Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Americans are the refs, and we are being "worked." Step one.

"Tell them what you will say.
Say it.
Tell them what you said."
          Speech advice from Aristotle, Mark Twain, Yogi Berra, and my former Medford High School speech and debate teacher, DeVere Taylor

It also works for preparing people to interpret what they are about to see.

Newsmax

Donald Trump, Ronny Jackson, Fox News, and Republicans generally are telling us what we are going to see at the CNN debate between Biden and Trump. We will see a senile puppet.

They are working the refs.  If we think we see something else, we are watching an illusion. Don't believe your eyes. Biden is a puppet, an empty shell controlled by his staff and Barack Obama. They explain that Biden is busy this week memorizing lines to parrot, because he won't have a teleprompter to read. It is Biden's way of cheating, a way of rigging the debate. In any case, even if he hides his senility some way, what you are seeing is a doddering, drooling idiot. Watch for signs of it.

This week they say Biden is practicing how to stand for 90 minutes. Watch for his physical frailty.

We are also being told that if, by any chance, we think we see a sharp, credible Biden able to engage Trump, that we are seeing another form of cheating. Biden will be using performance enhancing drugs of some kind, something strong enough to last for the 90 minutes before he returns to form. Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician, sent a letter to Biden and his physician demanding that Biden be drug-tested both before and after the debate. The letter both presumes Biden previously took performance enhancing drugs and that the administration is dishonest about it.
It’s a terrible reality that I am having to send a letter demanding President Biden submit to a drug test prior to this week’s debate, however, Americans are being left in the dark by a dishonest administration regarding what types of performance enhancing drugs Biden is using for high stakes events like the State of the Union. As the former physician to three United States Presidents, and as a Member of Congress, I see it as my duty to do everything I can to hold this administration accountable, especially when it comes to a President’s fitness for office. 

Jackson's letter has been extensively coveed by Fox News. If Biden seems OK, then it's the drugs.

Moreover, the debate is rigged because CNN and its moderators are biased. House Speaker Mike Johnson said:

CNN is going to rig [the debate] as much as possible and make it as favorable as they possibly can for President Biden.

Trump said the debate will be three of them against one of him. Unfair! This pre-positions CNN to be perceived as prejudiced, especially if they fact-check Trump. If Trump makes outrageous claims, as is his habit, and Biden does not, then CNN moderators will frequently attempt to correct Trump but less so Biden. That will read as CNN being unbalanced, harder on Trump than on Biden. Audiences are being prepared to see this as a matter of CNN bias, not candidate behavior.

Forbes headline

The format of the debate may exacerbate the perception of bias because if Trump is still talking when two minutes are up and his microphone shuts off, it may appear they are unfairly censoring him even though it was simply the agreed-upon rule that microphones would be shut off after the speaker's time is up.

The debate will take place. People will see what they see, which is significantly affected by what they were told they would see.

Then the post-debate "spin." Allies of both candidates will tell us what we saw. The GOP has a simple, repeatable frame for understanding Biden. He is a senile puppet. If we didn't see that on our own, they will point to moments in the debate that are evidence for that conclusion. 

One. Two. Three. 




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13 comments:

Low Dudgeon said...

That describes the competing spin IF everything goes as generally expected. The chance of a spin-transcending game-changer remains: Biden glitches conspicuously, for instance; Trump overheats into intemperate ramblings, and attacking the moderators. It could happen.

John C said...

Fine let both of them be drug tested. Even if Biden can hold his own for 90 minutes using memorized lines, I would call that a pretty good test of cognitive abilities.As opposed to say the typically incoherent (but persuasive) ramblings of DT. But isn’t this really just a sporting event where most of the “fans” are there to root, not decide who is fit to be Pres.?

Mike Steely said...

I’m afraid these debates have just become another dismal “reality” show. We have an old, deranged, lying, traitorous convicted felon vs. an old, gaffe-prone elder statesman with a stutter. Even with his mic turned off, Trump will yell at Biden to distract him. There isn’t really anything to be learned from this except how FUBAR politics has become. We already know Trump tried to overturn the last election and has lied about it for years. We already know that if he loses the next one – and he probably will – he’ll lie about that too. The only question is whether Trump’s chumps go even more berserk or finally get over it.

M2inFLA said...

We will be busy out of town for the debate.

We have YouTube TV which permits us unlimited recording of the channels we subscribe to.

That DVR capability is set to record the following broadcasts for pre-debate, the debate, and post-debate on CNN, FOX News simulcast, and MSNBC.

I'm sure it will be interesting.

Let's hope it's not a compute bust for both Biden and Trump.

I do expect an announcement from both: Biden confirming his running mate, VP Harris, and Trump for his chosen VP running mate.

I'm locking up the popcorn and spirits for when I view on Friday.

Doe the unknown said...

People with dementia don't become lucid by taking speed. Donald Trump, Dr. Jackson and others promoting this Biden-on-stimulents nonsense are disgusting. Haven't they had to be with people who have dementia? Don't they know better? Of course they know better.

Dave said...

I’m hoping Trump will go on one of his nonsensical rants, freeze, and then not cover his freeze very well. The emperor has no clothes. Some may see he is actually naked, or in this case, disabled cognitively.

Anonymous said...

Working the refs is exactly was republicans have done for years by claiming the corporate-owned media are liberal, and by denigrating public education and sending your tax money to religious schools.

Thus, we end up with less-informed citizens, which endangers our country and the planet.

Michael Trigoboff said...

Debate moderators should not do fact checking. That should be left to the debaters themselves.

Having the moderators fact check the debaters leads to perceptions, and in fact opportunities for bias to creep in. Anyone old enough should remember Candy Crowley‘s egregious “fact check“ on Mitt Romney during a debate.

CNN already looks biased enough to anyone who has been paying attention. The moderators would do well not to insert themselves into the debate and make it look even worse.


(Candy Crowley came on the scene right after John Candy died. It made me wonder if John Candy was really trans and had faked his death to become a female newscaster.)

Ed Cooper said...

Congressperson and demoted former Admiral Ronnie Johnson Jackson was known as Dr. Feelgood during his tenure as the former presidents phycidian for a allegedly good reason.

Ed Cooper said...

Physician, not what I erroneously typed.

Mike said...

MT has a good point. By giving more credence to facts than to ‘alternative facts,’ CNN could appear against Trump. On the other hand, so what? Whose mind would it change?

Joe Cambodia πŸ‡°πŸ‡­ said...

Here’s the Trump shtick. You’ve heard it a million times. With me gas would be cheap, there would be no inflation, Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦, Hamas wouldn’t have invaded Israel, the border would be secure from the degenerate killer and rapist illegals, you’d have more water pressure at your showerhead. Did I miss anything? 4 years ago you couldn’t buy toilet paper or leave your house and gas was so cheap no one bought it and refiners quit making it and oh yeah the economy tanked along with ‘how’s your 401k.’
The reality lines will be blurred you fill in the blanks.

Mike said...

Joe Cambodia - Yes, you forgot to mention that according to Trump, the U.S. "is being turned into a third-world hellhole run by censors, perverts, criminals and thugs." Only he can fix it - never mind that he's a criminal pervert and that his fans are the sort of thugs who stormed the Capitol.