BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG
We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
OH those foolish repiglicans, this is just so stupid it is hard to believe anyone could think "yeah, ted cruz, he'd be a good president". From +PolitiFact .....
"Here’s the simple and undeniable fact: The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats."
— Ted Cruz on Monday, November 30th, 2015 in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt
By Louis Jacobson on Tuesday, December 1st, 2015 at 3:55 p.m.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop at a Pizza Ranch in Newton, Iowa, on Nov. 29, 2015.
During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said most violent criminals are Democrats.
It came after Hewitt brought up the shooting at a Planned Parenthood
clinic that left three dead and nine injured in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
over Thanksgiving weekend. Hewitt told Cruz that he’d been doing
anti-abortion events for 25 years and had never met "a single pro-life
activist who is in favor of violence of any sort."
Cruz agreed. "And I would note that this whole episode has really
displayed the ugly underbelly of the media," Cruz said. "You know, every
time you have some sort of violent crime or mass killing, you can
almost see the media salivating, hoping, hoping desperately that the
murderer happens to be a Republican, so they can use it to try to paint
their political enemies. Now listen, here’s the simple and undeniable
fact. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The
media doesn’t report that."
We received dozens of emails from readers asking us to check the claim, so we took a closer look.
We queried the Cruz campaign, but didn’t hear back. CNN reported that
Cruz’s campaign, when asked, cited research by two academics, Marc
Meredith, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Michael Morse, then of
Stanford University. They published a paper in the January 2014 edition of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science titled, "Do Voting Rights Notification Laws Increase Ex-Felon Turnout?" (After we published our item, Cruz defended the statement to ABC News on the basis of that study.)
The paper looked at the policy in some states of notifying newly
released inmates about their ability to re-register to vote. The authors
looked at data from New Mexico, New York and North Carolina and
concluded that notification laws do not significantly increase rates of
registration or voting among ex-felons.
Cruz’s claim relies not on the general thrust of the paper but on some of the data contained within it.
For instance, in New York, about one-third of felons released from
prison registered to vote after their release. Of those, about 62
percent registered as Democrats and 9 percent registered as Republicans,
with 26 percent registering as independents or with other parties.
In North Carolina, about a quarter of those who were released
registered after their release. Of those, 52 percent registered as
Democrats, 19 percent as Republicans and 22 percent as independents or
with other parties.
And in New Mexico, 41 percent of those who were released registered
to vote. Of those, 55 percent registered as Democrats, 10 percent as
Republicans and 18 percent as independents or with other parties.
So Cruz’s statement has some grounding in the research. But it
significantly oversimplifies the case -- and introduces some
inaccuracies.
"Cruz is misinterpreting our research," the authors told PolitiFact.
Here’s a rundown of factors that should give anyone pause:
• "Violent" vs. "nonviolent." Cruz said that "the
overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats." But the paper
didn’t break down their pool of ex-felons into those who had been
incarcerated for violent offenses and those who had been incarcerated
for nonviolent crimes. So the paper contains no support for this portion
of Cruz’s claim.
• A small sample of states. The paper focuses on three states out of 50, and the authors say it’s wrong to generalize from this small sample. In fact, in another academic paper,
the same authors found that in Iowa, Maine and Rhode Island, the most
common registration for discharged felons was not to affiliate with any
party.
"Ex-felons’ partisan affiliations vary across states, and we don’t
think there’s enough evidence to claim that the national ex-felon
population is ‘overwhelmingly Democratic,’ at least in terms of party
registration," the authors told us.
• The paper studied "ex-felons," not "criminals."
Cruz’s statement makes it sound as if Democrats are committing crimes.
That’s not what the paper measured. Rather, the paper found that once
felons are released from prison, they are likelier to register as
Democrats. The data in the paper doesn’t speak to whether they were
Democrats (registered or otherwise) when committing crimes.
• The study doesn’t address ex-felons who don’t register to vote. Half to two-thirds of the voters in these states didn’t register to vote.
• It’s hard to separate these figures from overall demographics.
It’s no secret that, statistically, African-Americans are
disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. It’s also
no secret that African-Americans are overwhelmingly Democratic. Put
these two together and it’s not surprising to find higher percentages of
Democratic registrations among ex-felons.
