# Political Optics
**URL:** https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834
**Category:** Politics and Social Issues
**Created:** [September 3, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834 "2022-09-03T01:29:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 10
### Author:  [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/181 "2023-01-07T13:32:43Z")
I wanted Jefferies to get it, but the MAGAts want a dictatorship, so we’re not going to have freedom until we get rid of the MAGAts.
---
### Author:  [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/182 "2023-02-27T23:36:03Z")
# More evidence revealed in Dominion-Fox lawsuit
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_SkdhsvDes)
> Feb 27, 2023 [#FOXNews](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/foxnews) [#Dominion](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/dominion) [#TuckerCarlson](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/tuckercarlson)
>
> Professor of politics and journalism at Morgan State University Jason Johnson, Editor-at-Large of the Bulwark Charlie Sykes, and former Senator Claire McCaskill react to a new filing by Dominion Voting Systems laying out more evidence that Fox News knowingly endorsed false election claims.
FOX has long demanded the right to maliciously lie about critically important.
I hope they get crippled.
Though nothing will ever repair the damage Rupert Murdoch has been allowed to inflict upon the world and its people.
---
### Author:  [@write4u](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/write4u)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/183 "2023-02-27T23:54:34Z")
I always thought the law protected “speech” as defined .
**What are the 4 types of speech?**
> The four basic types of speeches are: **to inform, to instruct, to entertain, and to persuade**. These are not mutually exclusive of one another. You may have several purposes in mind when giving your presentation.
there is no type of speech defined as “purposely misleading”.
IMO, Fox News should be charged with “public disturbance” and prohibited from any further publishing over the internet.
Their speech is not defined as free speech by law.
Their speech should be prohibited just as falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre" is prohibited by law.
---
### Author:  [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2023, 5:18am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/184 "2023-04-01T05:18:35Z")
Speaking of political optics, how about that Jim Jordan, MAGA Chairman of House Judiciary Committee and how he trying to bully the NY District Attorney Bragg’s office.
> Here’s quite the analysis of the current moment in National politics and MAGA bullies, started to hit the wall of reality.
>
> Mar 31, 2023 [#msnbc](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/msnbc) [#trump](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/trump) [#jimjordan](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/jimjordan)
>
> MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell analyzes the latest developments in the Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump, including the ongoing exchanges between the D.A.’s office and Congressman Jim Jordan which is actually helping shed new light on the charges against Trump.
11:20 min - O’Donnell - BUT THAT IS OF COURSE HOPELESS BECAUSE THERE IS NOT NOW A SINGLE REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WHO HAS DEMONSTRATED THE SLIGHTEST COMPREHENSION, OR FIDELITY TO, THE CONGRESSIONAL OVAL OFFICE TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
On a related note.
> **[Opinion | ‘Conspiracy to defraud’ is the perfect charge against the grifter...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/19/trump-politics-fraud-and-grift-charge/)**
>
> His whole political career has been one giant fraud.
By [Eugene Robinson](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/eugene-robinson/?itid=ai_top_robinsoneh) - December 19, 2022
==============
> **[The Neverending Story (of Trump’s Grift) - The Bulwark](https://www.thebulwark.com/the-neverending-story-of-trumps-grift/)**
>
> Trump’s legal troubles have inspired a relentless fundraising campaign. The appeals are grandiose, petulant, cynical—and very effective.
_by_[BILL LUEDERS](https://www.thebulwark.com/author/bill-lueders/) - SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
========================
> **[Trump’s political operation raised over $500 million after 2020 election...](https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/trumps-political-operation-raised-over-500-million-after-2020-election-despite-increased-scrutiny/)**
>
> Donald Trump’s political operation has raised big money since the end of the 2020 election. But now a federal grand jury is probing his leadership PAC’s activities around the Jan. 6 attack.
---
### Author:  [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/185 "2023-05-12T17:57:43Z")
Speaking of Political Optics, Lawrence O’Donnell offers in interesting critique regarding the CNN’s trump Town Hall charade, I think it’s worth the listen. Followed by more details.
May 11, 2023 - [#msnbc](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/msnbc) [#trump](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/trump) [#cnn](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cnn)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to9JVgMpTjA)
> MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell reacts to CNN’s 70-minute town hall with Donald Trump, during which the former president spouted a nearly nonstop stream of lies.
