28 days since the National Day of Patriotic Devotion
(Extra!)
“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” Donald Trump, 17 February 2017
“It’s not normally news when language shifts meanings – when the definitions of words like “decimate” or “literally” start to soften. Few (aside from copy editors and dictionary publishers) would call it a crisis. But with fake news there are serious potential problems … problems that go even beyond disputes over what is fact and what is fiction. The shifting definition of fake news may be a sign of a broader gap between right and left. In July, author George Saunders painted a picture of that gap:
“Intellectually and emotionally weakened by years of steadily degraded public discourse, we are now two separate ideological countries, LeftLand and RightLand, speaking different languages, the lines between us down. Not only do our two subcountries reason differently; they draw upon non-intersecting data sets and access entirely different mythological systems.”
“[T]he notion of the news media as an enemy of the public – especially when voiced by a sitting president – went a step beyond Mr. Trump’s usual rhetorical turns. The New York Times, 17 February 2017
“Although Trump has long colorfully criticized news coverage and sparred with reporters who question him, he had not yet labeled the fourth estate as being an enemy of the country. The Washington Post, 17 February 2017
This Is Drivel 