718 Comments

I could not agree more and am horrified at the details. I taught Donald Trump at UPenn in 1968. He plagiarized every paper — from famous people! He could not read beyond 4th grade level then — or now, but had the documents on file to prove that destroyed in 2015 or 2016, when he decided to run for office.

In Sept. of 2020, on television, l watched him stumble for five minutes, trying to read the first two lines of the U.S. Constitution. He could not pick up the syntax! Finally, utterly enraged, he threw the Constitution to the ground, turned behind him to his speechwriter, and said, “Call the guy who wrote this thing and tell him to rewrite it. It’s unreadable.”

Moronic Trump, after becoming U. S. President, still did not know that the Constitution was written well over 200 years ago. Just as he didn’t know there were no airplanes or airports in 1776! He is simply UNFIT — and attacking everyone and everything that does not grant him utter fealty! Democracy is deeply endangered by this madman.

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It’s incredibly that 74 million voted for him!!

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Aug 23, 2022Liked by Robert Reich

It's incredible how delusional and out of touch with reality 74 million people are. They are grossly uninformed and uneducated and have been lied to so often for so long, they don't know the truth. We need journalists like Brian Stelter to keep people informed on the truth and what's real. Shame on Malone - he has no business owning any media. No fascism!!!

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Predictible result of failing public education system.

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Failing school systems are part of their strategy. That’s how long their game really is. It started decades ago.

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We either vote them out now, while that's still possible, or... ELSE!

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BTW, where is the Democrats' long game?

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Yes, the problem can fairly be assigned to public education, but only if the term is clearly understood not to be restricted to formal schooling. Don’t fall for criticism that focuses on symptoms and ignores the cultural factor responsible for those symptoms. Schooling is an important factor in education, but education is broadly cultural, as any analysis of achievement indicators irrefutably shows.

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

Exactly. Education is more than simply sitting in a classroom and reading the curriculum. It's traveling, and exposure to people from other cultures, and experience of different localities, expansion of horizons, in short - diversity. It's why those parts of the country where the bulk of the people live and died within 5 miles of the same place are seen as relatively unsophisticated and uneducated. The rural flyover portions of the country, as beautiful and as wonderful as those areas are, with wonderful people. They still think Trump is a great man. They just don't know any better.

Call it condescension, but it's true.

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I fully agree with you on this because I could go back home and if there were any still alive that I went to school with they would still be sitting on the same bar stool watching sports as they were 50 years ago! I can also guarantee you that having never left the county they were born in THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT POLITICS THEN YOU OR I! I have been to the other side of the planet and experienced what other cultures have to say about the great US of A.

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Ouch, and We know better,,, I'm confused

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

What I saw when I lived in Europe, was in the schools for children under age 18, students with the highest academic achievement were the "top dogs on campus." In the USA - sports has WARPED OUR value of education. It's the football & basketball players and the cheerleaders who are the "top dogs on campus" in the US. This association and value of sports as a component of education is so deeply entrenched in the USA that I see no solution. And now that the Republicans have added "anti-intellectualism to their agenda" the field is ripe for fascism. When did the anti-intellectualism come to the fore? Was that with Ronald Regan's "government IS the problem"? Or when dimwitted George "W" Bush became president?

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I noticed my European classmates were ahead in math and very well read... much better than most American kids.

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OK. Of course, education is cultural and, added to that, family and home are vital to children's learning. However, any child depending on the public school system today is not getting enough.

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No one reads, Hemingway, Orwell, Bradbury Twain, all out of school system,,, because...

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As a retired public middle school teacher, I completely agree with your statement. When drumpf was "elected" I told my colleagues that it represented a failure of the public school system. They were insulted. However, I was the only one who taught my 8th graders Zinn history, as the other teachers taught the drivel in the textbook.

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founding

@Paul. Thanks for mentioning Zinn. But very unhelpful of you to deride the other teachers and the other points of view found in those textbooks. I hope you presented Zinn's work as "contrast and compare" versus you setting up a new icon of "perfection"?

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It would have been helpful for all of us if teachers didn't indoctrinate. Think of stenographers for the current administration, (whichever one it might be) otherwise known as "jounalists". The comparison is apt. We live in a capitalist system based on mercantilism, which was a church-sanctioned thievery of 3rd world labor(slavery) and resources which helped fuel the industrial revolution. Capitalism, especially in this country, was at first based on slavery, whether actual or wage. It has continued to steal the labor or resources of other countries, as well as toppling/assasinating any leader or government that gets in the way of corporate exploitation. The US is widely regarded around the world as the foremost purveyor of violence and arms. Never would I teach 8th graders anything except the truth. Not an interpretation of the truth, as you seem to suggest. That's not my job; that's what Texas textbooks do. For example, my 8th graders knew that black slaves were breeding stock, and we examined the prices of "strong young bucks" (as advertised in slave sale leaflets from 1857 in Baton Rouge). The prices, by the way, were astronomical for the times. The return on that labor therefore had to have also been phenomenal.

