A thing everyone has forgotten is that Donald Trump basically sprang Roger Stone from prison so he could help with the coup and it was maybe a one day story.
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Like he commuted his sentence *in the heat of the campaign*, before Election Day 2020. Then Stone immediately went to work on stop the steal, played a key role in the insurrection and got a full pardon and a thank you on the way out the door.
This is something an elite privileged person can do while the rest of us would be stuck in prison whether we are guilty or innocent. That’s the missing message.
I don't think you're appreciating the seriousness of presidents granting blanket pardons for ANY and ALL violations of federal law. To take an absurd example: there's no reason to think Hunter murdered anyone on the high seas but that would be covered by the pardon. The scope of the pardon stinks.
Which is why I’ve been saying for years that the ultimate goal wasn’t to get Trump elected. It was to sew doubt into the elections. The coup was a decade in the making.
Speaking of Roger Stone: will we ever get the complete story of what transpired in the "War Room" at the Willard Hotel leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection?
They dragged their feet cuz they didn’t want the underlings. They wanted the king. The SCOTUS ruling was a set back. Trump winning was the death knell. Nobody will be held accountable now.
So much has gone wrong for our system of law and democracy at so many levels. I know the unravelling has been decades in the making, but it's appalling, horrifying to watch the failure play out. 🥺
And Libs don't like this pardon even knowing a dictator-to-be will exert control over Hunter's fate? Screw that.
Hunter paid his tax bill and few people go to prison on the gun charge he racked up. Trump will never stop hunting Hunter and Joe. Dems, stop playing Virtue Cop.
I mean, I don't really "like" it, "it" being the powerful having different rules for themselves and their friends, but in this case it's absolutely overwhelmed by Trump's explicit promise to use the DOJ to punish his enemies.
Any story that doesn't lead with that fact is lying to you.
Joe Biden had to pardon his son. Those who don’t see why have shut the blinds. Public execution was inevitable. It may happen yet: Hunter is, unjustly, the bloody sacrifice to their new nation conceived in servility and dedicated to the proposition that only the wealthy deserve freedom and justice.
I saw a media outlet headline that read “Joe Biden lied”. It has been 10 freaking years and they still won’t call Trumps bs lies. They are mistruths, misleading, the weave, or whatever other word they can say other than LIES
I had almost the same reaction when the same media that doesn't think it's appropriate to say "lie" b/c that assumes an internal mental state will say that Trump "JOKED" about something like shooting the media.
How do you know that? Are you inside his head NOW?
What a load of BS, since Nixon was a corrupt criminal presidolt and Ford was an accessory to Nixon's crimes, while Hunter had nothing to do with the government and never had access to any political power.
Plus, Hunter pleaded guilty only to be prosecuted because Merrick Garbage is a traitor.
If Dems retake a chamber they should investigate the Press for Republican ties and influencing elections. Steal the Republican playbook. Ham it up with press, give access and juicy leaks in exchange for narratives, while simultaneously running BS ginned up investigations (well not so ginned up…)
Interesting that you view elections as the only fight and giving them up as surrender. If they actually do nullify elections what will you do? Is there no other way of fighting?
I think there’s something of a piece here with the frustration with the media that they didn’t cover Trump’s cognitive decline with the same relish they did Biden’s.
I think it comes down to the simple fact that publishers and editors (and journalists) don’t like feeling impotent. (Cont’d)
They have come to realize they have essentially zero power affecting the GOP and their voters, while they have considerable impact on Democrats. So as a result there is a positive feedback loop in attacking Dems more vociferously for similar or lesser offenses. It gets results!
It may be. Ford let Nixon off the hook. If we had a bunch in Congress who weren't afraid, who could choose to amend the Constitution or create a law that holds them to account. It might change. Unfortunately not yet
No different than Jared s dad, or Stones to work on the insurrection, or Bill Clinton's brother. For that matter Abraham Lincolns pardon of his sister in law. If we don't like it then create a law that covers everyone equally.
