Drunkard's Walk Forums

CBC Analysis: Trump's fixation on 270% milk tariffs, FBI texts shows how he 'cherry-picks' truths to justify actions

It's a very basic spin technique, but Trump does have it mastered.

As an example: Remember how Trump was demanding a probe into the whether the FBI spied on his 2016 campaign? He got that probe, it reported in, and Trump immediately dubbed the report "#Spygate". Never let the truth stand in the way of spinning a single cherry-picked fact. (In this case, the cherry-picked fact was that FBI agent Peter Strzok wrote back to a FBI lawyer: "We'll stop him." Never mind that there's no evidence Strzok abused his position to persecute the president, or that Strzok was taken off the case - Trump is spinning a single comment by a single person into an organization-wide conspiracy. This is the same illogic that claims, because BlackAeronaut lives in Texas, everybody with an account on this forum is a Texan oilworker, and never mind the truth that not everyone here lives in the USA and even BA isn't in the oil industry.)

(06-17-2018, 10:21 AM)robkelk Wrote: [ -> ]because BlackAeronaut lives in Texas, everybody with an account on this forum is a Texan oilworker

Crikey!  He's onto us!

Instead of Trump’s propaganda, how about a nice ‘truth sandwich’?

Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post Wrote:Unlike those who insist that what the president says is news and therefore must be reported, Lakoff proposes a radical reimagining of how the news media reports on Trump.

Instead of treating the president’s every tweet and utterance — true or false — as newsworthy (and then perhaps fact-checking it later), Lakoff urges the use of what he calls a “truth sandwich.”

First, he says, get as close to the overall, big-picture truth as possible right away. (Thus the gist of the Trump-in-Singapore story: Little of substance was accomplished in the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, despite the pageantry.) Then report what Trump is claiming about it: achievement of world peace. And then, in the same story or broadcast, fact-check his claims.

That’s the truth sandwich — reality, spin, reality — all in one tasty, democracy-nourishing meal.