And yes, I certainly did contrast and compare, asking the kids after we'd read select passages from Zinn, what was missing from the textbooks. That question can inspire some rewarding conversations.

As far as icons of perfection, the Truth (notice the capital) of history, as they say is written by the victor, and I guess we interpret that truth. That's what I taught - to read numerous sources, to read interpretations of those sources, to compare and contrast presentations of facts, or the lack of facts. And to question, therefore, why facts might be omitted.

Who benefits? Systemically, the bottom line trumps all else. And yet, here I am, benefitting from my pension and social security, benefitting from a system that does so much harm to so many for so few. A quandary.

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so who approved the use of a textbook with drivel and why ?

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You're implying in your comment that public education itself is at fault, when it's been heavily sabotaged by the charter school industry and other privatizing of what was once an outstanding public school concept that helped America flourish. Public schools have been kneecapped on purpose. Of course that's going to lead to deterioration in quality. That "predictability" was designed.

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If we vote in Democrats I see public schools improving to a point where we have a mostly literate, numerate public...

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The bar started low after Reagan cut off the supporting poles, and has been deliberately set on fire since then

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It started long before that, Alan. Reagan merely supplied a big fan or ax (or both).

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Reagan and Thatcher as political amplifiers for what they threw at the fan, indeed

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They earn our attention at the ballot box every single day. If we all help get out the vote we should be able to enact legislation to protect democracy-- and those who would keep it intact.

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Yup

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Which Americans are uninformed? I agree, but more like 140 million

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we're talking about the 74 million that voted for 45 in 2020.

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founding

@C. Martinez. Thank you for coming back to civil discourse. It's hard to make sense when quite a few folks on here are trying to block any making of sense. In my "hobby" as a political scientist I am developing a concept around "reciprocal hegemony." The essential idea is that a people must harbor a particular set of beliefs in order for a demagogue to draw those beliefs into expression and action. Hegemony, often thought of as a binding of people into supporting a "state" is also something that binds would-be leaders into the beliefs of their followers. In basic terms, Trump couldn't use racist dog whistles if there wasn't a ready and receptive audience for them. This should be quite frightening since the clear implication is that "Trumpism" does not at all depend on Trump. Rather, the Trumpist movement relies on the fact that as many as 74 million people are looking for a leader who will reflect and amplify their beliefs. Any dick head demagogue might be able to pick up the theme... We really shouldn't call it Trumpism at all - we should call it what it really is, a form of the 1860s confederacy resurgent.

Also, looking at it this way redefines the problem in a (scary but) useful way - the problem is not to get rid of Trump. The problem is to bring 74 million people back into a civil relationship with the majority in this country. It feels to me like the Republicans understand exactly what I am saying (and are working against it) while the Democrats are distracted by, and still reacting to, the ex-dick head in charge as if getting rid of that criminal will fix what is going on in the heads of the 23% of Americans who were deceived by him and the other 7% to 10% who just wanted to reject status quo.

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oh, you had a typo: "Trumpism" should be spelled: fascism

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Agreed! I hope we hear from him again soon

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Frightening! How could such a moron con so many into his cult? We are in a very precarious place.

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One Conservative tactic I've consistently noted since the Bush/Gore debacle in 2000 is the tack of accusing your oppenent of whatever sin you are committing. (Remember "Gore is trying to steal the election!"?) The goal is apparently to confuse, distract, and divert - and ultimately stop critical thought.

With the current relentless Republican yammering about vote fraud, I suspect they are essentially "confessing" what they've been up to. Accordingly, I question the validity of the 74 million number.

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Bill Miller ; I have had doubts about that number too.

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Exactly - it's called projecting.

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Something I had not taken note of. Thank you

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Keith Olson ; He probably 'found' some extra 'votes' here and there!

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I have no idea that we had so many crazy people in this country!

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What you see is what the left wants you to see. Open your lying eyes and see what is actualy happening. This crap from th left is what created fascism, communism, Marxism and nearly every other kinds of -isms...Just like Biden siccing the DoJ after Trump for NO reason.

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I’d like to ask you a question? Would you prefer a President that the people can vote for, or would you prefer a Dictator?

