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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   25760 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 18, 2024

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It seems to me that this is pretty squarely within the "technically the truth" category. It follows the same logic as the other examples of misleading headlines: If you had more context, you would interpret it completely differently.

Where is the line? Let's say you rephrase "I have never beaten my wife" to "I have ... beaten my wife".

There is clearly a spectrum between selective reporting and pants-on-fire lie. In this case, the media was closer to the outright lie end of the spectrum. I mean, yeah, Trump said the word "bloodbath". That's about the only honest thing in their headlines.

That would be a lie because he didn't say that he has beaten his wife. It would not be a lie if it was "I have beaten my wife (in a video game)". But yeah, I would agree that at this level of "obscuration of the truth" there is little difference in the consequences between simply lying and being grossly misleading. Though we should not completely disregard the possibility that Joe actually thinks that Trump meant a real bloodbath (cf. dog whistling).

Here is an excerpt of what he said:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/joe-scarborough-spots-trump-line-115751035.html

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on Monday insisted Donald Trump meant his warning about a “bloodbath” in America if he’s not elected, despite the Trump campaign’s claims to the contrary he was only talking about the auto industry.

“It was a distinction without a difference,” said Scarborough.

What made it clear what GOP nominee Trump was intending to say, Scarborough continued, was when he added afterward that a “bloodbath” would “be the least of it.”

Scarborough explained, “If you think there’s going to be a bloodbath in the auto industry, even if you take that argument at face value, which, again, given the tone of the rest of the speech, ‘bloodbath’? I’m not sure he’s talking about the niceties of international trade. But let’s just take that argument as is. Then he goes on and he says, ‘That’s going to be the least of it,’ and repeats it. ‘It’s gonna be the least of it.’”

“Obviously, he’s talking about a bloodbath for America,” he added.

“It’s just bullshit,” Scarborough said of the Trump campaign’s spin that was parroted by other Republicans.

“I’ll say that at 6:15 a.m. It was bullshit,” he added.

Trump “knew what he was doing. We’re not stupid. Americans aren’t stupid,” Scarborough said. “He was talking about a bloodbath. Sometimes a bloodbath means a bloodbath. And when he finishes by saying, ‘And that’s just going to be the least of it.’ Seriously? These people may be stupid, we’re not.”

This actually sounds like pretty genuine TDS. This is another thing I find amusing. The only people who seem to hear "dog whistles" are the ones who aren't supposed to her them.

The people who aren't supposed to hear dog whistles, according to the dog whistle theory, are the moderates who vote for the dog whistler. The opponents don't factor in, they weren't about to vote for you anyway.

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