{"id":22202,"date":"2024-07-08T17:33:12","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T00:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=22202"},"modified":"2024-07-08T17:44:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T00:44:28","slug":"so-we-cheated-and-we-lied-and-we-tested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/07\/08\/so-we-cheated-and-we-lied-and-we-tested\/","title":{"rendered":"So we cheated and we lied and we tested"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Trump&#8217;s dementia;<\/li>\n<li>The Heritage Foundation&#8217;s threat of violence unless they get their way;<\/li>\n<li>And a graphic from Fb: &#8220;If you don&#8217;t scream, I won&#8217;t hurt you&#8221;;<\/li>\n<li>Trump disavows Project 2025;<\/li>\n<li>And a song by Crosby, Stills &amp; Nash.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Continuing from yesterday&#8217;s theme.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b1e1864-b4f2-45b1-b00b-fff68ebf3890_1200x630.jpeg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Reich, 8 Jul 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/robertreich.substack.com\/p\/why-arent-we-examining-trumps-growing\">Why isn\u2019t the media reporting on Trump\u2019s growing dementia?<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The evidence is increasing&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Friends,<\/p>\n<p>A few weeks ago, at a rally in Nevada, Trump told his followers that boat manufacturers are now required to use electric engines. He claimed that someone at a boat company in South Carolina told him, \u201cIt\u2019s a problem, sir. They want us to make all-electric boats.\u201d (There is no such requirement.)<\/p>\n<p>Trump then said the South Carolinian warned him \u201cthe boat is so heavy it can\u2019t float. Also, it can\u2019t go fast because of the weight.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Reich goes on to quote Trump at length about heavy batteries and sharks and getting electrocuted by those batteries. Then says:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I ask you: Is this the speech of a rational human being?<\/p>\n<p>But how much attention did this incoherent ramble attract in the media? Very little, especially in comparison with the nonstop media assessment of Biden\u2019s verbal stumbles during the debate.<\/p>\n<p>Trump is showing growing signs of dementia, but isn\u2019t facing nearly the same scrutiny as is Joe Biden.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Reich then supplies further examples, about Gettysburg, confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi, Biden with Obama, and warning about Biden starting World War <i>Two<\/i>. And this nugget from Trump:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible \u2014 they\u2019ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American dream.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Are these the words of a sane person? Or of an aging paranoid megalomaniac?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And the point I made earlier: Reich says &#8220;When I\u2019ve asked members of the media, they say Trump\u2019s malfunctioning brain is &#8216;old news.'&#8221; Which is an indictment of those media. Reich concludes,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>But just because Trump has shown mental instability in the past doesn\u2019t make his mental problems any less relevant now that he is seeking reelection. They\u2019re more relevant. He appears even more delusional than before.<\/p>\n<p>If Biden\u2019s difficulties are fair game, why isn\u2019t Trump\u2019s apparent mental decline front and center?<\/p>\n<p>Biden may appear frail, but he\u2019s rational. The growing evidence of Trump\u2019s dementia and paranoia, on the other hand, poses a clear potential danger to the future of America \u2014 if he\u2019s reelected.<\/p>\n<p>At the least, the media should be investigating and reporting on it. Right?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>I noticed this item five days ago, but not the phrase that&#8217;s getting the most attention.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Matters, 2 Jul 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/project-2025\/heritage-foundation-president-celebrates-supreme-court-immunity-decision-we-are\">Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: \u201cWe are in the process of the second American Revolution\u201d<\/a>, subtitled \u201cKevin Roberts: \u2018We\u2019re in the process of taking this country back \u2026 we ought to be really encouraged by what happened yesterday&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The phrase comes at the end of the long statement from Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts that this piece quotes.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And so I come full circle on this response and just want to encourage you with some substance that we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So &#8212; his side is prepared for violence unless the rest of us roll over and succumb. This is consistent with theme we&#8217;ve seen about conservatives threatening violence in order to get their way. (Since they don&#8217;t have evidence, reason, or arguments to support their positions.)<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a graphic I saw on Fb today. The poster called it &#8220;The most powerful piece of political art I&#8217;ve ever seen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/IfYouDontScream.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/IfYouDontScream-300x297.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"297\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, here is Trump changing his story yet again.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff38b2496-06be-41a5-ac7e-7663d9daa964_1400x933.jpeg\" width=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, 8 Jul 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.friendlyatheist.com\/p\/a-desperate-trump-wants-to-distance\">A desperate Trump wants to distance himself from Project 2025. Here&#8217;s why.<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;There&#8217;s a reason Trump doesn&#8217;t want voters to know the GOP&#8217;s plans if he gets elected&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On Friday, <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> tried to distance himself from Project 2025, the <a href=\"https:\/\/static.project2025.org\/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf\" rel=\"\">922-page conservative playbook<\/a> for a second Trump administration. He (or someone on his campaign staff) <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/112734594514167050\" rel=\"\">posted<\/a> on Truth Social:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trumpp2025.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trumpp2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You can tell he\u2019s desperate to wash his hands clean of this by the way he pretends to \u201cknow nothing\u201d about the plan while simultaneously saying he <em>disagrees<\/em> with certain parts of it\u2026 which would require him to know what\u2019s in it. (Which parts does he think are \u201cridiculous and abysmal\u201d? Who knows.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This echoes Republicans distancing themselves from the Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe, after which it became apparent that a majority of the country *supports* abortion rights, and were thus voting against Republicans in key states. Mehta goes into some detail, quoting various passages of the Project 2025 document, and how it is irredeemably Christian-focused. For example, picked almost at random:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There are multiple references to the country\u2019s supposed \u201cJudeo-Christian tradition, stretching back to Genesis\u201d and all of our \u201cGod-given\u201d rights, but there are virtually no mentions of non-Christian religious beliefs. As FFRF Action Fund notes, \u201cthe only mentions of Islam in the 920-page publication are references to Islamic terrorism and concerns over the Islamic Republic of Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities.\u201d The document also says, \u201cReligious devotion and spirituality are the greatest sources of happiness around the world.\u201d (No citation is provided.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Southern Cross (2005 Remaster)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/chhJukhxeHE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>When you see the Southern Cross for the first time<br \/>\nYou understand now why you came this way<br \/>\n&#8216;Cause the truth you might be running from is so small<br \/>\nBut it&#8217;s as big as the promise<br \/>\nThe promise of a coming day<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>So we cheated and we lied and we tested<br \/>\nAnd we never failed to fail<br \/>\nIt was the easiest thing to do<br \/>\nYou will survive being bested<br \/>\nSomebody fine<br \/>\nWill come along, make me forget about loving you<br \/>\nIn the Southern Cross<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump&#8217;s dementia; The Heritage Foundation&#8217;s threat of violence unless they get their way; And a graphic from Fb: &#8220;If you don&#8217;t scream, I won&#8217;t hurt you&#8221;; Trump disavows Project 2025; And a song by Crosby, Stills &amp; Nash. Continuing from &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/07\/08\/so-we-cheated-and-we-lied-and-we-tested\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,18,17,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservative-resistance","category-lunacy","category-music","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22202"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22212,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22202\/revisions\/22212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}