http://www.toledoblade.com/Keith-Burris/2016/10/19/Keith-Burris-commentary-Remember-issues.html
Let me break this down…
Maybe two things are true: First, that Donald Trump has let down his followers. No, not by being a sex fiend or a sexist, but by being a very erratic, unfocused candidate.
Yes, he did let down his followers by being a sex fiend and a sexist. He’s living in a modern world where women are supposed to be equal to men and have equal responsibilities (our next president will be a woman). So being outrageously misogynistic lets down his followers and all of us. So let me get this right…if he were less erratic and unfocused, then all that sexist sex fiend stuff would not be an issue? Got it. Right.
Second, that the national press corps, particularly the New York Times, has completely lost its way. It has taken a side, and decided that its cause is so just that it need no longer play fair.
I’m glad newspapers that hold some weight are finally not giving Trump a pass and calling out what he’s saying and doing. It’s a danger to the country and the leading newspapers around the country are saying as much. Mr. Burris, please Google America’s Great Newspapers and who they are endorsing for president, and why. Read it. Carefully. Especially the why part, because they are all endorsing the same person, Hillary Clinton. These are America’s truly great newspapers that have taken a careful and considered stance. Some for the first time in over a hundred years, to put the country first instead of their ideology and party. The Blade remains silent, and by doing so brings shame on the city it represents.
At a time when newspapers are on the ropes, the Times is, in effect, telling readers: We are no more bound to play it straight than an ideological blogger.
Really? This piece you wrote is not playing it straight, like any ideological blogger, so just more breathtaking hypocrisy.
The national media are acting as a sort of Pravda for the Clinton campaign and are now complicit in character assassination.
Crazy. They are reporting on a monster saying monstrously dangerous things. What were you just saying about playing it straight? Pravda? Really? Hyperbole much? Oh, that’s right. The Blade is no better than an ideological blogger. Thanks for reminding me to keep my expectations in check.
There is no way that the networks would give accusations about the sex life of a liberal Democratic candidate the same amount of play as the accusations against Mr. Trump.
Head-exploding crazy. Remember Bill Clinton FFS? This is the height of hypocrisy. I’m not sure that a less truthful sentence has ever been written.
Not with this level of evidence and fact-checking. No way. Traditional journalistic standards of skepticism and corroboration have been waived for a “greater good” — beating Mr. Trump.
Like your own column. This is his OPINION and not based in fact in any way. Well I suppose the pot can call the kettle black. But I’d say their reporting is much more thorough than anything found in the Blade (that’s my opinion). Plus I believe that many a good person has decided the danger posed by Mr. Trump to our country (see your statement further down that references just one example), is enough to justify making an effort to keep him from destroying the country…as opposed to the Blade, which I suppose wants people to play nice with Mr. Trump no matter the danger and no matter the cost. Again, a completely hypocritical stance.
That doesn’t mean evil, or simply unsavory, things never happened in Donald Trump’s life. Sexual assault is a deadly serious matter. Harassment of any kind is serious. But the press is not competent to adjudicate these matters.
Just W.T.F? What planet are you living on? 1. The press doesn’t adjudicate. 2. The press reports. BTW…Have you listened to FOX News lately? For God’s sake. They practically have a media orgasm when liberals gets in trouble sexually. The hypocrisy burns. When has the press NOT reported on: evil, or simply unsavory, things? Especially Right Wing Media? It’s their oxygen! Just to make sure I’ve got your stance right here, EVIL UNSAVORY things from a presidential candidate are to be ignored! Right. Got it.
What is being damaged is not just Mr. Trump’s name, but the credibility of the press itself; the American political consensus, or center; and the ability to make distinctions.
I agree with you. The credibility of the press IS being damaged. By you. With commentary like this. It’s incredibly tone deaf and disgusting.
An accusation is not proof, and not every inappropriate word or gesture rises to the level of an assault. I realize that one of the propositions before us is precisely that: Assault is being redefined so broadly that the lout is now the rapist. But that is irrational and unjust.
You not only make yourself, the paper, and our city and region look bad, you make men look bad. Shame on you. As a man, I’m disgusted by your words. YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO RAPE CULTURE with statements like this. For God’s sake. I’m not even able to go on about it. Just go talk to women that have been assaulted and hear their stories. About assault, and about why they don’t come forward, and what happens when they do. Then look in the mirror and try to live with yourself.
Are we going to judge all candidates in America by their sex lives? Or by the sex lives of their spouses?
Or by their private conversations?
No one will be left standing.
Well there’s an excuse. Let’s not look at it because EVERYONE does it? I’m not even sure where to begin with this. It’s gross and disgusting. It demeans good people that are not EVIL and UNSAVORY (in your words). I for one think a man that has done what Trump has done to the women around him is unfit for office…along with a long list of other reasons. But his EVIL and UNSAVORY nature towards others, and especially women, definitely count towards his lack of fitness. And, just no. Not everyone does it. And there will be people left standing. How can I say this? Because there are people standing now. And it is the current world we live it. You may not like it because “You’re guy” got caught this time, but sure as the sun comes up tomorrow you will be crowing the loudest when a liberal has their private conversations used against them…. wait for it… LIKE WIKILEAKS? Remember WikiLeaks? The WikiLeaks you use in this very article to attack Secretary Clinton? Just so I get this straight, private email conversations are fair game but private conversations on a bus are not. Got it. Right.
