in which there were no contradictions or hypocrisies because the party did not permit them. In fact, the party said such things don’t exist. This is has been a victorious week for the truth in American culture. A line was drawn, and it held. Serious people took collective action, and defended 84 years of ethics, values, standards and the public’s trust from a small group of incandescently cynical executives who don’t understand journalism, fairness or integrity.
Hillary Clinton does not get the respect she deserves because she is a woman. Her fortitude was apparent during the many Benghazi hearings. Unlike the cupcakes on the Republican side of the aisle who would not respond to a lawful subpoena by the January 6th Committee. I am ashamed of myself for believing the lies and propaganda spread about Mrs. Clinton on Fox News before the 2016 election and in a moment of stupidity pulled the lever for Trump. I am not sure if James Comey meddling would made a difference in my decision but that's life. However, what I do know is Hillary is a fierce woman who stood up to Putin and stood up to Trump. She has more courage in her little finger than Trump has in his whole body. Her stance on women's rights and human rights will keep her name on the lips of the free world long after she leaves us. She is assured her position is on the correct side of history of our great country. Unlike Trump who's name will go down in infamy for his anti-democratic, un-american, corrupt, self serving ways.
“What a contemptible thing to be for an American citizen, particularly one who served as White House press secretary on 9/11/01. What type of American willingly serves a regime who chopped up a Washington Post columnist with children who were American citizens? What type of American would gladly serve the interests of a regime that lashes women imprisoned for driving?”
There is a lot to unpack here Steve, but to answer your question, the type of man who would work for a regime that chops up a man (American or not) into pieces, tortured and imprisons women for asking for the right to drive, is a despicable man without a moral compass.
Then again, as Bush’s press secretary on 9/11, he’s used to lying to the American public. First, by propagating the lie that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. That the government wasn’t spying illegally on Americans, and telling us that the Iraqi invasion was justified to bring democracy to the Middle East; as Operation Iraqi Liberation or OIL (acronym) suggested.
Ali Fleisher reminds me of Baghdad Bob, a man so clueless or perhaps not; knowing he’s lying all along to appease his masters. Although, since Ali has no credibility, he’s more or less a poor man’s version of Side Show Bob, from the Simpson’s; a clown so irrelevant, that he’s no more than an afterthought, yet devious to the core, and dangerous if left to his own devices.
Hence Ari’s vengeance against NBC:
“A few days ago, one of Saudi Arabia’s paid agents, Fox News analyst Ari Fleischer demanded vengeance against NBC News because the network’s journalists refused to appear on air with a serial liar, who refused to concede a presidential election, while leading the world’s third oldest political party.”
There is no moral confusion Steve. Ari is everything you expect him to be. A morally bankrupt gun for hire, who for the right price will work for Russian Oligarchs aligned with Putin, or Kim Yong-Un for the matter.
Ari, Trump, McDaniel and the rest of the MAGA clown car are exactly who they tell they are, and we shouldn’t be shocked at all. They’re all cut from the same cloth; worshipping the all mighty dollar, and the power and trappings that comes with it.
Thank you Steve. What a sobering piece. The pictures from Saudi Arabia are horrendous and those women are so very very brave.
Yes, I think that's the most important lesson I've learned through all of this. Democracies must be cherished and nourished. Constantly. Somewhere along the line we all dropped the ball and allowed a Demagoue to slip in. Some of it was a backlash to President Obama but most of the corruption was already in place. After we win in November we must never allow it to happen again!! Big structural changes are needed as well. We can do this if keep our Republic. We must. The entire world is counting on us!!
In one of the Fan Club Groups I manage on Facebook we've designated Fridays as #FreedomFriday and I post accordingly. I think that's quite appropriate as we move forward. Let Freedom ring!!! Happy Friday dear friends. I know its been a long week. Hope you all can get some good rest this weekend. ❤️🇺🇸💙
Superb column, Steve. The women's crimes in Saudi Arabia and the pictures helped get the point across. Unreal that Saudi Arabia was appointed chair of the United Nations’ top forum for women’s rights and gender equality. WTF? That you tied in George Orwell, Hillary Clinton, Ari Fleischer, and all the associations Trump and his family has with Saudi Arabia... wow, just wow. Thanks for keeping me informed.
There will never be equality for all, world peace, or human rights until all religion is relegated to the closet, followed by a tiny minority, and generally considered anti-humanist.
All religions do one thing very well, they get people to believe in things that are physically impossible and morally indefensible. This kind of abuse will continue until every dictator, despot, and fake-ass president (Putin) is gone from the governments of the planet.
Those who use religion (don't ignore Trump's latest escapade into the world of Christianity) to influence citizens to accept things that are not factual but an extension of their will no matter how wrong it may be will never make the world a better, more equal place. They must never be allowed to be in any position of power again.
Dictators all have one common fear, an informed public. I’m talking information not propaganda. Dictators will do anything and everything to discredit and ultimately destroy real information.
That’s why Trump declares the press to be the enemy of the people.
