Valrifell wrote:Cannot think of a name wrote:It's a bit like saying the guy smashing the car with a sledgehammer has a point because one of the tires is flat.
Absolutely, but it feels wrong to give the media a free pass because it just so happens that Trump is an asshole and only brings them up to inflate his ego.
That's an unnecessary bit of contortionist shit to have to go through. If, in this example (and note, the story isn't at the moment the press reporting on this issue), the president is giving a misleading number and the press is putting that number in context that contradicts the president's narrative, I don't have to also give an aside where I mention an unrelated issue of sensationalism. That's not 'giving the press a free pass', that's being able to focus on the topic at hand. We certainly can have a discussion about how the press selects and reports stories but I don't need to have that one first or try and find a way to have it side by side every time the president shits the bed and says that's actually great.
The East Marches II wrote:Cannot think of a name wrote:And none of the context, like how it was on par with overall government spending increases. This is lying without lying, the statesmen's version of "I'm not touuuuuching you..." The raw numbers tell a specific but not entirely truthful story, it's manipulative. Putting shit in actual context and pointing to when a narrative is being formed by selective information is one of the chief duties of a free and fair press, which the Donald now refers to as 'fake news.'
I was agreeing with you. 30% is an alarming enough number on its own. He cheapened his own argument and left people debating meaning rather than a rising Iranian threat. A tragedy.
Except it's not alarming in context. In context it makes sense. The president and his supporters
want it to be alarming. That's why they're using misleading numbers (40%) and stripping away context-
The Post's analysis notes that "just looking at the raw increase or decrease in any country's military budget misses important context." Iranian military spending "increased alongside overall government spending — not in a silo on its own," the newspaper goes on to say, adding that "the nuclear accord has contributed to the overall increase in spending -- including the increase in military spending -- since it lifted sanctions and allowed for a rise in oil production and exports."
A country moving out from under sanctions increases government spending shocker. But that doesn't scare people...but if we focus on the
military spending...