Kellyanne Conway's 'Alternative Facts'

[_AmyJo]

Isn't her name Conway, not Moore, in subject title? Or is this another alternative fact presenting itself?

[_honorentheos]

The thing about Trump is that he's obsessively, compulsively protecting his name as a brand: He polishes his victory as a trophy on his shelf. When you tarnish his victory, by stating the obvious fact (backed up by Metro Transit Figures) that more people were at the 2008 inaugural than 2016, you are, in the words of Priebus, 'delegitimizing' his presidency.

This effort at delegitimization is what gives Trump the moral authority to trot out his alternative facts. Why does he feel it is wrong to show those images, facts and figures for more than a brief second?

How can a legitimate government be de-legitimized by facts?

Donald Trump is, by nature and advocation, not a politician but a salesman. Donald Trump believes more in the power of perception than the power of truth and democracy. I'm starting to think about Roger Stone's DNA in all of this. (Alternative Facts? Let's just call it alt-truth). By casting the primary importance of these particular facts as 'delegitimizing', Trumpland begins the decent of facts into adjectives. This is the language of government by fear.

Excellent points.

I think there are likely many segments of the population who, when they listen to the actual words of the briefing, could easily come away with the perception that Trump is waging a justified war with a liberal media out to torpedo his presidency. The idea you articulated so well that this campaign to rebrand fact-checking the Trump administration as an extension of the other labeling of protest as butt-hurt attempts to delegitimize his presidency is scary because it seems to be effective in it's early stages. And if successful could be devastating to the ability to hold the administration accountable.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

I apologize if someone's already shared this, but it's well-worth reading.

Trump's lies are best called ****ERY.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/****

They're not lies told in the hopes of convincing people. They're displays of power, which often happens in totalitarian governments. Basically, Trump is telling us he can say whatever the hell he wants and there's **** anyone can do about it.

I think there's another tactic going on here, too. If 1/3 of the electorate will believe you no matter what because they're in the tank, then you have to work on the other 2/3. You know you're never going to win the opposition 1/3 no matter what you say and what you do, so you have to attack them. You have to delegitimize them to your own base and to the "undecided" 1/3.

Here's the key. You have to fatigue the "undecided" with so much BS, smoke, mirrors, whatever it forces your opposition to always be addressing issues that you've immediately moved past. In other words, it's a total crap show data dump of lies and misdirection that overwhelms your opposition and fatigues the "undecided" to the point that a good portion of the targeted 2/3 just gives up because they have bills to pay and lives to live. Wear out the middle and put your opposition on perpetual defense.

That's what's going on, and that's what we're going to see for the next 4-8 years.

- Doc

[_Philo Sofee]

I wonder if our very own subgenius got the idea from Trump that Evolution isn't science. That would make lots of sense.

[_Some Schmo]

Isn't her name Conway, not Moore, in subject title?

I believe that was the intention, and it was a mistake. Maybe he was thinking of Julianne Moore?

[_Some Schmo]

Talking about alternative facts, I thought this piece was pretty entertaining, yet sad that it is relevant.

[_MeDotOrg]

Isn't her name Conway, not Moore, in subject title? Or is this another alternative fact presenting itself?

Ooops! Thanks for pointing that out. I have no idea why I used the word last name Moore.

[_subgenius]

So, can we consider for a moment who it is that determines what is an actual fact?

I am reminded of Obama's recent call for some sort of truth clearinghouse, which is more akin to Newsspeek than anything Trump is doing.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

smh

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

- doc

[_DarkHelmet]

smh

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

- doc

And now there is a wikipedia entry for alternative facts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_facts