MAGAtts have done nothing but lie & attack Pres Biden starting way back before he even took office! This is just another of their too numerous to count venomous insults and attacks Who gives a crap what MAGA “feels” abt anything
F your feelings ..wasn’t that the MAGA mantra?
Feels like the media doesn't treat it as news when Trump is corrupt because everyone knows that he's like that ... but then because they don't report on it, low-information voters don't know about it.
[1/3] Well, I second all the people above who mention (1) Trump's blatant co-conspirators who were either pardoned to stay mum or, in the case of Roger Stone, stay mum and start conspiring on Start the Steal and (2) the Iran-Contra conspirators, but -- for the sake of argument -- ok, Hunter's the...
[2/3] ...worst since Richard Motherf@$king Nixon (oh wait... it's Milhous, not Motherf@$king.. I don't know why I keep confusing those 2 words vis-a-vis Nixon). Yeah... but there's a long, long ways from Hunter Biden to Richard Nixon. On that note, long-seared into my 1980s pop culture memory is...
[3/3] ... this quote from the very forgotten Season 4 of the pretty-much-generally-forgotten CBS mob drama _Wiseguy_:
VILLAIN WHOSE NAME I'VE FORGOTTEN: You have the unmitigated gall to lecture me about betrayal? When it comes to betrayal, you're a distant cherubim, and I am the archangel Lucifer.
Agreed. I blocked them on here after reading two post election posts.
They did nothing (not that Chris Hayes or any MSM did) to warn of 45's use of Hitler's rhetoric & Goebbels's propaganda machine like Eva Schloss, & Duty to Warn, & me since 2016.
Trump pardoned co-conspirators so they would keep their mouths shut as part of a coverup. THOSE are "consequential pardons" & they received at best passing mention.
Trump has pledged to use the DOJ to punish his enemies. THAT'S consequential and yet doesn't merit the same coverage.
the behavior enabled/rewarded by elected republiKKKan officials today is beyond the pale. And just under 50% of the voting public regards their tactics as 🆗. Shameful.
There was so much shit happening between September 2020 and Jan 6th 2021, and so much of it was horrific death, (that none of us have really reckoned with) that I'm not sure any of us remember that time with any real clarity in our own lives, much less how that totally insane political moment went.
Also, Stone was in prison for lying to Congress about the Trump campaign’s efforts to collude with Russia. It got maybe 5% of the attention we’re now seeing with Hunter.
The pardon only matters in context of the 4 years of Bidens refusal to stand up to critics and comprehensively and aggressively prosecute the insurrection from organizers to desk shitters.
It's not only that. Stone lied to protect Trump in the Russia investigation, as did Flynn and Manafort. Without those lies Trump may well have been convicted in the Senate on impeachment 1.
Chris, let’s not look past the Fox network of nonsense and lies is over there laughing their ass off as Biden is being attacked by so called objective journalists. Double down! Damn right Joe pardoned his son after the political MAGA witch hunt! Turn it back on them! Let’s go!
Stone was the only missing link between Assange and the Trump campaign. Mueller knew he had to go after that last because it was the third rail that would likely end his investigation. Stone was jailed for refusing to cooperate. Trump praised Stone for refusing to testify then took care of him.
And a possible pardon for yet unknown crimes related to the Macron hack and leak campaign that was found in Trump's desk at Mar-a-Lago during the search related to the missing classified docs case
Every time I see a take like this from a high profile news media figure, it makes me want to throw things at them while yelling, "you're part of the fucking problem!"
I think everyone has also forgotten is that he pardoned Steve Bannon, who also helped with his attempted coup
and who literally ripped off Trump‘s own supporters with that we built the wall bullshit
Steve Bannon: power of “rootless white males” who spend all their time online and could be radicalized in a populist, nationalist way
"I realized [they] could connect with these kids right away. You can activate that army. They come in through Gamergate and then get turned onto politics and Trump
That's true and does that not scream part of the inner circle of the grand conspiracy to overthrow the United States Constitution and the United States of America. Well from what I've seen of all the evidence so far that's just been in the public I would say definitely yes beyond a shadow of a doubt
Just like the Republican outrage and blame at Trump for exactly one fucking day. Remember Mitch the turtle McConnell backpedalled so fast I'm amazed he didn't get whiplash.