* * *
> ## Shame on CNN for That Naked, Cynical Play for Fox Viewers
>
> ### Kaitlan Collins and the network’s journalists tried their best. But the execs, from Chris Licht on down, brought total shame on themselves, journalism, and America.
>
> Here’s [what Chris Licht said](https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/the-chris-licht-era-at-cnn-begins-today/506480/) the day he took over at CNN: “Sadly, too many people have lost trust in the news media. I think we can be a beacon in regaining that trust by being an organization that exemplifies the best characteristics in journalism: fearlessly speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, questioning ‘groupthink’ and educating viewers and readers with straightforward facts and insightful commentary, while always being respectful of differing viewpoints. First and foremost, we should, and we will be advocates for truth.”
>
> Well, I hope today some of his more alert employees are reminding him of those noble words, because the Donald Trump “town hall” was an absolute fiasco for journalism and democracy; quite plainly the worst non-Fox night of cable news in recent memory.
>
> This was a grotesque scramble for ratings and cash, a naked bid by CNN to get some of that flagging post-Tucker Fox News audience that’s out there up for grabs. “Newsmax?! OANN?! Who are these pipsqueaks?” Licht obviously sits around his office wondering as he conceives of some way for mighty CNN get a slice of that juicy pie. …
>
> [Shame on CNN for That Naked, Cynical Play for Fox Viewers | The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/article/172655/trump-awful-cnn-licht-worse)
> **[CNN leadership under fire after ‘disastrous’ Trump town hall](https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/05/11/trump-cnn-town-hall-chris-licht-kaitlan-collins/)**
>
> CNN chief executive Chris Licht praised host Kaitlan Collins and defended inviting Donald Trump and a Republican audience for the live town hall.
> By [Paul Farhi](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/paul-farhi/?itid=ai_top_farhip) and [Jeremy Barr](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jeremy-barr/?itid=ai_top_barrj)
> Updated May 12, 2023
> The former president repeatedly dodged or sneered at questions from CNN’s moderator, [Kaitlan Collins](https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/11/01/kaitlan-collins-cnn-morning-show/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4), during the live, 70-minute forum at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on Wednesday night. He doubled down on false claims that “a rigged election” led to his 2020 ouster and referred to writer E. Jean Carroll, who just [prevailed in her lawsuit against him for defamation and battery](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/09/e-jean-carroll-trump-jury/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4), as a “whack job,” to cheers and laughter from the audience, made up of local Republican voters.
> **[CNN's own employees are disparaging the Trump town hall](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/11/trump-town-hall-cnn-employees-00096430)**
>
> Employees inside the company are slamming the network for giving Trump a platform to spout false claims on a multitude of issues.
> By [KIERRA FRAZIER](https://www.politico.com/staff/kierra-frazier) - 05/11/2023
>
> CNN employees are lambasting the network for its [hour-long town hall](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/10/trump-once-more-refuses-to-admit-election-defeat-00096352)Wednesday with former President Donald Trump, where he continued to push false claims about the 2020 election and defended his actions on Jan. 6.
>
> “It was a complete disaster,” one CNN employee told [POLITICO Playbook](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2023/05/11/how-trump-dominated-cnn-00096382?cid=hptb_primary_0), arguing that the format — specifically, stacking the audience with Trump supporters who cheered his lies — was a “strategic error.” …
>
> CNN’s own media reporter, Oliver Darcy, wrote in the network’s “[Reliable Sources” newsletter](https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/16837796845222acf50e3996d/raw?utm_term=16837796845222acf50e3996d&utm_source=cnn_Reliable+Sources+-+May+10,+2023&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=Lb7h3rCaCYUg8siHqowQ5H7AiLq4e2XsnLQSGBcj3Nb6rARK3HujVfGHI2kotMFbn1uQKxmjQCJLO3C2klnUPg%3D%3D&bt_ts=1683779684526) Wednesday night that the town hall made it feel like it was “2016 all over again.” …
>
> * * *
>
> “I don’t believe for one second that this is about journalistic integrity. It’s about ratings and money,” Fanone wrote. “Sometimes things are exactly as they appear, and this appears to be an attempt by a major media outlet struggling with its ratings to attract disenfranchised viewers.”
