KillingtonZone.com

To say that the U.S. media has a developed a bit of a credibility issue of late would be an understatement. Mass hysteria over Trump's victory in November has clearly resulted in a staggering deterioration in reporting standards as dropping the latest "bombshell" and inflicting the latest wound on the Trump administration has been prioritized over truthful, fact-based reporting. All of which, as we've noted frequently of late, has resulted in a number of embarrassing corrections from several major media outlets who have been forced to admit their reporting was just outright "fake news."

And, in case you missed it, Carl Bernstein, who is best known for his investigative reporting for the Washington Post that shed light on the Watergate scandal, appeared on CNN, of all places, this weekend to discuss the media's credibility issue which he argued has largely developed in the "cable news era" as media outlets have become increasingly politicized in their race for ratings.

Among other things, Bernstein said that media outlets in this country are engaged in a "cold civil war" and that, as a result, "fact-based debate is becoming impossible."

"The difference between Watergate and now is that we are in the midst of a cold civil war in this country. A political and cultural civil war and all of our reporting is taking place in the context of that cold civil war. And nothing quite like existed at the time of Watergate."

"And part of the cold civil war itself is the configuration of media with Fox News, with CNN, being perceived by different sets of viewers as representing different truths. When, in fact, Fox has changed American politics as perhaps no institution has since its invention in 1996."

"But also cable news itself is a different form than we had at the time of Watergate. We didn't see reporters on television discussing their stories. We do go farther on the air now by having reporters from the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN expand on their stories on the air. Viewers are getting more interpreted information."

"It is a different media universe and it is a cauldron taking place in this hot house of political debate in which a fact-based debate is becoming impossible in this culture and that's part of the difficulty here. We're just lobbing accusations back and forth...in which a fact-based environment is almost impossible to maintain as long as the principals are willing to engage in the kind of rhetoric and lying that we have seen in this exchange of late."

Since the New York Times July 10 report exposing the meeting, online observers have noted a number of details which they claim shows evidence that Donald Trump Jr. was baited into speaking with Veselnitskaya in order to give his father's political opponents leverage. The Independent has highlighted Veselnitskaya and publicist Rob Goldstone's ties to Fusion GPS, the lobbying firm responsible for the notorious dossier of wild and unproven allegations about President Trump which has also been involved with lobbying against the Magnitsky Act. Anatoli Samochornov, the translator who accompanied Ms. Veselnitskaya to the meeting is also a former employee of the FBI according to a press release from 2010. On July 12, 2017 The Hill reported that Veselnitskaya was allowed to enter the United States by the Department of Justice under “extraordinary circumstances” despite the fact that she did not possess a proper visa. Some have claimed that the emails sent to Donald Jr. were intentionally worded to create a basis for a FISA request to surveil and unmask the Trump team.

The revelation that additional federal organizations were engaged in conversations with lobbyist groups where Ms. Veselnitskaya was discussed ahead of her meeting with Donald Trump Jr. will no doubt add additional fuel to an already raging fire of controversy.

madhatter wrote:the plot thickens ( again)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-1 ... jr-meeting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since the New York Times July 10 report exposing the meeting, online observers have noted a number of details which they claim shows evidence that Donald Trump Jr. was baited into speaking with Veselnitskaya in order to give his father's political opponents leverage. The Independent has highlighted Veselnitskaya and publicist Rob Goldstone's ties to Fusion GPS, the lobbying firm responsible for the notorious dossier of wild and unproven allegations about President Trump which has also been involved with lobbying against the Magnitsky Act. Anatoli Samochornov, the translator who accompanied Ms. Veselnitskaya to the meeting is also a former employee of the FBI according to a press release from 2010. On July 12, 2017 The Hill reported that Veselnitskaya was allowed to enter the United States by the Department of Justice under “extraordinary circumstances” despite the fact that she did not possess a proper visa. Some have claimed that the emails sent to Donald Jr. were intentionally worded to create a basis for a FISA request to surveil and unmask the Trump team.

The revelation that additional federal organizations were engaged in conversations with lobbyist groups where Ms. Veselnitskaya was discussed ahead of her meeting with Donald Trump Jr. will no doubt add additional fuel to an already raging fire of controversy.

XtremeJibber2001 wrote:

madhatter wrote:the plot thickens ( again)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-1 ... jr-meeting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since the New York Times July 10 report exposing the meeting, online observers have noted a number of details which they claim shows evidence that Donald Trump Jr. was baited into speaking with Veselnitskaya in order to give his father's political opponents leverage. The Independent has highlighted Veselnitskaya and publicist Rob Goldstone's ties to Fusion GPS, the lobbying firm responsible for the notorious dossier of wild and unproven allegations about President Trump which has also been involved with lobbying against the Magnitsky Act. Anatoli Samochornov, the translator who accompanied Ms. Veselnitskaya to the meeting is also a former employee of the FBI according to a press release from 2010. On July 12, 2017 The Hill reported that Veselnitskaya was allowed to enter the United States by the Department of Justice under “extraordinary circumstances” despite the fact that she did not possess a proper visa. Some have claimed that the emails sent to Donald Jr. were intentionally worded to create a basis for a FISA request to surveil and unmask the Trump team.

The revelation that additional federal organizations were engaged in conversations with lobbyist groups where Ms. Veselnitskaya was discussed ahead of her meeting with Donald Trump Jr. will no doubt add additional fuel to an already raging fire of controversy.

Baited like a John seeking a hooker.

Nikoli wrote:Ding dong the bill is dead.

Nikoli wrote:Ding dong the bill is dead.

XtremeJibber2001 wrote:

Nikoli wrote:Ding dong the bill is dead.

Crazy that the only thing the GOP majority appear to universally agree with is repealing ACA ... they can't get done. If we're using Obama's ACA as a guideline, GOP is way WAY behind on something I'd argue should be much easier to get done.

brownman wrote:http://theweek.com/articles/711503/why- ... -164-years

brownman wrote:Yeah .. when does all the Greatness begin .. actually ?
.. ' Who knew <insert issue of importance> could be this complicated .. '
Ugliest trainwreck in political history.

http://theweek.com/articles/711503/why- ... -164-years