We the readers seriously need you people in the media to get serious about reporting on the 47 people with the same energy you go after Harris and Biden. You allow one to do and say things that are repulsive with a shrug and a wink but Democrats have to be perfect.
I’m very concerned that The Former Guy (now The Future Guy) will manipulate whatever mush is in his head to further convince himself he won by a landslide and is therefore king. The SCOTUS will play along, tossing aside the 3 liberal judges and go as far as to anoint him Emperor or maybe Pope.
Yeah, actually a lot of us remember that and are laughing in one side of our brain and screaming yelling, crying, swearing in the other by all the hypocrisy. It's stunning how short memories people have I mean? I know we're all on a 7-minute News cycle here but come on people!
That the Biden administration didn’t make the Hunter pardon announcement late on Friday but instead made it on a Monday, bumping other bad news like the disastrous Pete Hegseth stories off the headlines, shows how lackluster they have been at managing comms.
The media should have carried the story longer, take a lesson from #fox... Has the media taken ANY responsibility for this mess we are in now? After all, the media normalized #FeloniousTrump, normalized his Campaign and let all his nefarious actions fade from the headlines...
Every day is a one-day story with him. It's like he gets up in the morning, watches a little #FauxNews and decides what crazy thing he's going to spin for the day. Wash, rinse, repeat, every day. That's the Trump news cycle in a nutshell. 🤷♀️
This is more dramatic - the family angle, the repeat promise not to do it, the sweeping scope, and the at least optics of hypocrisy. It will be weaponized more as "you can't trust what they say" more than respect for the rule of law.
Exactly…..here again Republicans turning a blind eye to 🤡trumps hellish corruption and the white privileged criminals Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and that Manafort idiot🤬that he pardoned!
I truly believe your organization needs a come to Jesus moment. A righteous stand or two is not going to restore trust when sandwiched between clap trap. There has to be some self-realization and a way to acknowledge and address culpability and the continued activities that further alienate viewers.
His last campaign and last Cabinet was full of criminals. But the Media spent 2 years reporting on a man not in government and never running for office, Hunter.
You're right, problem is holding them to account when they keep getting voted back into a seat. We got a few out of the Congress this last Admin but the incoming is going to be so corrupt that Senators or House Reps will only need to cut the WH in for a cut. Morals & ethics will leave with Biden.
From Nicole to Stephanie MSNBC is really good. Before that not so good. This onetime all day watcher hardly turns MSNBC on at all anymore, and will not watch Morning Joe again, nor will my husband watch (and the first thing he did in the morning was turn on Morning Joe.)
Agreed! I used to turn on MSNBC at 3pm CST to watch Deadline Whitehouse through The 11th Hour. Now I don't bother. I'm sick and tired of MSNBC sane-washing the MAGAT agenda. And I used to turn on Morning Joe in the morning. Never again.
Most people have no idea what is happening even today because morning/ nightly news programming continues to not inform people and explain issues to people. This leaves the honest work to comedians. Only those who seek out political news know what's going on.
Yes it was. And that was MSM’s fault. It did a lot of refusing to call a lie a lie or soft-selling other behavior that could have helped educate the cult. Although the cult won’t listen anyway.
No matter what Biden or any Democrat does, the right wing propaganda machine will make hay. I don't think Biden gives a rats A$$ what they say. Honestly, this case would NEVER have been brought if Hunter's last name wasn't Biden. Merrick Feckless Garland should never have been AG.
The conversation should be “Who else should be pardoned in the face of Trump’s clear calls for retribution and his nominees who have declared revenge a priority?” Trump’s revenge agenda requires MORE pardons, everyone on his hit list.