>
> Fanone [told HuffPost after the town hall](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-cnn-town-hall-jan-6_n_645c3789e4b005be8ff14d14) that he was “appalled” by what he saw and that it was “an absolute disaster.” …
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### Author:  [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/186 "2023-05-13T02:39:34Z")
This one’s also interesting, Anderson Cooper gives his considered opinion, which sounded reasonable enough, well as far as it went, then Brian Tyler Cohen steps up, and starts poking holes into Anderson’s reasoning by reminded us of the bigger picture.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1_qcYfe2gg)
May 12, 2023 - **[Brian Tyler Cohen](https://briantylercohen.com)**
_(besides anyone that has to repeatedly remind us: “I get that”, doesn’t freak’n get it.)_
* * *
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPuPmiIYI7U)
> May 11, 2023 [#CNN](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cnn) [#News](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/news)
>
> Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger responds to former President Trump’s comments during CNN’s Republican presidential town hall about him and their call regarding the 2020 election. [#CNN](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cnn) [#News](https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/news)
* * *
We many have a less than healthy democracy, but by golly we do still have a democracy!
Use It Or Loss It!
That means more rational voters need to get informed and engaged, because a huge faction of the GOP has embraced a self-fabricated War against anyone who doesn’t kowtow to their extremism, their totalitarian white-supremest, corporate overlords worshipping tendencies.
> **[Republicans are a mess right now, and voters know it. Does the party? | Moira...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/10/republican-party-2024-divided)**
>
> The GOP is internally divided, filled with self-serving carnival-barkers, and beholden to cruel positions that appall most voters
> By [Moira Donegan](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/moira-donegan)
>
> . . . Republicans got what they wanted. Now, they risk being destroyed by it.
>
> **The Republican party today is messy, internally divided, filled with self-serving carnival-barkers like Trump and his descendants – George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz** – more interested in garnering publicity for themselves than in securing electoral or policy victories for their party, and most of all, beholden to positions, most notably on abortion, that inflict untold suffering and are increasingly abhorrent to the average voter.
>
> Republicans propose sadistic abortion bans that are unpopular with voters, then reject amendments that would allow doctors to save women’s lives without fear of prosecution – **making a self-righteous display of their own femicidal barbarity.**
>
> They enact bans on transgender girls in sports and harness the full power of the state against trans student athletes – who number, in many states, fewer than a dozen.
>
> Although party elites periodically propose alternatives to Trump . . .
* * *
Even the French can see the optics loud and clear,
> **[In the United States, the Republican Party is out of control](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/04/10/in-the-united-states-the-republican-party-is-out-of-control_6022332_4.html)**
>
> NEWS ANALYSIS. The cultural warfare initiated by Donald Trump's supporters is cutting the party off from a majority of women and young people.
# Party is out of control
> ### [NEWS ANALYSIS](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/analysis/) - [Piotr Smolar](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/signataires/piotr-smolar/), Washington (United States) correspondent
>
> The Republican Party likes to lose. **Or maybe it’s developing masochistic tendencies and Stockholm syndrome vis-à-vis Donald Trump, the man who has been changing its face and holding it hostage for seven years.** Is that an exaggeration?
>
> Hardly, given the last few months of American political life, rich in lessons for the presidential election of 2024. They show a Grand Old Party (GOP) out of control, unable to learn the lessons of recent elections, in terms of its public face and its political agenda. Even condemnation of political violence has become too high a bar to cross.
>
> The United States had never seen an incumbent president be defeated in his re-election bid and then succeed in staying on top. Since November 2020, Trump has managed this feat. …
=========================================
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### Author:  [@sunnyjim](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sunnyjim)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 11:59am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/187 "2023-07-09T11:59:21Z")
Lots of cocaine found at the whitehouse
> **[Cocaine found at White House: Cameras, visitor logs searched by Secret Service](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cocaine-white-house-found-cubby-hole-where-visitors-leave-belongings-source-2023-07-05/)**
>
> Cocaine discovered in the White House on Sunday was found in a cubby hole in a West Wing entry area where visitors place electronics and other belongings before going on tours, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
---
### Author:  [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 12:20pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/188 "2023-07-09T12:20:59Z")
The article says they haven’t said how much was found
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### Author:  [@sunnyjim](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sunnyjim)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/189 "2023-07-09T12:46:14Z")
Not a good look smoking Joe
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### Author:  [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/190 "2023-07-09T14:03:44Z")
Why do you say that? It’s not like he stashed the coke. IMHO, it was planted in order to make gullible people think he’s done wrong, but it was actually someone attempting to set him up.