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We already have a dictator. Trump was by the book and allowed the Constitution to work. He was found not guilty of everything that has been thrown at him including Russia, Russia, Russia. Hillary was the crook and would be Dictator-in-Chief but Demented Joe beat her to it.. This POS just makes edicts, like today, forgiving loans he has no authority to do. What next, confer citizenship with the stroke of the pen? Probably.

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Wrong - the opposite of what you say is the truth - you are delusional and highly misinformed. The Attorney General is Garland and he is Republican and President Biden can't "sic" the DOJ on anybody. 45 was caught red handed with the highest classified documents that our nation has which never should've left the Whitehouse. 45 has a very tall pile of crimes with mountains of evidence. He'll be in criminal court the rest of his life or he and his cronies with be charged with the RICO act. He'll never be able to run for any office ever again. Get your facts correct!!!

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To quote Addison DeWitt, whom I would wager you have never heard of,

"You have a point. An idiotic one, but a point."

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Nonsense. Besides your screed (which is crap), your grasp of history is also crap. You're a teacher? God help your students. If one of my kids came home spouting drivel they'd learned from you, I'd be in the Super's office so fast your "lying eyes" would be rocketing in their sockets.

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Perhaps that’s what needs a closer look at

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And scary

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I believe every word you wrote. The Nation has been subjected to this barbarian for too long. If I suddenly woke up from a ten year coma, I would say, there is no way a man that stupid could be our president. Sad.

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what if you woke up and saw that an idiot like herschel walker was in congress? Now, thats sad.

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OMG I live in Georgia and are appalled these people are enamored with this idiot UGA football player who lies like trump and speaks like he didn’t get thru 1st grade. Very very sad.

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UGA grad here. I used to think that Alabama was totally corrupted by football, but now i see that my alma mater is no better,.Winning the national football championship was unfortunate and handing the chancellorship uncontested to Republican Sonny Perdue sealed the school's regressive fate. It is sad that a deeply ignorant man like Hershel Walker can even be considered in the same contest as Raphael Warnock.

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In his own way, Rick Scott is more corrupt than Trump and more ignorant than Herschel Walker.

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At minimum he is deliberately obtuse.

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More than sad, extremely scary.

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That is what you get with entitlement mentality ; Rick Scott. He is the complete entitlement package.

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All the undeserved power that money can buy.....

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Dea, As concerned as I am about Trump, Reich’s letter greatly amplified my uneasiness regarding the impact of the increasing consolidation of media ownership on fairness, accuracy, and diversity in news media. Additionally, I’m deeply dismayed that people, overall, are not bothered by the phrase “balanced journalism,” but, instead, are deluded into thinking that objectivity, somehow, is satisfied by two opposing people offering competing views, leaving the viewer to split the difference, absent the benefit of context, background, or any sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading.

As a final point, I would note, that while I understand Thomas Jefferson was the first American in power to criticize journalism when it went after him, he also understood in principle one couldn’t have a free society without it. I dare say said iron law is as true today as it was in 1791.

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You are right, Barbara. We need honestly stated opinions as well as 'facts'. People on this site are willing and able to research and draw their own conclusions, but we still like to know what other educated people think. It is bad enough that the trumplicans believe every word the trumpster utters (even when he contradicts himself. changes his story midstream, or stumbles around spouting nonsense) I'd hate to see the time when the decent working people of this country have no news channel that gives accurate information and no guidance whatsoever.

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We need the truth.

90% of MSM no longer serves any public good; it's just another "Big" putting profits first. Bye-bye, CNN, I'll miss you.

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Fay, I appreciate your comment and simply would note, that while the media admittedly constitute a commercial, profit-driven enterprise, we, nonetheless, also must expect the industry to serve the interests of citizens and communities with strong, honest, and accurate reporting that gets as close as possible to the verifiable truth. Regrettably, Reich’s newsletter convincingly shows that the desire to make bigger profits is apt to drive media owners (presumably not all) to provide expedient rather than useful content.

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Dea, this is information worth documenting further.

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It most definitely is; after expansion and documentation. it should definitely should be published.

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And we may see similarly unfit candidates on our ballets in November 2022. See the tweet by the honorable Reverend Raphael Warnock of Georgia regarding his competitor, Herschel Walker. https://www.queerty.com/herschel-walkers-opponent-destroys-one-brutally-honest-tweet-20220823 We may want to look at the qualifieres stated for our legislators. The word legislate, means to making or enacting laws. Who are we asking to do this in our behalf as we check their name box on our ballot?