Yes! And from the start it has seemed like part of the strategy is to have so many outrageous things happening all the time that each escapes the scrutiny it deserves.
That is so true. I don’t think the problem is strategy or messaging so much as the torrent of lies and disinformation spewing from the other side. I’m not aware of a lot of factchecking. C’mon people enough self blame.
Good Lord. Everyone has not forgotten. The bulk of your press brethren simply don’t care while they clutch their pearls in outrage over Hunter. When will you get exactly how unable the press is to cover Trump? The house is burning down while the press is debating the color of the curtains.
It's a one day story because everyone spends their time beating up democrats . Your coverage of the biden pardon last night was embarrassing. I turned it off and I've been around since the first day
Well, couldn't you have made it more than a one day story? I don't understand why the so-called liberal commentators continue to drop the ball on actually platforming stories that mean something to viewers.
You know, hearing complaints about how long a story stays in the media from a member of the media is almost as ironic as Meghan McCain complaining about nepotism.
Or maybe this saved the country from another congressional GOP investigation for the sake of beating the legal crap out of Hunter for their own amusement. If the Dems had won, he may not have done it. But Trump is a cruel master who enjoys humiliating others. Things changed.
I agree!!
Dems can’t seem to create, send out and stay together on a clear concise message—- on anything!
It is so frustrating to watch.
The messaging problem has gotten worst, not better.
On, I agree misinformation and “the big lie” are sowing mistrust and confusion in our nation.
Dems can’t seem to grab the narrative- create and effectively share a concise coherent message.
Joe Biden's pardon of his son is not the political misstep that pundits are debating. To me, it’s a cruel mockery of the powerless, disadvantaged, and working-class individuals whose sons and daughters are in jail for far lesser offenses. #ReleaseAllPettyOffenders https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Nobody forgot anything. The media are deliberately this way because the billionaire corporate owners of media companies will pay less taxes under Trump. It's not complicated.
One day stories. That's the way it works. Day one, newspaper prints an outrageous story, talking heads bitch about it all day. Day two, paper prints a different story, talking heads bitch and say it's never been done before. Day four, different story... NEVER ANY FOLLOW-UP. Why we stopped watching.
Yes but 75% of the country is only listens to the propaganda right wing machine. The media needs figure out better ways to reach out to talk to the other side. They never hear you.
You and the rest of the MSM helped to elect trump. You sane washed that man. And Biden has done a lot. Why aren’t you reporting that???? Cause trump gets ratings??? You don’t care what is going to happen??? What happened to honest journalism???
A thing everyone has forgotten is that Donald Trump is living in a world opposite from our own and now he will be attempting to force a fake reality into the mainstream of America..When the real world clashes with his alternate world the results may be explosive.. and nobody can tell Trump to stop.
This is why I think the Brits who have led the world in so many things have it right. They eliminate anyone who betrays their country and they do it efficiently and well. America should learn a lesson from them.
y'know what story disappeared really fast
that 'assassination' attempt
since usually anything shocking & serious like that
media plays it over and over and over
but it was just a few days...
ear looks fabulous
never did see a close up of the injury...
I haven’t forgotten any of his outrageous pardons but msm sure as fuck has. Stop being distracted by this nonsense. Stop looking at those shiny objects as pooti and mango co destroy us from within
Sure would like someone in the media to explain why this is being made into such a big story. What drives the media preoccupation with this. Who is driving that decision and why. Curious minds would like to know.
This is because the media has normalized Trump/Republican behavior while still holding Dems to a higher standard; the old standard, which MAGA doesn’t respect, and the media doesn’t make them.
End result: Low-info voters could only assume there was no issue with Trump’s answers, but that Harris was somehow being shady because her answers required investigation. The media, by and large, didn’t even complain that Trump was avoiding questions; they liked it because it got attention.
Most of the people in your profession suck at their jobs and shouldn’t be allowed to call themselves journalists.
And you know what? It doesn’t even matter if what I just said is true b/c it’s the way most Americans feel about journalists now, and the profession has itself to blame for that.