Indeed, in a 2010 paper -- "Did Disfranchisement Laws Help Elect
President Bush? New Evidence on the Turnout Rates and Candidate
Preferences of Florida’s Ex-Felons" -- Traci Burch of Northwestern
University found that African-American ex-felons did overwhelmingly
register as Democrats. But the paper also found that white ex-felons did
not follow the same pattern.
Meredith and Morse said they have looked at updates of the data Birch
studied and found that while African-American ex-felons still
overwhelmingly identify as Democratic, non-African-Americans were only
slightly more likely to identify as a Democrat than as a Republican.
• Correlation is not necessarily causation. As we
indicated above, it could be that high Democratic registration rates are
inevitable results of a criminal justice system stacked against
African-Americans. It's even possible that inmates’ experience in prison
could "turn" an ex-felon Democratic. Perhaps ex-felons simply don’t
like what they see as the Republican approach to criminal-justice
policy.
The bottom line is, despite Cruz’s belief that this is a "simple and
undeniable fact," there are enough asterisks with this statement to make
it anything but. Our ruling
Cruz said, "Here’s the simple and undeniable fact: The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats."
Research cited by the Cruz campaign supports the claim that, in at
least three states, felons released from prison go on to register as
Democrats at a disproportionately high rate following their release.
However, there are important caveats. The study in question looked at
both violent and nonviolent felons without separating out those two
groups. It’s not clear whether the patterns holds in the other 47
states. Also, the study didn’t look at active "criminals" but rather
those who had already served their time. Finally, it’s hard to draw a
line between cause and effect, particularly given the disproportionately
high population of African-Americans -- a traditionally Democratic
group -- in the criminal justice system.
We rate his statement Mostly False.
"The epidemic of gun violence in America has become the new normal. We can’t just blame it on the brokenness of the world, pray for peace, and move on, worried that anything more will be seen as politicizing tragedy...
Tell your elected officials that while the NRA may give them a positive rating — and bankroll their campaigns — they're failing the American people by refusing to offer any semblance of common sense measures that could save lives."
"The assigned reading for the beginning of Advent season for Christians around the world doesn’t start with scenes of a baby being born in a manger. It starts with the end of the world ..."
Still Shipping the Nuts out of Georgia (along with chocolate and other delicious treats). Support Koinonia's efforts to Feed the Hungry, physically and spiritually. Also growing pecans using Biological Methods, supporting a healthy, diverse world.
Solar Oven Partners UMC demonstrates "Christian Love in Action" by placing solar cookers in the hands of the poor to alleviate human suffering and environmental destruction while partnering with church and relief ministries.
SEN BERNIE SANDERS I VT supports our right to own guns but also common sense gun control regulations as he has outlined below in the wake of the mass shooting tragedies of the past 2 week and throughout 2015. Here is his statement, and I hope you will sign his petition even if you don't support his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination......
Here is the very sad truth: it is very difficult for the American people to keep up with the mass shootings we seem to see every day in the news. Yesterday, San Bernardino. Last week, Colorado Springs. Last month, Colorado Springs again. Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, Isla Vista, Virginia Tech, Navy Yard, Roseburg, and far too many others.
The crisis of gun violence has reached epidemic levels in this country to the point that we are averaging more than one mass shooting per day. Now, I am going to tell you something that most candidates wouldn’t say: I am not sure there is a magical answer to how we end gun violence in America. But I do know that while thoughts and prayers are important, they are insufficient and it is long past time for action.
That’s why I want to talk to you today about a few concrete actions we should take as a country that will save lives.
1. We can expand background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. This is an idea that over 80% of Americans agree with, even a majority of gun owners.
2. & 3. We can renew the assault weapons ban and end the sale of high capacity magazines — military-style tools created for the purpose of killing people as efficiently as possible.
4. Since 2004, over 2,000 people on the FBI’s terrorist watch list have legally purchased guns in the United States. Let’s close the “terror gap” and make sure known foreign and domestic terrorists are included on prohibited purchaser lists.
5. We can close loopholes in our laws that allow perpetrators of stalking and dating violence to buy guns. In the United States, the intended targets of a majority of our mass shootings are intimate partners or family members, and over 60% of victims are women and children. Indeed, a woman is five times more likely to die in a domestic violence incident when a gun is present.