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A bit mind boggling that candidates openly embracing Q-ology and the Trumpian lies are 'fit for office' - then again there does not seem to be much of a test/qualification for that.

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Dea Mallin ; And his billionaire supporters.

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AMEN BROTHER! Haven't watched CNN fir years - this is terrible and thank YOU for speaking out. Trump is a menace and should NEVER be allowed to run for anything ever!

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Jews are all the same.

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Trump is NOT a menace. He has been fighting fire with fire. Our country goes to far left then we go to far right. We need to find middle ground. What Joe Biden is doing with my tax money infuriates me. I have been an Independent voter for years. What puppet Biden and the people who are pulling the strings behind the curtain are doing to this country is despicable. Paying off student debt with my money, my children and grandchildren money was the straw that broke the back for me. The democratic party has come out of the closet. Pure evil. Communism and Socialism with a focus on one world order. Wake up. Read what is really happening in the future.

We are living in a brand new world. https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/mark-zuckerberg-podcast-joe-rogan-spotify-latest-b2153122.html

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You are a lunatic like the rest of Maga maggots

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Charlotte. Thank you. I take that as a compliment. You see I am passionate about my country.

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I just don’t understand how your thinking. Part of what you say about our politics going too far left or too far right, I completely understand. But Trump is a very troubled man with a serious mental illness. He is a FASCIST. There is no question about that. Trump is a long time CRIMINAL. He is a traitor to our country. He has made that abundantly clear.

I can’t understand anyone defending him and his actions.

Whether our country is too far left or too far right, There is one thing I believe all Americans can agree on, Being American is about the FREEDOM TO CHOOSE. Americans don’t want people telling us how to live our lives. A person’s personal choices are between them and God. No one has the right to tell anyone how they should live their life.

I am passionate about my country too and all of the rights each individual has. Freedom to choose is American and I don’t want to live in a place where someone is choosing for me.

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How decent and kind of you to report this. I hope you suffer no repercussion from trunp's minions. You have the courage of telling the truth.

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The process of making a sociopath/psychopath begins at a very early age. I am quite sure that if someone could find and interview Trump's first grade teacher, assuming they are still alive, she/he would be able to describe multiple incidents of behaviors that are very clearly sociopathic.

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100% TRUTH!

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The process of making a sociopath/psychopath begins at a very early age. I am quite sure that if someone could find and interview Trump's first grade teacher, assuming they are still alive, she/he would be able to describe multiple incident of behaviors that are very clearly sociopathic.

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

Deep down, he knows what he doesn’t know, and is terrified that it will come out—-that will be psychic death, and why he has become no more and more desperate, and dangerous. More scary are his supporters who seem to have no line they would be unwilling to cross to make his “truth” true

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Replace the word trump with biden. By the way, why did you give trump a passing grade?

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founding

@Tom. That's a false equivalence - no similarity whatsoever between our current President and old bone spur!

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Benjamin..more trolls than usual, they’re worried! 👏🏻👏🏻

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founding

@SeekingReason. Yes! Makes me proud of our group...

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The political parties are full of false equivalencies but it still doesn’t negate the underlying statement’s veracity.

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Shouldn’t you be watching Fox. tRump is a joke and cannot be compared to the decent and honorable Biden.

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I assume your tongue was planted squarely in the side of your cheek when you made that comment.

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'But whatabout'! Bad faith argument by distraction and absurdity 101

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seriously... what kind of teacher allows plagiarism to happen? sounds like a teacher who didn't like a student so decided to pick on them.

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Typical, take away the facts, Trump is a pathetic, disgusting liar and cheat, replace them with “it’s not his fault, it’s yours”. I didn’t read she gave him a passing grade.

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Who was taking away facts? Are they facts? I was asking a question ... How did he graduate if he Plagiarized "every paper " and "couldn't read past a 4th grade level"? If those are "facts" then shame on every teacher and UPenn. You are no better than "the right" with your anger and disdain yet express much less for a senile demented old man who has done nothing for our country in 50 years. ALL politicians are bought. You should be more angry with our government than with a single person who clearly resonated with more than 1/2 the country... or maybe be angry that ALL televised media is OWNED by pharmaceutical companies and corporations so facts are elusive at this point. I listen to ALL sides and am open to all opinions. Thats why I follow this substack. And yeah if they let him graduate with that much cheating it is their fault! Accountability is elusive as well.