Republicans are very aware of this weapon that can thwart their ambitions of an autocratic regime. Billionaires knew that controlling the narrative is key to hide their “monetary influence “ on the legislative bodies of any country they wish to control.
That’s why we have no real gun control laws. That’s why social security and Medicare are now in danger. This is why the very rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
So many representatives are bought and paid for here and abroad. But here especially. Would a moron like MTG be in Congress without them?
We allowed dark money to control our country and its narrative. Fox News was never News. But it’s too late. It’s been proven that they are ALL liars and propagandists ( even Bret Brier). Yet they are watched more than any other station.
I just watch Alex Jones and the Truth. Alex Jones was proven to be a liar for money. Even knowing he is a liar has not diminished his earnings and sales of snake oil products.
Ari is nothing more than a useful idiot. The people who watch and listen to Fox OAN Steve Bannon or Alex Jones, for example, are the deplorable Hillary warned of in 2016. Ari is just one of the infected population.
What the Saudi Arabians are doing to women is what the Republicans hope to do - keep them quiet in any and every way possible! (“Nevertheless, she persisted.” Mitch McConnell 2017) Their starting point is threatening to imprison women for having a miscarriage. “Lashes” can be delivered in many different ways. PAY ATTENTION!!!
Yeah, truth is hard to hide away. But in this day and age, the problem is that truth is being overrun with disinformation, with deceptions, with fabrications. Truth is being assaulted and overrun like the law enforcement officers at the nation's Capitol on January 6th. The truth is in an existential battle on the internet, on Fox News, on all the fringe media that is seeping out from under the rocks of our society. The mainstream media is being overwhelmed by the fringe-stream media. Truth-telling websites like this one are swamped by others, foreign and domestic, spewing misinformation and disinformation, flat-out falsehoods, and treacherous deceit. In today's environment, and with the current polling showing the leanings of the nation, one begins to wonder if simply fighting falsehoods with the truth is still working.
Fleischer is free to sell his soul to the Saudis and to Rupert Murdoch, and he has done just that. We are free to make a point of disavowing everything that he says and having disdain for him, and we do. Ain't America great!
Thank you again, Steve, for writing such a powerful piece. I was so proud of the NBC/ MSNBC journalists standing up, and the groundswell of public protest emails to NBC corporate. And now your piece ties together illustration of the corporate manipulation to share with the uninformed.
Hillary Clinton does not get the respect she deserves because she is a woman. Her fortitude was apparent during the many Benghazi hearings. Unlike the cupcakes on the Republican side of the aisle who would not respond to a lawful subpoena by the January 6th Committee. I am ashamed of myself for believing the lies and propaganda spread about Mrs. Clinton on Fox News before the 2016 election and in a moment of stupidity pulled the lever for Trump. I am not sure if James Comey meddling would made a difference in my decision but that's life. However, what I do know is Hillary is a fierce woman who stood up to Putin and stood up to Trump. She has more courage in her little finger than Trump has in his whole body. Her stance on women's rights and human rights will keep her name on the lips of the free world long after she leaves us. She is assured her position is on the correct side of history of our great country. Unlike Trump who's name will go down in infamy for his anti-democratic, un-american, corrupt, self serving ways.
“What a contemptible thing to be for an American citizen, particularly one who served as White House press secretary on 9/11/01. What type of American willingly serves a regime who chopped up a Washington Post columnist with children who were American citizens? What type of American would gladly serve the interests of a regime that lashes women imprisoned for driving?”
There is a lot to unpack here Steve, but to answer your question, the type of man who would work for a regime that chops up a man (American or not) into pieces, tortured and imprisons women for asking for the right to drive, is a despicable man without a moral compass.
Then again, as Bush’s press secretary on 9/11, he’s used to lying to the American public. First, by propagating the lie that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. That the government wasn’t spying illegally on Americans, and telling us that the Iraqi invasion was justified to bring democracy to the Middle East; as Operation Iraqi Liberation or OIL (acronym) suggested.
Ali Fleisher reminds me of Baghdad Bob, a man so clueless or perhaps not; knowing he’s lying all along to appease his masters. Although, since Ali has no credibility, he’s more or less a poor man’s version of Side Show Bob, from the Simpson’s; a clown so irrelevant, that he’s no more than an afterthought, yet devious to the core, and dangerous if left to his own devices.
Hence Ari’s vengeance against NBC:
“A few days ago, one of Saudi Arabia’s paid agents, Fox News analyst Ari Fleischer demanded vengeance against NBC News because the network’s journalists refused to appear on air with a serial liar, who refused to concede a presidential election, while leading the world’s third oldest political party.”
There is no moral confusion Steve. Ari is everything you expect him to be. A morally bankrupt gun for hire, who for the right price will work for Russian Oligarchs aligned with Putin, or Kim Yong-Un for the matter.
