This piece written by Henry Girioux following the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is so well said, tragically spot on, and needs to be illuminated and shared again and again and again. It is critical that there are increasing numbers of strong voices countering toxic narratives with essential facts and deeper truths. And this is something we can all be inspired to do — tell the truth. — Molly
By
I find it difficult to read or watch the major mainstream media any longer. They engage in false-equivalency arguments as if searching for the truth is merely a matter of balance. The treat a fascist running for president as a normal candidate, and downplay in an extraordinarily cravenly way the threat he represents to both the U.S. and the world. He is a convicted felon, a pathological liar, an antisemitic, an upfront racist, and a pathological misogynist who has been convicted in civil court of sexual assault. He views the truth as a burden, and is one of the most uninformed people on the planet. Remember when he referred to the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass as if he were still alive.
I watched his debate with VP Harris tonight was delighted to see her expose him for the unfit, unbalanced fraud that he is. This debate was a meltdown for Trump who lied repeatedly, mumbled, rambled incoherently, and revealed himself as an unhinged emotionally incontinent personality who is as embarrassing as he is dangerous.
Yet, the response by the mainstream media, for instance the Washington Post and New York Times, thus far has said little about his lies, racism, and racist immigration diatribes. Instead, they are stating that Harris did not really live up to expectations. Politico, the BBC, NYT, Washington Post, and other mainstream outlets claimed she was weak on policy, and that Trump made a few good points. What reality are they living in? Anyone who watched the debate could not miss her policy points regarding taxing the rich, supporting small business, protecting women's reproductive rights, and ways to fix the housing crisis. Of course, she was wrong on fracking and Gaza. The war on Gaza did not start on October 7th, and the peace she yearns for will only come when the US stops supplying the alleged war criminal Netanyahu with lethal weapons.
Think about this, Trump lied about crime being up in the US; he repeated falsehoods about abortions, one being that babies are being executed in the US--which of course is illegal and has a name, murder; made racist and false claims about immigrants both with respect to out of control crimes waves and immigrants eating pets--truly a deranged mind at work here. His claim that Gov. Tim Walz said it is fine to execute babies after birth is beyond simply a lie, it is the sign of a pathologically damaged and dangerous human being. He lied about the economy, his role during the pandemic--remember the claim we should inject bleach to kill Covid? He lied once again about winning the election; he repeated a lie about the Central Park Five, and so it goes. CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale counted 33 false claims from the former president.
Should the mainstream press mention his lies, his fascist politics, and his thirst for personal insults, his dehumanizing language, his threats, his call to imprison his enemies? And then there is, excuse the pun, his trump card, in which he references Viktor Orbán--the authoritarian prime minister of Hungary, who has claimed that he wants a country without mixed races and that democracy is a scourge-as one of his greatest fans.
A dying democracy is marked by a press that refuses to tell the truth or foster an informed public. Today’s corporate-controlled media prioritizes spectacle and "balance" over justice, truth, and the conditions necessary for democracy.
Please go here for Henry Giroux's website:
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