“Hurt dogs sure do holler.” That was the saying that came to mind in 2008 when then-candidate for president Barack Obama drew outrage from Republicans because he described their voters as “bitter” people who “cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.” The phrase came to mind again in 2016, when Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton used the memorable phrase “basket of deplorables” to describe supporters of Donald Trump. Since a cardinal rule of politics is “insult your opponent, but never their voters,” the mainstream media picked up and amplified the umbrage-taking from Republicans.

What wasn’t discussed very much in all this media coverage: The truth value of either Clinton’s or Obama’s comments. And what a shame, because both of them were right.

New polling out this week from CBS News proves, as many feared, Trump’s fourth set of indictments — he now faces 91 felony charges across four jurisdictions — has only caused the GOP to rally around their seething orange leader. (And let’s not forget this comes after a jury recently found him responsible for sexual assault.) Trump has surged to 62% support in the Republican presidential primary poll, and 73% of those backing Trump say it’s because, not despite, of his massive criminal exposure.

And, in a poll finding that really is astonishing, Trump voters claimed they trust the notorious fraudster more than anyone. A whopping 71% of Trump voters claim “what he says is true.” Only 63% of them say that about family and friends, 56% about conservative media figures and 42% about religious leaders.

The word that comes to mind is “cult.”

  • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I really wish the media would at least try to appear unbiased, except in clearly identified opinion pieces - I don’t think it does any of us any good to have such slanted words in reporting.

    All that being said, I agree with the overall take. People lost their shit when Hilary called Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables,” but look at how they behave and what they push for. Why would you want to vote for someone more because there’s credible evidence that he committed serious crimes? Not just that you’re looking the other way, but it’s a desirable attribute? That’s just crap.

    There’s reporting that the guy who shot the shopkeeper over the pride flag was very outspoken against abortion. “Every life is sacred, but I’m going to murder this woman because she supports LGBTQ rights.” So much of their anger is against things that have zero affect on them personally. It’s crazy.

      • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I guess it says “commentary” at the top, so maybe I should retract that part. I’m old, and I grew up in a time when opinion pieces one the news were very overtly identified as such, with disclaimers about the publication not endorsing any opinion given. The reason being that everything else was intended to be taken factually. I see so many things now where we blur the lines, with newscasters using a lot of subjective adjectives to tell us how we should feel about things they’re reporting on. It really bugs me.

        • sab@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          I feel like I’m also increasingly seeing this coming from the left, which I find particularly troubling. We have the facts on our side, we don’t need to make bombastic clickbait and masquerade opinion pieces as reporting. It’s just distracting from the actual stories and undermining our position.

    • P03 Locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      “So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here–not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.” ― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

    • whatisallthis@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Salon.com only exists to provide a headline for people to circle-jerk about in the comments on their favorite social media platform.

      Republicans have those too. But this is a Democrat one.

      • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I’m sure I’ve read salon articles that people have linked, but not enough to get a feel for them as a publication in general. When I read news, I generally try to avoid sources that lean hard in either direction, except sometimes to see what their take on a subject is.