6. We should close the loophole that allows prohibited purchasers to buy a gun without a completed background check after a three-day waiting period expires. Earlier this year, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine of our fellow Americans while they prayed in a historic church, simply because of the color of their skin. This act of terror was possible because of loopholes in our background check laws. Congress should act to ensure the standard for ALL gun purchases is a completed background check. No check — no sale.
7. It’s time to pass federal gun trafficking laws. I support Kirsten Gillibrand’s Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking & Crime Prevention Act of 2015, which would “make gun trafficking a federal crime and provide tools to law enforcement to get illegal guns off the streets and away from criminal networks and street gangs.”
8. It’s time to strengthen penalties for straw purchasers who buy guns from licensed dealers on behalf of a prohibited purchaser.
9. We must authorize resources for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study and research the causes and effects of gun violence in the United States of America.
10. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are over 21,000 firearm suicides every year in the United States. It’s time we expand and improve our mental health capabilities in this country so that people who need care can get care when they need it, regardless of their level of income.
Earlier today, the U.S. Senate voted against non-binding legislation to expand background checks, close the “terror gap,” and improve our mental health systems. I voted for all three, although each of them came up short.
They failed for the same reason the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey legislation failed in 2013, just months after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School: because of the financial political power of a gun lobby that has bought candidates and elections for the better part of the last several decades.
In 2014 alone, the gun lobby spent over $30 million on political advertising and lobbying to influence legislators in Congress and state capitals across the country. And just last month, it was reported that the Koch brothers made a $5 million contribution to the NRA.
Americans of all political stripes agree. It's time to address the all too common scene of our neighbors being killed. It's time to pass a common sense package of gun safety legislation.
With your help, that's what we’ll do when I’m president.
PRAYER SHAMING. I know there are many faithful Christians and people of other faiths who send heartfelt, sincere prayers to God for the victims and families when there is another mass shooting. And I know there are many hypocritical politicians and community leaders who stand in front of the TV cameras and radio mics and declare their horror and sorrow over the mass shooting and publicly offer their prayers. I really doubt most of them actually pray for the victims and families. As soon as news of another mass shooting is out I think they are activating their game plan to quash criticism of their being controlled by the nra and their opposition to any gun control. They are like the pharisee Christ pointed out as a hypocrite because of his loud, public prayers. I think if these people actually prayed for the victims and families of gun violence they might hear God tell them the answer to help prevent these tragedies is gun control. This well written piece from +Daily Kos & +Sojourners ....
After each of the recent mass shootings in America, Democratic presidential candidates have called for action to make high-capacity, rapid-fire guns harder to acquire, and Republican presidential candidates (and Republicans in Congress) have prayed for the victims. Since to-date none of the victims has risen from the dead, we can logically assume that one of four things is true.
1) God doesn’t exist.
2) God doesn’t care.
3) God is powerless to do anything.
4) God keeps wondering why Republicans continue to block action that would drastically reduce the number of mass shootings and make the public repetition of prayers for mass shooting victims largely unnecessary in the future. Or to put it another way: God keeps trying to answer their prayers in advance, but the Republicans won’t let him!
Yesterday, two people armed in military-style gear shot and killed 14 people and injured 17 others at a holiday party in California. You’ve no doubt been watching the headlines and reading about people’s “thoughts and prayers,” but what is stunning is that it wasn’t even the only mass shooting yesterday. Four others were shot, one killed, in Savannah, Ga. Add it to the list of more than 350 mass shootings this calendar year.
The epidemic of gun violence in America has become the new normal. We can’t just blame it on the brokenness of the world, pray for peace, and move on, worried that anything more will be seen as politicizing tragedy. What is tragic is that those who have the ability to DO something about this crisis refuse to offer more than simplistic sentiments on Twitter before getting caught in a circular argument about our rights as Americans. It’s time for people of faith to respond out of their faith and work to stop senseless violence. As Nicholas Kristoff wrote in the New York Times today: “It’s not clear what policy, if any, could have prevented the killings in San Bernardino. Not every shooting is preventable. But we’re not even trying.” Common sense measures like universal background checks — which is supported by 85 percent of Americans — would be a good start.
Tell your elected officials that while the NRA may give them a positive rating — and bankroll their campaigns — they’re failing the American people by refusing to offer any semblance of common sense measures that could save lives.