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founding

@Kathleen. No, no, and no. Our current President is an honorable man, not perfect, but real public servant. Our government, not perfect, is the best we can make it in the face of bald-faced opposition from moneyed interests in this country and oligarchic dictators around the world. AND especially NO, that old bone spur, pussy grabbing, dictator-kissing traitor did NOT resonate with "over half of the country" but rather conned his way into a position of influence through lies, misrepresentation, corruption and the wicked and cynical use of money by those same moneyed interests, oligarchs and dictators. The real "weakness" in our system of government is that WE DO allow all voices; it is up to honest, fair and genuine democrats to put our house in order by electing people who really represent their constituents. I am not sure you are a real person, given your sad and twisted commentary, and yet you have had your say (as is our custom here in America), but we don't have to pay attention to you or this B. S. that you are spewing.

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Are you so naive that you fail to realize that all of our country's prestigious universities pass students who do not deserve to have ever even been admitted? Money rules in academic circles, especially with the most prestigious universities. Face it--s**t happens!

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No disrespect intended but you’re obviously in need of a neurosurgeon.

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wow you got your panties in a bunch... no problem. its called dialogue and you don't have to listen... but you are behaving exactly like the person you hate the most....

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Kathleen, Televised media is almost completely owned by right wing.

CNN-owned by AT&T, CBS-Viacom,ABC- Disney, FOX- Murdock, Sinclair Bros with very close ties to Trump own 294 TV stations.

And Trump lost massively by 8 mil votes.

Trump admin had 215 criminal indictments!! Biden-0

Why support a traitor and criminal in any way?

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I think he was originally at Fordham and daddy wanted him at a more prestigious school.

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Maybe it’s because they didn’t want to go there and reveal their personal conflicts? Maybe they knew about the Trump endowment and didn’t want to lose their job? Lots of what ifs.

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The Trump ENDOWMENT? Trump actually endowed an organization? Details, please!!

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founding

@Bob Sanders. I researched this question for an hour or so - no reputable sources can pin point an endowment by Fred Trump or Jr. or Donald. There are rumors of pledges made, but no proof of any actual transfers of money to institutions. Maybe the question is still open...

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Just about everyone is a disgusting liar and cheat, including you. You’re just fortunate not to have made it into the 1% club where you’re scrutinized ad nauseam.

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founding

@Kathleen. Plagiarism was not "allowed"! It was detected!

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If it was detected but not acted upon, then it was allowed.

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@Alan. Of course you are right - I was speaking in defense of the teacher. I understand that somehow the institution let him get through...

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Is that more speculation or first hand knowledge? Uh hum, I thought so. Interesting how you guys take what someone says and twist it into something else. Before long, the story will evolve into the student having touched the professor inappropriately.

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Some decision definitively had to have happened for that pass to have happened, even if the decision was to look away rather than take the conflict with the parents.

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False equivalency….the institution did nothing of the kind, it was individual professors who did it if in fact true. Were you his professor?

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Allan, pick your battles with worthy intellects. Don’t waste your time.

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semantics... detected yet he got away with it with "all his papers" ok.

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The one and only reason Trump graduated was MONEY. Daddy bought his diploma and I can say without a doubt, that teacher didn’t see a penny of old man Trump’s money. Additionally, Kavanaugh and Barrett got their seats on the Supreme Court the same way. Read Proof by Seth Abramson.

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Agnes - spot on. I worked in the Development (aka Fundraising) office of a major university, if a student was linked to money - no instructor, no matter how "tenured" would DARE give the student a failing grade or call out their plagiarism. At the cost of losing a million dollar donation, simply not worth it.

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A smart classmate of mine at Drexel used to help pay his way through school by taking exams for wealthy U of PA students. I couldn't believe that but accepted it as an example of "trickle down" economics.

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so we can ALL agree that college is a money suck.

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Well if that's the case then shame on the teacher for not being a whistleblower and the college for allowing someone with a fourth grade reading level to graduate. so only conservatives buy their positions? Money can buy anything so I'm not arguing with that but the fact that you can't see that it happens on both sides is what really makes me laugh. Thank you for proving my point that you can only criticize one party. Its sad that you don't see the corruption is in the ENTIRE government.

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Read what I wrote, you asked how the teacher allowed Trump to graduate. I answered your question, somehow, your imagination came up with things I never said. So, along the lines of being a whistle blower, what have you done to help the republican constituents understand that Trump lost the election? Maybe you could follow the Trump rallies around the country, get on a bullhorn and blow the whistle? You know, tell Q followers, the proud boys, the Oath Keepers in the crowd that Trump lost? No, dear, never in the history of our country did any president, Democrat or Republican refuse to participate in the peaceful transfer of power.