How many folks are over exercised on this Biden pardon deal??? They’ve already normalized dozens of Trump pardons, but this one is the princess and the pea? Put another mattress on the stack and sleep tight tonight.
Exactly. Deflection from what the GOP regime has planned. I am proud of my husband.. he is a news junkie. He has not turned on MSNBC since the election. They haven't won us back yet especially with the last 2 stunts..J and M kissing the ring and the pardon coverage
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night TV address. We spoke with 3 unvaccinated nurses in Coeur d'Alene, ID about how this is directly tied to Hunter Biden’s pardon.
Biden did the right thing. Heard ppl saying he lied to the people because he said he wouldn’t pardon Hunter, like anybody really cares? I now have the utmost respect for Biden because as a parent, my child is the only person on earth I would take a bullet for.
Chris, you are the media.
While I have you, where's the exposé on how Trump grew an ear back just in time to get reelected?
I mean, this being the season of miracle births and all that, a man growing a brand new ear has got to be worthy of a Chris Hansen special, no?
Want to move past the pardon story? (1) Stop talking about it. (2) When you feel you must talk about it, lead with Biden strengthening the rule of law by ending the perversion of justice that was the political prosecution of Hunter Biden.
But, it does seem to me when there are people who Trump has tapped for his administration making open threats to use their power against Trump's "enemies," it shouldn't be a controversy that Biden pardoned Hunter. The connection is not being voiced in media, as far as I can tell.
Yes, but haven't you heard? Biden pardoned Hunter, whom, MTG tells us, has a massive schlong, about which she is obsessed. So basically both sides are the same.
Rationalizing Biden’s choice to pardon his son with the various pardons of Trump speaks volumes. We have to stop excusing one party’s actions by the behavior of the other. Hunter was 100% guilty and had a fair trial. Biden pardoned him because he was his son, and any other reason given is a lie.
And if we prosecuted every single body that dabbled in drugs and lied about it on their gun purchase form there would be no room in prison for real criminals…
Only you media people forgot. We did not forget that. We also haven’t forgotten the 34 felony convictions your guy has. Maybe next time you’ll all do the right thing? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
So why are so many of the MSNBC hosts going on about how Biden lied when he claimed he wouldn't pardon Hunter . ? Why is it that the so-called liberal outlets can't provide a united front , no matter what , the way the right wing outlets do ?
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And Libs don't like this pardon even knowing a dictator-to-be will exert control over Hunter's fate? Screw that.
Hunter paid his tax bill and few people go to prison on the gun charge he racked up. Trump will never stop hunting Hunter and Joe. Dems, stop playing Virtue Cop.
Any story that doesn't lead with that fact is lying to you.
How do you know that? Are you inside his head NOW?
Plus, Hunter pleaded guilty only to be prosecuted because Merrick Garbage is a traitor.
I think it comes down to the simple fact that publishers and editors (and journalists) don’t like feeling impotent. (Cont’d)
My god the press deserves all the scorn it’s earned.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/elliott-broidy-pleads-guilty-back-channel-lobbying-campaign-drop-1mdb-investigation-and
Time for an alternative.
What about the dozens of criminals trump pardoned then hired..to hell with politico..
F your feelings ..wasn’t that the MAGA mantra?
VILLAIN WHOSE NAME I'VE FORGOTTEN: You have the unmitigated gall to lecture me about betrayal? When it comes to betrayal, you're a distant cherubim, and I am the archangel Lucifer.
They did nothing (not that Chris Hayes or any MSM did) to warn of 45's use of Hitler's rhetoric & Goebbels's propaganda machine like Eva Schloss, & Duty to Warn, & me since 2016.
And now they're trashing Dems.
🚫PolitiCON🚫
But it's ok. After donOLD pardons himself (or Vance pardons him), THAT will automatically become the "most consequential pardon" ever.
They'll stop saying that after donOLD pardons himself.
That absolutely has value & it’s important to recognize the utility of near-objective journalism, particularly in local & global affairs.