Ari, Trump, McDaniel and the rest of the MAGA clown car are exactly who they tell they are, and we shouldn’t be shocked at all. They’re all cut from the same cloth; worshipping the all mighty dollar, and the power and trappings that comes with it.
Nothing else matters…:)
Where was Ari Fleischer when Kellyanne Conway said there are facts and there are alternative facts.
Thank you Steve. What a sobering piece. The pictures from Saudi Arabia are horrendous and those women are so very very brave.
Yes, I think that's the most important lesson I've learned through all of this. Democracies must be cherished and nourished. Constantly. Somewhere along the line we all dropped the ball and allowed a Demagoue to slip in. Some of it was a backlash to President Obama but most of the corruption was already in place. After we win in November we must never allow it to happen again!! Big structural changes are needed as well. We can do this if keep our Republic. We must. The entire world is counting on us!!
In one of the Fan Club Groups I manage on Facebook we've designated Fridays as #FreedomFriday and I post accordingly. I think that's quite appropriate as we move forward. Let Freedom ring!!! Happy Friday dear friends. I know its been a long week. Hope you all can get some good rest this weekend. ❤️🇺🇸💙
Little wonder Trump made Saudi Arabia his first visit after his inauguration.
Superb column, Steve. The women's crimes in Saudi Arabia and the pictures helped get the point across. Unreal that Saudi Arabia was appointed chair of the United Nations’ top forum for women’s rights and gender equality. WTF? That you tied in George Orwell, Hillary Clinton, Ari Fleischer, and all the associations Trump and his family has with Saudi Arabia... wow, just wow. Thanks for keeping me informed.
There will never be equality for all, world peace, or human rights until all religion is relegated to the closet, followed by a tiny minority, and generally considered anti-humanist.
All religions do one thing very well, they get people to believe in things that are physically impossible and morally indefensible. This kind of abuse will continue until every dictator, despot, and fake-ass president (Putin) is gone from the governments of the planet.
Those who use religion (don't ignore Trump's latest escapade into the world of Christianity) to influence citizens to accept things that are not factual but an extension of their will no matter how wrong it may be will never make the world a better, more equal place. They must never be allowed to be in any position of power again.
Dictators all have one common fear, an informed public. I’m talking information not propaganda. Dictators will do anything and everything to discredit and ultimately destroy real information.
That’s why Trump declares the press to be the enemy of the people.
Republicans are very aware of this weapon that can thwart their ambitions of an autocratic regime. Billionaires knew that controlling the narrative is key to hide their “monetary influence “ on the legislative bodies of any country they wish to control.
That’s why we have no real gun control laws. That’s why social security and Medicare are now in danger. This is why the very rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
So many representatives are bought and paid for here and abroad. But here especially. Would a moron like MTG be in Congress without them?
We allowed dark money to control our country and its narrative. Fox News was never News. But it’s too late. It’s been proven that they are ALL liars and propagandists ( even Bret Brier). Yet they are watched more than any other station.
I just watch Alex Jones and the Truth. Alex Jones was proven to be a liar for money. Even knowing he is a liar has not diminished his earnings and sales of snake oil products.
Ari is nothing more than a useful idiot. The people who watch and listen to Fox OAN Steve Bannon or Alex Jones, for example, are the deplorable Hillary warned of in 2016. Ari is just one of the infected population.
What the Saudi Arabians are doing to women is what the Republicans hope to do - keep them quiet in any and every way possible! (“Nevertheless, she persisted.” Mitch McConnell 2017) Their starting point is threatening to imprison women for having a miscarriage. “Lashes” can be delivered in many different ways. PAY ATTENTION!!!
Yeah, truth is hard to hide away. But in this day and age, the problem is that truth is being overrun with disinformation, with deceptions, with fabrications. Truth is being assaulted and overrun like the law enforcement officers at the nation's Capitol on January 6th. The truth is in an existential battle on the internet, on Fox News, on all the fringe media that is seeping out from under the rocks of our society. The mainstream media is being overwhelmed by the fringe-stream media. Truth-telling websites like this one are swamped by others, foreign and domestic, spewing misinformation and disinformation, flat-out falsehoods, and treacherous deceit. In today's environment, and with the current polling showing the leanings of the nation, one begins to wonder if simply fighting falsehoods with the truth is still working.
It’ll likely be that same environment here if the 2024 election goes sour!
Fleischer is free to sell his soul to the Saudis and to Rupert Murdoch, and he has done just that. We are free to make a point of disavowing everything that he says and having disdain for him, and we do. Ain't America great!
Thank you again, Steve, for writing such a powerful piece. I was so proud of the NBC/ MSNBC journalists standing up, and the groundswell of public protest emails to NBC corporate. And now your piece ties together illustration of the corporate manipulation to share with the uninformed.
Ari Fleischer is a Joseph Goebbels wannabe and he can kiss my hairy ass.
Unbelievable- I hope this is thoroughly and accurately covered in mainstream news. How very sad and heartbreaking.
Way to bring the hammer down on NBC. Truth matters. Powerful newsletter again today. Grateful.