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Thank you Agnes. These trolls are ok with a deadly seditionist colluding with Putin…but you know..both parties are the same. The bullshit is flying around today as they ride the sinking ship! 😄

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The ones whose department heads put their donors above their academic standards. Been there seen that.

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founding

@Alan. No. you have not seen that. Department heads are responsible to implement programs funded by the endowment or specific gifts. They have nothing to do with attracting donors. Learn how institutions of higher learning work?

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

Where do gifts and endowments come from, the money fairies, or donors? Department heads definitively act on the complaints of donors as well, especially if their kids have been bought a place at that school.

Learn that trite dismissal isn't endearing.

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PS I really like your gatekeeping 'no you have not seen that' comment. Especially since there was a clear trail about what wealthy donor and parent complaint about their kid getting a half point off and therefore not getting into pre-med. But I must have been hallucinating, since you with your almighty omnipotency were there and know.

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Interesting anecdote, Dea . . . I think a lot of us here would like to know more about how you handled Trump's plagiarism and other classroom fails. Was it "suggested" from above that you should pass him anyway? Did you give him an "F"? We're really curious . ..

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

It's just a hackneyed retelling of the old Horatio Alger myth, that that ilk love to regurgitate at the drop of a hat to justify themselves. Next, I expect to hear the story about an uncle who worked until the day he died. Then there's the bullshit about "love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life," although hiding out in her comment is the "Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime" proverb. One could bring up how the failing public education system simply reflects quality of the students' parenting. Of course, one could validly ask how parents having to work multiple jobs, or simply being never home from the hours they work affects the quality of parenting. I'm >certain< this person will concoct an anecdote about how >one< person they knew were successful with their parenting under those conditions.

Besides, a significant number of 'em voted for ol' Tweety & the Tweety-tossers, and will vote for 'em again - as they vote >against< every school bond issue that comes down the pike!

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Agreed.

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Anecdote? I guess you never heard what all his WH aids say about him? FOX won’t allow it? I have witnessed his lack of knowledge on everything from the Bible and the Constitution to shall we say sharpie maps? Maybe you don’t know about that one either, no worries, we know FOX only feed you one side. It’s not your fault.

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I'm not sure why you were triggered by my use of the neutral word "anecdote," Agnes. An anecdote is nothing more than a personal story, an account. I was simply asking Dea for more in-depth information about her story.

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I’m sorry, you are right, I was triggered by the word anecdote. Thinking about it, I guess I assumed you didn’t believe her or were not taking her seriously. Thank you for pointing out my triggers, I’m a work in progress.

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The difference between you and Trump, Miss Dea. You taught. He put plans into action. That is what entrepreneurs and business people do. I can relate to Trump. I was not the best student. I turned out okay. He is not a madman. People like you with Trump Derange Syndrome are the mad people. Check out Gary Vaynerchuck. He was poor and not well educated. Now at almost 50 years old he is a multi millionaire going to buy the New York Jets. Public education has failed this nation. Period.

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Cecelia, Trumps' wealth was inherited...and there's an argument to be made that he squandered most of it.

Meanwhile he screwed his creditors, was caught scamming in a family charity, bilked thousands through his "university." I agree that he is a genius. He's a demagogue who scams his own followers and issues a dog whistle to a racist collective subconscious.

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Are you a psychopath, an amoral, soul less being who only cares about money, a mob boss who demands complete loyalty with none in return, a racist, a liar, a fraud, a cheat, a rapist, a philanderer? Then you are trump. Only difference is, he was a millionaire at age 10. He’s never created anything, built anything, or improved the world he lives in.

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founding

@Cecelia. You are espousing a very sick and distorted perspective. Education isn't perfect in this country, or any country. But millions of Americans have obtained a degree of upward social mobility by virtue of educating themselves. If you hate our shit so badly, and you have no constructive criticisms to help remedy whatever "faults" you see, why don't you try Russia then? I'm sure you would find what you are looking for over there...

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Oh Cecelia, even the gentleman that wrote “The Art of the Deal” said he regrets it every day. Trump got every penny from his old man and neither one of them would sell you a house. Trump had to go before Congress for discriminating against people that look like you. Look it up.

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founding

@Agnes. I studied with Michael Gordon, the man who wrote "Entrepreneurship 101". He said Trump didn't even write his own introduction and wouldn't read the drafts! LOL

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The level of Trump's lack of commitment to even his own grafting is mind boggling.

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Trump is deranged. If all that impresses you is $$, that's sad. Trump has lied, cheated, and conned his entire life. More fool you if you buy into it.