“Thoughts and prayers” are not solutions for the 30,000 people who will be killed by a gun this year – we need sensible gun safety legislation NOW.
THERE was another mass shooting in the U.S. today, in Savannah, GA. There have actually been more mass shootings in America this year ( 355 ) than days so far this year ( 336 ). That's something the nra and the politicians and community leaders they have bought off are proud of. And too many ignorant Americans too, ignorant because they keep the same politicians and community leaders who oppose and prevent sane gun control in positions of power. From the +Washington Post followed by a very valid piece from +The Atlantic on prayer shaming after the San Bernardino mass shooting today .....
An
officer sets up a perimeter near the site of a shooting Wednesday in
San Bernardino, Calif. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
The rampage that claimed at least 14 lives in San Bernardino, Calif., isn't today's first mass shooting.
Here’s news you probably missed: A gunman in Savannah, Ga., shot four
people early Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring three men. Police haven’t arrested a suspect, said Eunicia
Baker, spokesperson for the Savannah Chatham Police Department. They
also haven’t released the names of the victims. The local news media
barely acknowledged the murder: One local television station covered it in three paragraphs.
And the world spun on.
Then
news broke that multiple attackers opened fire at a center for disabled
adults in San Bernardino — a center that just hosted its holiday party
yesterday.
If you feel "desensitized," here's a photo from the Inland Regional Center's holiday party yesterday. pic.twitter.com/3JwHQTg5cX
Suddenly, the little-noticed crime in Georgia became the second mass shooting in a single day — and at least the third since Robert L. Dear Jr. opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic last week in Colorado springs.
Just
heard there was another mass shooting today in Savannah, Georgia.
Thoughts and prayers with them, as well. It's a mad, mad world.
Danielle
Paquette is a reporter covering the intersection of people and policy.
She’s from Indianapolis and previously worked for the Tampa Bay Times.
Follow her on Twitter: @Dpaqreport.
Directly after a mass
shooting, in the minutes or hours or days between the first trickle of
news and when police find a suspect or make arrests, it is very
difficult to know what to do. Some people demand political action, like
greater gun control; others call for prayer. In the aftermath of a
violent shooting spree in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday, in
which at least 14 victims are reported to have died, people with those
differing reactions quickly turned against one another.
For example: Here’s the Washington editor at the liberal publication The Nation, George Zornick, on reactions from the 2016 presidential candidates:
There’s a clear claim being made here, and one with an edge: Democrats care about doing something and taking action while
Republicans waste time offering meaningless prayers. These two
reactions, policy-making and praying, are portrayed as mutually
exclusive, coming from totally contrasting worldviews. Elsewhere on
Twitter, full-on prayer shaming set in: Anger about the shooting was
turned not toward the perpetrator or perpetrators, whose identities are
still unknown, but at those who offered their prayers.
This
is not the first time this idea—that prayer is not enough—has come up
in the Twittersphere, or in politics. “As I said just a few months ago,
and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of
these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough,” said
President Obama following the October shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. He was not denigrating prayer—in the same speech, he went on to ask God for strength and courage for the victims. But not all have been equally nuanced. After Wednesday’s shootings, The Huffington Post quickly rounded up
a list of tweets from politicians offering their prayers. “In short,
basically anyone with a Twitter account shared thoughts and prayers in
the immediate aftermath of the latest shooting,” the reporters wrote.
“Which is kind of them to do, of course, but probably not enough to stop
the next one.”
This cynicism offers a view into just how much
religion and politics have changed in the United States. Prayer and
political action have a deeply entwined history in America. From civil
rights to women’s suffrage, nearly every social-justice movement has had
strong supporters from religious communities—U.S. history is littered
with images like the one of pastors and rabbis marching on Selma, side by side with political activists.
But
now, even in the absence of information about the shooter's identity
and motivations, people have jumped to conclusions like this, from
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy:
Your "thoughts" should be about steps to take to
stop this carnage. Your "prayers" should be for forgiveness if you do
nothing - again.
There
are many assumptions packed into these attacks on prayer: that all
religious people, and specifically Christians, are gun supporters, and
vice versa. That people who care about gun control can’t be religious,
and if they are, they should keep quiet in the aftermath of yet another
heart-wrenching act of violence. At one time in American history,
liberals and conservatives shared a language of God, but that’s clearly
no longer the case; any invocation of faith is taken as implicit
advocacy of right-wing political beliefs.
