Tag Archives: Pinocchio
Little Donnie vs The Big Bad Media
A couple of old sayings come to mind today. The first is something about ‘not biting the hand that feeds you’. The second is ‘never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel’ – Mark Twain. And then there’s the one about ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’. Any and all of these apply today to the not-very-illustrious Donald Trump. The press has, for the past 11 months, given Donald Trump hundreds, nay thousands of hours of free advertising. My own belief is the media are the very reason da trumpeter has gone from being known as a silly clown to the republican nominee for the highest office in the nation. He owes them, because he has not needed to shell out cash for advertisements … every time he opens his mouth, he gets free advertising. So what does he do?
He bites the hand that feeds him, cuts off his nose to spite his face, insults those who buy ink by the barrel, and accuses the media of ‘making me look very bad’. WHOA … HOLD THE PRESSES … nobody, I repeat nobody, needed to make Donald Trump look very bad … he is doing a wonderful job of that all by himself! So what was the occasion this time? The media actually had the audacity to do some fact-checking and call Donnie on one of his many lies! Gasp!
The whole thing started back in January of this year, when Mr. Trump held a televised fund-raiser, the proceeds of which were, he said, going to benefit veterans. At the end of the day, he said that he had raised more than $6 million and that he himself was giving $1 million. Then just last week, the Washington Post and other media outlets asked Trump and his campaign for details about how much the fundraiser had actually raised and whether Trump had given his portion. When he refused to answer, the media went digging, as was to be expected … it is what the media do best! But alas … no evidence was found that Trump had donated a single dollar to any veterans group! After another call from the Post, Trump contacted James K. Kallstrom, chairman of Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, and pledged his $1 million. Asked why he waited so five months to make the donation, Trump said that he had to check out the charity, but in reality his foundation had donated to this particular charity in the past, and the vice-chairman of the group, coincidentally, is the managing director of one of Trump’s hotels! What a coincidence, eh?
Even the amount of the donations raised appears to be in question. Trump declared on the night of the fund-raiser that he had raised $6 million, then this week he claimed $5.5 million, while his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, says it was $4.5 million. On Tuesday, Trump denied that he ever said $6, even though it was plainly recorded for all to see. Can anybody who has run businesses, some even successful, possibly be this stupid? Never mind, don’t answer that.
Trump finally did provide a list of organizations that had received donations, saying that most had “gone out some time ago”. The Associated Press spoke or left messages with each of the organizations Trump named. Of the 30 groups that responded by Tuesday, about half said they had received checks from Trump just last week. Several said the checks were dated on or about May 24 — the date of Trump’s interview with the Post — and shipped out overnight. So, the little boy who got caught in a tangled web of his own making, scrambled to untangle himself. I just wonder, had the media not persevered, would he have ever made the donations, and if so, when?
All that aside, however, since we are, after all, accustomed by now to Donnie’s many fabrications and exaggerations, on Tuesday Mr. Trump held a press conference whereby he spent the majority of his 40 minutes lambasting those who had basically handed him the nomination just a few short weeks ago. He chomped right down on the hand that had been feeding him, and methinks he is going to live to regret that one! Until now, the media as a whole had done very little to dispute his lies, but I think that from this point forward we will be seeing a change in that attitude. Trump referred to the media as “very dishonest” … and if you can tolerate yet another old saying, I see that as the ‘pot calling the kettle ….’. Trump said: “The press should be ashamed of themselves. Veterans are calling me, and they are furious. You make me look very bad.” He referred to reporters in general as ‘dishonest’ and to a specific ABC reporter as ‘a sleaze’. Once again, the man certainly knows how to win friends and influence people, doesn’t he?
Although Trump claims that the reason behind his secrecy and reluctance to release a funds distribution list was that he preferred to make the donations anonymously, in the next breath he bemoaned the fact that he wasn’t being properly thanked for his ‘generosity’.
I forced myself to watch some 25 minutes of Trump’s press conference in preparation for this post. All I saw was a man tooting his own horn, reiterating how wonderful he is for raising all this money, and how unfairly he felt the press was treating him. By what … simply doing their job and checking his facts, holding him accountable? One thing I noticed … four of his minions were standing behind him throughout the conference, and every time he made a critical remark, all four looked and one another and snickered. Yes, they snickered like a group of high school kids. Donald Trump’s campaign is built on a foundation of lies, bigotry, and self-promotion, and it has brought politics in this nation to an all-time low level of maturity.
