Origin of the Technique that Trump Mastered Along with FOX
Hey, What
About Hillary: Her Emails, Benghazi, Uranium Deal,
Clinton Foundation
Send in Batman: He'll get the answers
Trump is the king of “whataboutism” – i.e., a juvenile debating trick of deflecting
accusations by charging that your opponents are doing the same thing, only
worse.
Historical Reference: “Whataboutism” (also known
as whataboutery) is a variant of the “tu quoque” (logical
fallacy that is an appeal to hypocrisy) that attempts to
discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without
directly refuting or disproving their argument.
It particularly associated with the old Soviet Union and current
Russian propaganda, e.g.,
when criticism is leveled at the Soviet Union years ago, their response would almost
always be: “What about...” followed by an event in the Western world.
Trump has apparently co-opted
that technique and boy has FOX mastered it, too.
That pattern
and usage to deflect from Trump is very familiar to Tony Schwartz, who wrote
Trump’s 1987 autobiography, “Art of the Deal” wherein he says: “Trump’s first move in the face of criticism
has always been to assume the role of victim. He feels justified in lashing
back at his perceived accusers... In his mind, he is only doing what’s required
to win.”
Examples mostly in his
tweets, and BTW: All
the inaction Trump has demanded, but not gotten for various reasons therefore
he was hoping he could order up investigations any time he liked, but reality
and daydreaming are sometimes a mix match.
This biggie right
up front and one being run mostly by and all over Fox (Sean Hannity, Inc., and others of the same ilk on Talk Radio and
rightwing media) happened most-notably when Trump told Republicans in
Congress to get AG Jeff Sessions to consider appointing a special counsel to
investigate the Clinton Foundation and the controversial sale of a uranium
company to Russia. (Note: Sessions
balked and has not pursued that proposal).
Early on, Trump
launched an independent commission to determine whether millions of fraudulent
votes were cast in 2016 appointing KS SOS Kris Kobach to lead a panel to
investigate.
(Note: Kobach has held
exactly two meetings as he has run into resistance from state officials and now
has issued no finding).
Trump has
called for investigations of Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, Sen. Richard
Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California — mostly for them
having the stones to criticize him.
He has
demanded inquests into FBI leakers, CIA leakers, and the Office of Special Counsel,
Robert who recently fired an FBI official for sending text messages disparaging
Trump, stating in a tweet: “Big stuff.
Deep state”
He’s said
someone should look more closely at the media: “Fake News Networks: CNN, ABC,
NBC — and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough for the death of an intern in his
congressional office 16 years ago.”
(Note:
The ME said the intern died of natural causes.)
Trump keeps
wanting to know the real reason so many people turn out for protests against
his administration’s policies, tweeting last spring: “Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies
yesterday.”
Trump has issued
a tweet warning to the 16 women who have publicly accused him of sexual
misconduct saying: “All of these liars
will be sued after the election is over.”
(He promised in October 2016 but note: None have been sued by him).
In July he demanded to know: “What about all of the Clinton ties to
Russia?”
Noted
however that some of the inquests Trump wants are in progress, i.e., The DOJ IG
is looking into the FBI’s 2016 investigation of the Clinton campaign, however, lawyers
say the probe has been proceeding at a normal pace, and it’s expected to wrap
up some time next year (in 2018).
My Input for What It’s
Worth: This list
will grow until Trump is gone from office, one way or another (resign, impeached,
or escapes the country to a non-extradition island somewhere).
Stay tuned.
Thanks for stopping.
No comments:
Post a Comment