The most powerful
evidence against this backlash toward prayer comes not from the
Twitterverse, but from San Bernardino. “Pray for us,” a woman texted
her father from inside the Inland Regional Center, while she and her
colleagues hid from the gunfire. Outside the building, evacuated workers
bowed their heads and held hands. They prayed.
About the Author
Emma Green is the managing editor of TheAtlantic.com, where she also writes about religion and culture.
ANOTHER mass shooting in America, less than a week after the mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs, CO. This one is especially heinous as three murderers chose a community center that service developmentally disabled people in San Bernardino, CA. We are a sick society that tolerates this violence, and no amount of public weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth and prayers for the dead and wounded and their families will atone for unwillingness of our nation to take the necessary steps to help prevent the slaughter of our own. I get so disgusted when I hear the very politicians and community leaders who block reasonable, sane, workable gun control express their "deepest sorrow" and offer "thoughts and prayers" for the victims and their families. LIARS! Their hypocrisy make me sick, as does the ignorance of the American people for keeping these people in positions of power. Why does this keep happening in America? Look in a mirror and ask that question. Here is the latest from +NPR and +Washington Post and it will be updated as more information is available.....
At least 14 people were killed and more than a dozen others
wounded when up to three suspects armed with long guns entered a
facility in San Bernardino, Calif., and began shooting, authorities said
Wednesday.
Hours after the shooting, which began at 11 a.m.
local time, TV images showed a bullet-riddled, dark colored SUV
surrounded by police in what appeared to be a residential neighborhood.
San Bernardino Police Sargent Vicki Cervantes says that police officers
traded fire during what she described as an "active situation."
"I
believe there may be a suspect down," she said, but she warned that she
did not know if that situation was connected to the earlier shootings.
At
an earlier press conference, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan
said the suspects opened fire at the Inland Regional Center, which is
part of the California Department of Developmental Services and serves
people with developmental disabilities.
Asked about the number
of suspects, the police chief said, "I have repeatedly been told the
number is three," though he cautioned that the information was coming
from witnesses at the scene. Burguan said the attackers fled in what was
potentially a dark SUV. He did not provide a description of the
suspects or discuss a possible motive.
"These are people that
came prepared," the chief said. "They were dressed and equipped in a way
to indicate that they were prepared and they were armed with long guns
not handguns."
The assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles
field office, David Bowdich, said at the news conference, "Is this a
terrorist incident? We do not know."
.@SanBernardinoPD has confirmed an active shooter in the area of Orange Show Rd/ Waterman Ave near Park center. #SBCSD assisting.
Burguan also said that several hundred people who were in the
building were taken to a safe location and that buildings in the
surrounding area had been locked down.
Roads near the scene
have been shut down and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
was warning people to avoid the area.
Terry Petit said his daughter works at the Inland Regional Center
and that she said she was inside when the sound of gunfire erupted.
He choked back tears as he read her texts to ABC 7 Eyewitness News: "People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office."
San Bernardino Mayor R. Carey Davis said in a statement that the community "experienced severe loss and severe shock" Wednesday.
A satellite view of the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif.
Google
"It is critical in moments like these, our City unites in
supporting the victims, their families, and the effort against crime in
our City. We will continue to utilize all safety resources available to
the San Bernardino community to deal with this tragedy," he said.
A White House official said that President Obama was briefed by his homeland security adviser on the San Bernardino shooting.
"We
don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do
know is there are steps we can take to make Americans safer and that we
should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government
to make these rare as opposed to normal," Obama told CBS News Wednesday.
"We should never think that this is something that just happens in the
ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same
frequency in other countries." This is a developing story.
Some things that get reported by the media will later turn out to be
wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other
authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene.
We will update as the situation develops.
At least 14 people are dead and another 14 are injured
after gunmen opened fire on a center for people with developmental
disabilities in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday. The shooting
is the deadliest since 2012, when 20 children and 6 adults were killed
at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.
The
preliminary death toll in San Bernardino is already the 6th highest in
modern U.S. history, along with a 1986 shooting in Edmond, Oklahoma, in
which a man opened fire at a Post Office. The list of the deadliest
shootings on record are shown in the chart below. Many of those with the
most severe death tolls have happened in the past decade.