Trump has made an enemy of the media, and they are indeed a powerful enemy. I think, at least I hope, that the free pass he has enjoyed for the past year has finally expired, and that from this point forward he will be held accountable for the words that tumble from his mouth. Though I frequently rail at the media for their tendency toward sensationalism, and I still hold them responsible for Trump’s rise over the past year, it is times like this that I am glad our media have the freedom to do what they do, to investigate and call people on their untruths. Let us never lose sight of the value in that, and let us never make choices that will impinge upon the freedom of the press.
The Adventures of Pinocchio – 2016 version
I like fairy tales. Do you like fairy tales? Last week, I wrote about the “Little Boy Who Cried Wolf”, an Aesop fairy tale. This week (I wonder if fairy tales is going to become a weekly feature here???) I am writing about another familiar fairy tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi. Remember Pinocchio? He was a wooden puppet carved by an Italian woodcarver named Geppetto. Pinocchio dreamed of becoming a real boy, and alas, his wish came true. But, Pinocchio developed the very human habit of telling lies, and each time he told one, his nose grew longer. Now, of course this is just a fairy tale, a story, and in real life people who tell lies do not suffer an extended proboscis. Too bad … it would make it easier to spot the liars, but instead we must be diligent and check the veracity of that which we are told.
After a recent post in which I asked people to explain to me why Trump even has a following among certain groups he has targeted with his vile remarks, I was informed that people like Trump because they are “sick and tired of being lied to”, and that he “tells it like it is”. Needless to say, I was stunned and astounded, just before I burst out laughing! Oh, the irony!!! Well, let us look at the “like it is” that Trump has told:
• American Muslims celebrated 9/11 by the thousands.
“I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down,” Trump recently claimed. “And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.”
The report has been thoroughly debunked by both the police and the mayor in Jersey City.
• The Obama administration is bringing a quarter-million Syrians into the country.
“Our president wants to take in 250,000 from Syria … Think of it, 250,000 people. And we all have heart, and we all want people taken care of and all of that, but with the problems our country has, to take in 250,000 people — some of whom are going to have problems, big problems — is just insane.”
The Obama administration is planning to take in 10,000 refugees over the next year, and possibly a small additional number after that. It’s a fact that is well- and widely known, but Trump consistently ignores it.
• Syrian refugees are already flooding the U.S.
“Refugees are pouring into our great country from Syria. We don’t even know who they are. They could be ISIS. They could be anybody.”
In fact, the U.S. has resettled fewer than 3,000 refugees from Syria. We know exactly who they are, given the vetting process that requires refugees to wait up to 18 months and to pass multiple background and health checks before gaining admission.
• African-Americans are responsible for the overwhelming majority of murders of white people in the U.S.
“81 percent of white murder victims are killed by black people.”
More than 80 percent of white murder victims are killed by other whites.
• He and Vladimir Putin are buddies.
“I got to know him very well because we were both on 60 Minutes, we were stablemates and we did very well that night.”
Both men appeared in pre-taped segments. Trump was recorded in his New York office. Putin was interviewed thousands of miles away, in Moscow. Trump didn’t meet Putin.
• China is the big winner in the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership.
“[The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal] was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone.”
He was corrected by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who noted that China is not a party to TPP.
When called on his lies by an interviewer, he responded with “Am I gonna check every statistic?” Ah yes, who has time to be bothered with those pesky little statistics and facts? Trump hasn’t apologized or backtracked on his statements. Instead, when challenged, he offers flimsy explanations and suggests he shouldn’t be held accountable — or simply insists he’s right despite data and facts to the contrary.
Statistical Summary of 111 Trump Statements by Pulitzer Prize Winner Politifact:
• True 2 (2%)
• Mostly True 7 (6%)
• Half True 16 (14%)
• Mostly False 19 (17%)
• False 46 (41%)
• Pants on Fire 21 (19%)
Now, support whomever you wish, vote as your conscience directs you, but please do not insult my intelligence by telling me that you support Trump because you are tired of being told lies, or that he “tells it like it is”. Oh, and by the way … regarding Pinocchio? Well, we are so familiar with the Disney version of the story that some of us may have forgotten how the story ends. Collodi originally intended the story, which was first published in 1881, to be a tragedy. It concluded with the puppet’s execution. Pinocchio’s enemies, the Fox and the Cat, bind his arms, pass a noose around his throat, and hang him from the branch of an oak tree.
Filosofa's Word 