Objectively, the pardon is a historic milestone of note
That... that's not objective? What you note is an expression of what you *subjectively* find noteworthy.
Trump pardoned co-conspirators so they would keep their mouths shut as part of a coverup. THOSE are "consequential pardons" & they received at best passing mention.
Trump has pledged to use the DOJ to punish his enemies. THAT'S consequential and yet doesn't merit the same coverage.
🧢
He exerted power for personal comfort
He refused to exert power to Establish Justice
alas
https://www.the-independent.com/tv/news/capitol-roger-stone-ivanka-trump-b2203339.html
and who literally ripped off Trump‘s own supporters with that we built the wall bullshit
"I realized [they] could connect with these kids right away. You can activate that army. They come in through Gamergate and then get turned onto politics and Trump
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-recipients
lolz ridic to even assert
We all know what douchebags guys are, especially Stone with his Tricky Dick tramp stamp.
What we need is less hyperbolic news and more mitigation strategies for 🐂💩 like this.
Even after “but her emails,” Biden’s age, this pardon bullshít, here’s Chris all doe-eyed and innocent.
*normalize it right after the commercial break
It’s a game they play. Just a fucking game.
Look that shit up.
Almost.
DONALD J. TRUMP...
PLANNED
ORGANIZED
AND EXECUTED
AN ASSAULT ON OUR NATION'S CAPITAL
Is that clear enough...?
This message was sponsored by TeamVermin
Dems can’t seem to create, send out and stay together on a clear concise message—- on anything!
It is so frustrating to watch.
The messaging problem has gotten worst, not better.
Dems can’t seem to grab the narrative- create and effectively share a concise coherent message.
Why did the S. Prince round up his enemies after he went to Jareds?
What did Princess get in China?
Top security documents in his bathroom got less investigation than Watergate. Do you guys do stuff like that anymore?
Why is a grandmother from tx asking and you r not?
They had a pre pep rally. The night before Ted was shouted something about not going silently into the night.
Bombs were planted.
Not even a 1 day story. Not 1.
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Are they as mad as us that they've been continually screwing up the coverage of this man for the last two decades?
https://search.app/ps7Q5L4gzE75HZVg8
Almost every tRump pardon was for the biggest piece of shit.
https://bsky.app/profile/tobifrenzen.bsky.social/post/3lbgkimf6bk2y
I don't understand why it's okay that Trump does the pardoning he's done!!
that 'assassination' attempt
since usually anything shocking & serious like that
media plays it over and over and over
but it was just a few days...
ear looks fabulous
never did see a close up of the injury...
What's about to unfold in America in 2025 is going to be an unmitigated disaster. Most of it won't be a more than a one day story either.
Criminality has become normalized. Evil will follow.
[1/6]
The media instead tried to make mountains of of molehills for Harris. She didn’t answer that question robustly enough! She didn’t give that interview!
[2/6]
Questions to Trump were never answered. He’d go off on a tangent & create controversy; they loved/allowed it w/out comment.
Questions to Harris were expected to be fully answered with details and a robust defense when probed deeper.
[3/6]
With Trump, that meant asking a question and just allowing him to rant & ramble.
With Harris, they had to invent the controversy, so they’d treat her like a normal candidate and pick apart her answers.
[4/6]
[5/6]
And you know what? It doesn’t even matter if what I just said is true b/c it’s the way most Americans feel about journalists now, and the profession has itself to blame for that.
[6/6]
You're coverage of Biden and not 45's crimes is why nobody watches you, now.
While I have you, where's the exposé on how Trump grew an ear back just in time to get reelected?
I mean, this being the season of miracle births and all that, a man growing a brand new ear has got to be worthy of a Chris Hansen special, no?
You could make it a story every day if you wanted to.
But, it does seem to me when there are people who Trump has tapped for his administration making open threats to use their power against Trump's "enemies," it shouldn't be a controversy that Biden pardoned Hunter. The connection is not being voiced in media, as far as I can tell.