The
12th deadliest shooting occurred in 2013, when a gunman opened
fire inside the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C, killing 12
people. Two separate shootings—one in Binghamton, New York, another in
Fort Hood, Texas, both in 2009—each claimed the lives of 13 people,
sharing the title of eighth most deadly. The country endured its
deadliest shooting in history in 2007, when a senior at Virginia Tech
killed 32 people and wounded 17 others.
(It's possible that there were other mass shootings further back in history not captured in these statistics.)
That
incident marked the beginning of a new era of more frequent and more
lethal mass shootings. Of the 12 deadliest shootings in U.S.
history, five occurred after the massacre at Virginia Tech.
Public health researchers at Harvard University and Northwestern University have confirmed that mass shootings are becoming more frequent, and the San Bernardino shooting is the latest. There have now been 355 this year alone, including all incidents in which at least four people, including the gunman, are wounded by gunfire.
Roberto
A. Ferdman is a reporter for Wonkblog covering food, economics, and
other things. He was previously a staff writer at Quartz.
Max Ehrenfreund writes for Wonkblog and compiles Wonkbook, a daily policy newsletter. You can subscribe here. Before joining The Washington Post, Ehrenfreund wrote for the Washington Monthly and The Sacramento Bee.
donald trump. Liar, deceiver, manipulator, bigot, racist, fear-mongerer, sexist, greedy, loud-mouth drippings and (big surprise) is running for the 2016 republican presidential nomination. He represents everything so many republicans and tea-baggers believe but is too stupid to know they don't say these things in public. No, the rest of the republican candidates (except ben carson) generally spout this ignorance in the presence of their 1% masters. Check this out from +Mother Jones and to check out trump's and carson's record go to their pages on +PolitiFact by clicking trump and carson and then for a healthy dose of sanity check out Bernie Sanders campaign website, and you'll find his PolitiFact page here ......
Dennis Van Tine/Geisler-Fotopres/DPA via ZUMA Press
There's
a legal term applied to advertising called "puffery." For example, if
Coca-Cola says Coke is the best-tasting soda in the world, that's just
puffery. They can't prove it, but that's okay, even if polls show that
most people prefer Pepsi. Legally, statements like this are evaluated
not as strictly factual claims, but as mere ordinary boasting, something
that "ordinary consumers do not take seriously."
The same concept applies to politics. Presidential candidates always
say their tax plans will balance, they'll crush every one of our
enemies, and the current incumbent is the worst ever in history. This is
just puffery. It's worth pushing back on, but it's not generally a
hanging offense.
But Donald Trump is different. Sure, his picture is probably in the
dictionary next to the word "puffery," but he also tosses out wild
howlers with a con man's breezy assurance and tells flat-out lies as a
matter of routine. He'll say things one day, and 24 hours later he'll
blandly insist he's being malignly misquoted even though it's all on
tape. These aren't just exaggerations or spin or cherry picking. They're
things that are flatly, incontrovertibly wrong.
And that's not all. Trump doesn't do this only in private or only
when he's under pressure. Nor does he do it to cover up dubious past
deeds. That would at least be normal human weakness. Rather, he does it
again and again in front of huge crowds and on national TV, whether he
needs to or not. It's just his normal, everyday behavior.
We need an official list of this stuff. Like I said: not
exaggerations or spin or cherry picking. Things that are just plain
wrong. Here's a start:
This is not normal political hucksterism. It's a pathological
disregard for the truth. Trump knows that the conventions of print
journalism mostly prevent reporters from really calling him out on this
stuff, and he also knows that TV reporters won't usually press him too
hard because they want him back on their shows. And when he does get
called out, he just bluffs his way through. He knows his followers will
believe him when he says the fault-finding is just another example of
how the liberal media has it out for him. Within a day or three, he's
repeated the lie often enough that it's old news and enters the canon of
what "everyone knows." Journalists don't even bother with it anymore
because they're already trying to play catch-up with his latest whopper.
Anyway, this list is meant only as a start. It's what I came up with
just by digging through my memory and doing a bit of googling. I'm sure
there are plenty of others. Feel free to add them in comments.
People on the terrorism watch are already 