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Ah yes, those plans to use democracy to proclaim himself God Emporer, then pout and attempt a coup when that did not go to plan. I guess you are a Nero fan

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Read her career and note the time at the Univ of Penn and where she was in the Grad School of Education 68-70. Trump graduated from UNDERGRADUATE Wharton school of finance in 68 with a degree in Econ. The story presented seems questionable. Virtue signaling at it's best. Isn't the internet wonderful.

Teacher, Akiba Academy, Merion, Pennsylvania, 1964-1968; instructor, supervisor, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School Education, Philadelphia, 1968-1970; associate professor, Community College Philadelphia, since 1970. Anchorwoman WPVI-television, ABC affiliate, 1976-1978. Founding member Galleryspace, 1976-1978.

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Interesting. Thank you for the update.

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I hope you flunked him for plagiarism.

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I think that will happen when all the Republicans in Congress tells the nation Trump lost the election.

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In essence, he was trying to copy a winning candidate

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I was shocked to the core on Sunday when I tuned in to Reliable Sources and heard Brian’s news. It portends dark days ahead. Thank you, Prof. Reich for your analysis, although it is ominous information.

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This is straight up fascism. Playbook 101… bastardize the media

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We may not have a Folksempfänger equivalent yet (designed to only receive Hitler's propaganda) but we certainly seem to be heading in that direction with the right-winging of radio and video news. Once the internet is no longer a commons, we may see only right-wing news eventually. Even public broadcasting is selective in what they broadcast. They often don't don't tell the whole story and certainly don't want to question growth-obsessed capitalism.

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I called it Time Warner Discovery Riefenstahl for a reason.

Horrendous that a major ents corp is now in the claws of mercantilist mercenaries like Murdoch

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Aug 23, 2022Liked by Robert Reich

Whatever happened to rational thinking. It is never wrong to call out a lie or anything anti-democratic. Fair journalism requires both accurate reporting of the facts and also opinions or all shapes and sizes. When it come to election deniers an all out war is needed because the spread of this kind of lie takes on a life of its own and when believed by many can subvert the democratic process and be the downfall of our Democracy. It should be fought each and every day just as was being done by Brian Stelter. Shame on CNN for getting rid of his show as in actuality more of the same is needed.

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Want to think rationally? Don’t use terms from the inquisition during the Middle Ages like “denier”. I’ve seen many politician, including Hillary and Gore, who denied they fairly lost. As a rational person I respond with facts, not imputations.

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Time to boycott CNN. I just deleted their app.

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Absolutely!!

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Aug 23, 2022Liked by Robert Reich

Many (20-30?) years ago there was a PBS special about the media hosted by Studs Terkel. I've tried in vain to find it, but in that special he coined the term "military industrial MEDIA complex". He pointed out how the media was far less likely even decades ago to go after major corporations or industries, in large part because the boards of directors of the major networks included CEOs of said major corporations. He even pointed out NPR's failings, stemming fromwhen PBS and NPR started getting corporate donations. Since then it's only gotten worse.

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This doesn't locate your special, but it includes the phrase. It's from 2010: https://www.projectcensored.org/truth-emergency-inside-the-military-industrial-media-empire/

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When you control the narrative, you can control the minds. Good start for fascism.

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The medium is the message.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

Among my first rants here on Dr Reich's forum. Good call!

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I think I'll read it again!

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What narrative? And who controlled it? The guy had low ratings

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

Speaking of controlling the narrative: https://youtu.be/H589JjAUZyg

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I expect more firings, or perhaps resignations. Brianna Keilar comes to mind. The last thing we need is another Fox “News” clone.

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I believe that war has been declared. Who can 'out crazy' the other for dollars. :)

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Worse, they can plainly see what impact that's having on the society. How long before we all come to the inevitable conclusion that to them, the collapse of >this< society is an inevitable cost of doing their goddam business ‽

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Absolutely true DZK! The collapse of society and the planet crisis tipping point may be a simultaneous event, thanks to corporate greed and their no give a $h!t policies.

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How does an unpopular network firing butterball lead to the collapse of society?

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Why have a war? The left and the right in this country will absolutely never get along. Because the left believe in authoritarianism and thus there is no end to their desire to bully people and tell them what to do, with him they can associate, what they’re allowed to say and how to live their lives. But why not just park company? Seriously why not? Just because we can’t be good roommate doesn’t mean we can’t be good neighbors. You can have brutal authoritarian communism in the states that you set aside for yourself and we can all live free! You can even have the giant financial centers like LA and New York. Deal?