We have descended into a strange rabbit hole. All of the sudden we are all Neo-Victorians in a culture that is constantly leering, snickering, and titillating. We live in an intrusively pornographic age. Check out the movie previews, cable TV, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, much of pop music, and almost all of rap music. Yet suddenly we are blushing? The First Lady is shocked at Donald Trump’s language and misogyny? Has she actually listened to the music of the rappers she is constantly inviting to the White House?
There’s another great excuse. Why be shocked at what Trump says…everything is shocking these days. Oh FFS. That is such an idiotic argument. You should have dropped that line of rationalization when you left grade school. And what world are you living in? The Right literally salivates at the thought of something salacious to report. You would be first in line to report on the LIBERAL candidate being unfit for office if anything like Trump’s actions were found in a liberal candidate.
Most Americans would like to be judged by the totality of our lives, and not by what we used to think of as the most private aspects of our private lives.
It’s pretty clear that the totality of Trump’s life fits what’s being reported. And his private thoughts are VERY MUCH relevant to his fitness for office. For you to say otherwise is oh so hypocritical.
And surely Mr. Trump has given us plenty of reasons to question his judgment and character without digging for dirt. Questioning the incumbent president’s place of birth comes to mind. And leading chants of “lock her up” at rallies, while promising to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs. Clinton, may be an all-time low in American presidential politics.
Well we all have our tipping point. Perhaps sexism, misogyny, megalomania, narcissism, thinned skin, disagreeableness, grandiosity, and many more descriptive terms that fit don’t go too far for you. I’m glad that finally something was too much for you. Calling for the destruction of one of our pillars of our democracy. Well, that’s just too much. The rest, not so much. SMH.
Can Mr. Trump do the job he seeks? That is the question. Could the country make progress under his leadership?
If you think anything close to yes on this, you are not paying attention. The country would be taken down a destructive rabbit hole from which it might never recover. Google it. Read the Great Newspaper endorsements made all across America, and more importantly than who they endorsed, read why. Please, read why.
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks has provided several smoking guns on Mrs. Clinton’s means and ends. The leaks, largely uncovered by the national electronic media, seem to show intentional destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice, to say nothing of the compromising and politicization of the departments of State and Justice. My mother, her first cousin, and her uncle all worked at the FBI, the latter two as agents. They simply would not believe that this vaunted agency could be used as it has been used.
Interesting, that after complaining about journalistic standards, you use Wikileaks as a trusted source. After attacking the use of private conversation? Really? That’s a full 180 degrees in the same piece. Nice. What’s worse is the media’s bastardization of what’s actually IN WikiLeaks. Because FOX and America’s newspapers, like the Blade, know that their followers won’t go to the source but will eat up what they report instead. So they feel very free to tilt and spin away their reporting. Just like THIS piece. Maybe your mother, her first cousin and uncle can’t believe the FBI was used “that way,” because it wasn’t. Read the source material and then dig deeper. Chances are you will find that what’s being reported is what you complain about and not the truth.
Meanwhile, a campaign goes on. And it is not being covered by much of the press either.
What? Things that are not real don’t get much coverage. News Flash.
From Lane Filler of Newsday, I learned this about last weekend’s Trump rally in Portsmouth, N.H.: “… Most of Trump’s speech focused on specific problems facing the people of New Hampshire and the United States, [he] spoke at length about the opiate addiction ravaging New Hampshire. He called for lifting the limit on prescriptions for medication-assisted treatment drugs doctors can write, an important, intricate fix. He also decried the way Chinese drug manufacturers are moving deadly fentanyl into and around the United States.
“On trade, Trump spoke about the amazing factories being built in other nations, and about how things like not understanding the value-added tax in a partner trading nation can lead to poorly negotiated deals … .”
Have you read any coverage like that of Donald Trump in the last 14 days?
JUST WHAT? There is an entire NETWORK devoted to electing Republicans: FOX News. Trump has gotten 4+billion dollars of free airtime. Now you’re saying he can’t get his message across? Just WTF?
This is not an election for Homecoming King or Queen of Peyton Place.
Well, this might be the most grotesque statement of all. Barf.
It’s not about the past sex lives of Bill Clinton or Donald Trump. It’s about the direction and the future of the republic — saving the Great Lakes, bringing realistic hope to young black men in central cities, revitalizing the Rust Belt and Appalachia, fixing Obamacare, creating jobs, keeping Americans safe. For the love of our country, let’s get back to issues.
If you want to talk about issues…look at your candidate. HRC tries to talk about issues int the debate. Trump just throws out word salads. He is pretty much incapable of talking about issues other than the ones written for him to read at a teleprompter. Whenever he speaks from his gut, it’s from the gutter.
This is one of the worst editorials I think I’ve ever read. I’m not feeling so well having read it.