Why Obama is pulling ahead in the battleground state of Wisconsin
The independent voter, perhaps upset by Mitt Romney’s recent remarks and his attacks on President Obama, appears to be behind a shift in polling numbers in Wisconsin that indicate Mr. Obama is pulling ahead there. Wisconsin is among a handful of battleground states in the November presidential election…
Donald Trump found himself incapable of sending out a simple "Happy Father's Day " message on Sunday morning, instead opting to issue a statement mentioning the holiday and then calling his critics "Losers."
In a statement, the former president, who suffered a humiliating loss to now-President Joe Biden, wrote: "Happy Father's Day to all, including the Radical Left, RINOs, and other Losers of the world. Hopefully, eventually, everyone will come together!"
Based upon responses, the ex-president won't be getting his Father's Day wish of coming together soon.
See below:
@RSBNetwork This is a malevolent message. Do better.— Nonquiescent (@Nonquiescent) 1624203975.0
@RSBNetwork Did you include yourself in the losers group?— Robert Peter Kelley (@Robert Peter Kelley) 1624205873.0
@RSBNetwork Is this a joke? I mean who says this???— Jenn Vlaz (@Jenn Vlaz) 1624204741.0
@RSBNetwork That's some inspirational shit right there.— Alex(andra) (@Alex(andra)) 1624204365.0
@RSBNetwork What a disgusting message. Can't even wish people a happy Father's Day without insulting people. Please… https://t.co/MJD2J8bLCm— May Kergen (@May Kergen) 1624204610.0
@RSBNetwork I trust this is a joke post, right?— COVID #hoax survivor Will James Robertson #NoMasks (@COVID #hoax survivor Will James Robertson #NoMasks) 1624204065.0
@RSBNetwork To the biggest LOSER & LIAR in the world.... may you have the Father's Day you deserve....— Gina (@Gina) 1624204252.0
@RSBNetwork These are the words of a venemous, classless, un-American. Trump devoured the soul of this c… https://t.co/m2W7PAcEy4— tmoney1 (@tmoney1) 1624205780.0
@RSBNetwork Says the biggest loser father and man of them all. You’re always hateful and cruel. I pity your children.— Dogmom (@Dogmom) 1624203920.0
@RSBNetwork The name of your youngest son is Barron— Phil Krundel (@Phil Krundel) 1624205052.0
@RSBNetwork Such an outstanding, well-written statement made by DJ Trump. He represents who Americans are and exa… https://t.co/pQKxjMvt4Y— BeckyLemay (@BeckyLemay) 1624204948.0
@RSBNetwork @liarpoliticians he really is a deeply damaged #Individual1— Chris Borrill (@Chris Borrill) 1624206339.0
@RSBNetwork HaPpY fAtHeR’s DaY ! https://t.co/ZTe6nZ5l82— TJ 🦜 (@TJ 🦜) 1624204421.0
Jennifer Merciaca, an expert on political rhetoric, explained how Fox News host Tucker Carlson taps into the fearful emotions of his viewers to spread propaganda.
Merciaca, who serves as an associate professor at Texas A&M University, made the remarks while appearing on CNN with host Brian Stelter and media critic David Zurawik.
Stelter pointed out that Carlson recently suggested to his viewers that the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol was organized by the FBI.
Zurawik called Fox News "crooked and rotten from top to bottom."
"It is a propaganda operation," he insisted. "It's practically on its knees for Donald Trump. They will never investigate Tucker Carlson. And the fact that Bret Baier and everybody who claims to be a journalist over there doesn't is proof of what they are. It's a propaganda operation."
Merciaca said that Carlson's conspiracy theories are designed to elicit a "fight or flight response" in viewers.
"Rhetoric scholars like me have known since Aristotle that emotions are very persuasive," Merciaca remarked. "If you can tap into people's emotions, you can get them to do what you want them to do. Media effect scholars talk about how fear appeals work through the television and cognitive scientists have actually explained that it's your body's physiology."
"Your body's physiology floods your brain with stress hormones, with adrenaline, with cortisol -- and those take over the rational part of your brain," she continued, "which hijacks your brain. They call it amygdala hijacking."
"So he scares them and then he presents a conspiracy theory?" Stelter asked.
"That's absolutely right," Merciaca said. "So what he has is your attention because those hormones have made you attentive to his message. They've also denied you of your ability to think critically. So he has your attention but you don't have your reason. And then he deploys conspiracy theories and he's excellent at creating narratives that people will believe."
Watch the video clip below from CNN.
In her column for the Washington Post, conservative commentator Jennifer Rubin lambasted Republican lawmakers for degrading themselves and parroting whatever "nonsense" Donald Trump comes up, saying their desire to thought of as "important" overrides any sense of self-respect.
Noting that GOP lawmakers would rather toe the Trump line than help out voters in their districts or states, Rubin called them out for giving up on doing their jobs.
"This sorry sight is unsurprising given that Republicans have all but given up on the notion of governance," she wrote before charging, "At the national level, they consume themselves with race-baiting (e.g., scaring Americans about immigration and critical race theory), assailing private companies (e.g., corporations that defend voting rights, social media platforms, book publishers) and perpetrating the most ludicrous and dangerous lie in memory — that the 2020 election was stolen."
Getting to the root of the matter, Rubin suggested that Republicans holding office aren't in the business of governing -- they're in the business of landing the job and all that comes with it and then clutching desperately to their positions of power for as long as they can.
"One might wonder from time to time why Republicans even bother running for election. Because they have so little interest in governing (other than in protecting tax cuts for the rich, shielding the gun lobby from reasonable regulation and dictating women's reproductive choices), they might as well take on the role of social media trolls and right-wing media guests full-time," she wrote. "In truth, a great many Republicans simply like to be 'important people' with the perks of holding office. It seems the notion of finding other work causes them to break out in a cold sweat, so they adopt insane MAGA positions so as not to offend the mob they helped rile up."
"Certainly, there are true believers who believe Trumpian rubbish and take right-wing TV hosts' conspiracies as gospel, but they are a distinct minority," she admitted. "Time and again, we hear from Republican dissenters that most of their colleagues do not really believe the MAGA party lies; what they believe in is the necessity of their own reelection."
According to the conservative columnist who turned against the Republican Party due to Donald Trump -- GOP lawmakers are handing Democrats the weapon they need to beat them at the polls.
"Democrats should be more blunt in castigating Republicans who are not even trying to serve their constituents. They should say it often and simply: Republicans have little to notion to offer anyone but the very rich. They rely on scaring and enraging their base both to distract from their lack of interest in governing and to goad supporters to turn out to defeat Democrats. And now, they want to make it harder for critics to vote them out of office," she wrote before adding, "What a racket."
You can read the whole piece here.
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