---
### Author:  [@write4u](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/write4u)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/191 "2023-07-09T17:49:13Z")
> [@sunnyjim](#):
>
> Not a good look smoking Joe
Welcome to CFI. Quite an introductory posit!
What would Biden have to do with cocaine? Do you really think that 80 year old Joe Biden is an addict? I think it is a set-up by Republican insurrectionists. So easy to drop a baggie and then yelling, “drugs, drugs, drugs. the Bidens are drug addicts, for shame.”
Do you know anything at all about President Biden? Perhaps you may want to read his bibliography from a respectable source instead of repeating spurious rumors from sleazy news-rags.
---
### Author:  [@sunnyjim](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sunnyjim)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/192 "2023-07-09T20:09:34Z")
The area where it was found only accessed by biden family and friends. Lots and lots of cameras everywhere but dont hold your breath they will find out who put it there
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### Author:  [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/193 "2023-07-09T20:10:37Z")
> [@sunnyjim](#):
>
> Not a good look smoking Joe
“Smoking Joe Frazier” was pugilist.
Let’s see, has access to the entire house, including off limits areas, but stuffs some drugs in a public cubby. Makes total sense.
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### Author:  [@sunnyjim](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sunnyjim)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/194 "2023-07-09T20:15:59Z")
_The AP_ reported that the area is also open to staff-led tours of the West Wing, which are scheduled for nonworking hours on the weekends and evenings. There were tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week, White House Press Secretary [Karine Jean-Pierre](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/karine-jean-pierre) said.
The invitation-only tours are led by White House staff for friends, family and other guests.
> **[Cocaine at the White House—What we know](https://www.newsweek.com/cocaine-update-white-house-secret-service-latest-1811756?amp=1)**
>
> The Secret Service is investigating who brought a baggie of cocaine into the West Wing of the White House.
---
### Author:  [@write4u](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/write4u)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/195 "2023-07-09T20:43:30Z")
> [@sunnyjim](#):
>
> The area where it was found only accessed by biden family and friends. Lots and lots of cameras everywhere but dont hold your breath they will find out who put it there
You are wrongggggggggggggggggggggg!!!
The area where the drug was found is a high traffic area for WH visitors.
Why do you want to slander Biden? What is your agenda? You like the criminal Trump?
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### Author:  [@sunnyjim](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sunnyjim)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/196 "2023-07-09T20:46:24Z")
I am quoting newsweek
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### Author:  [@write4u](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/write4u)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/197 "2023-07-09T20:47:31Z")
Get yourself up-to-date on the location.
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### Author:  [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/198 "2023-07-09T21:15:35Z")
He’s sounds like a dumpster person, wanting, even needing President Biden to look bad. The only thing worse than causing an insurrection would be??? Cocaine. Yeah. So some dotard supporter goes on a tour and plants the crap, then when found, believe everyone will blame President Biden and believe things that just aren’t true, much like the dumpster people do.
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### Author:  [@write4u](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/write4u)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/199 "2023-07-09T21:25:42Z")
Yep, that’s how it’s done. Falsely accusing a person of “alleged” but unprovable criminal acts and destroying their reputation. Witness what they did to Hillary Clinton.
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### Author:  [@citizenschallengev4](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev4)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/political-optics/9834/200 "2023-07-09T23:00:55Z")
Speaking of Political Optics, how about that trump?
> # [The long list of legal cases against Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2022/feb/07/donald-trump-list-legal-cases)
>
> The former president faces 19 legal actions, from alleged financial improprieties to his role in the 6 January insurrection
>
> Feb 7, 2022 - Guardian US staff
Oops, over a year old, my bad.
Oh lookie here, same old same old, only more of it, go figure.
But, Republicans don’t care about real criminality, just about beating dead horses and getting their way, no matter how much dishonesty and criminality it takes.
> **[The Case(s) Against Donald Trump](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-are-the-legal-cases-against-donald-trump.html)**
>
> It’s hard to keep track, so we made a guide.
> **[Tracking the Trump criminal cases: Latest on legal charges and key players](https://www.politico.com/interactives/2023/trump-criminal-investigations-cases-tracker-list/)**
>
> A definitive guide to the key players and legal risks in the four criminal probes of the former president.
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