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What planet do you inhabit? Liberals and progressives despise authoritarianism in any of its many forms, including the fascism the trumpster is trying to thrust upon us. Our loathing of authoritarians is one of the causes of our failure to gain control of the government. We oppose taking dirty money from lobbyists, corporations, PACs, and insist our people running for election take only small donations. Then we can't buy the votes from the dumbass voters who get all their political information from 30 second sound bytes.

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But you’re not liberal, you’re national socialists (Nazi is short for that). Your war on free speech, civil liberties and the politicization of law enforcement into your own SS came at the expense of any last vestige of liberalism, the fundamental principles of which I never abandoned. The fascist wanted to disarm, destroy civil liberties, intimidate voters by burning down cities and turn corporations into extensions of the state. Look in the mirror and that’s what you’ll see. Brutal authoritarianism and Marxism are not liberal but those mass murdering collectivist civilizations of the past, run by Mao, Stalin and Hitler wouldn’t be possible without dupes like yourself licking the jackboots in hopes they’ll like you. Well I got news for you: they don’t even respect you. Once you grovel to tyrants they look at you as pets who can talk.

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The Overton Window has shifted rapidly to the right over the last 5-6 years. It’s ONLY those who still believe in democracy who notice and object. I fear that by the end of this decade America will be completely unrecognizable.

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Vote-- and get out the vote for Democrats!!!

There are many more Dems and Independents-- voters can end this **** show today.

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Way more than watched butterball, that’s for sure. You do realize if more dems watched him he’d still be on the air, right?

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Robert may be overthinking this...

First, I think 'Reliable Sources' was one of the more thoughtful shows on cable news. I wish it featured more reporting and fewer opinion panels, but I mostly agreed with Brian Stelter and the show's outlook.

That said, I'd like to see CNN reposition itself. To say that MSNBC is the left's version of Fox is a false equivalence; MSNBC is fair and accurate, if not balanced. So, both wings are covered. I think its fair to say that 'Reliable Sources' focused too much on Fox News and the network on the whole should seek to find a place in the middle.

I'd like to see CNN return to its glory days. It has a global network of great journalists. It used to be the first place I tuned when news was breaking around the world. I'd like to see more emphasis on covering news rather than an hourly rehash of whatever is dominating the news cycle, including what Fox and MSNBC are already covering.

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I remember Wolf Blitzer covering the news ages ago. Real news. Not so anymore.

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Imagine if the equivalent investment was put into Public TV/Radio news shows. For example, sometimes I catch news from the BBC and I feel much more informed. For news, I try to catch the PBS News Hour when I can and I listen to NPR morning edition on occasion

I watch Morning Joe, Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow (when she's on). That's it for cable news. These individuals are intelligent and informative. The rest of cable news is a wasteland.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I love Rachel Maddow, but now that she's only on Monday nights, I miss her. Never watched Anderson Cooper, but will start. Yeah, if I'm awake I watch Morning Joe. Looks like we need to pick and choose these days in order to get real news. Most folks don't know how to pick and choose anymore. Sad commentary for our country.

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Shifting to less opinionated news coverage would not make CNN "more like Fox News." Exact opposite. We need news sources that try to show all sides -- LESS like Fox News.

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You're absolutely right. I hope I didn't give you the impression that making CNN less opinionated would make it more like Fox. I had the opposite intent.

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Oh no, you didn't. That was a quote from Robert Reich's piece. I agree with your comment and hope CNN can return to its more objective style, with straight news and multiple opinions.

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Ted Turner is believed to have dementia but I wonder what he would think about what's become of his innovation.

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Contrary, perhaps to his outward appearance, he was a thoughtful and visionary businessman. If I recall, he formed CNN to break new ground in the industry. Not merely as the money making enterprise it has become. I think he would be ashamed of what CNN has become.

Back to the Reliable Sources topic, I don't think it's about any conspiracy to silence his voice. I hope its about coming up with better content.

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Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022

If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em!

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"If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself." ~ Joseph Goebbels

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If Malone thinks Fox News has “actual journalism”, he has drunk the right wing Koolaid. If he wants CNN to be more like Fox, CNN will lose market share as intelligent CNN viewers will not accept right wing propaganda mixed in with real news. America needs truth tellers not opinionated blowhards. Walter Cronkite, where are you.?

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Who's to say people will continue watching CNN?

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What a terrible approach for so-called objective journalism.

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This is such a sad report on journalistic loss ...

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Since tfg, it’s like they’re trying to turn America into Russia #2 for whatever reason, and it looks like it’s working!!

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Ms. Dusty ; 'Follow the money' is the 'reason'.

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