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"The Enemy of the People" - OK or No? (1 Viewer)

Dinsy Ejotuz

Dinsy Ejotuz

Footballguy
I actually wasn't aware of the origins of the phrase:

“Stalin originated the concept ‘enemy of the people.’ This term automatically made it unnecessary that the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy be proven. It made possible the use of the cruelest repression, violating all norms of [...] legality, against anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin, against those who were only suspected of hostile intent, against those who had bad reputations ... The formula ‘enemy of the people’ was specifically introduced for the purpose of physically annihilating such individuals.” From “The cult of the individual”, a speech delivered to the 20th congress of the Communist Party of the USSR on February 25, 1956 by Nikita Khrushchev. 
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How do people feel about Trump repeatedly using a phrase used to justify the murder of millions of political enemies?

What does it say that the phrase is considered too toxic for Communist authoritarian governments, but our President uses it over and over?

 
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 2h

People are disgusted and embarrassed by the Fake News Media, as headed by the @nytimes, @washingtonpost, @comcast, & MSDNC, @ABC, @CBSNews and more. They no longer believe what they see and read, and for good reason. Fake News is, indeed, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
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That's today.

 
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It is great for otherizing, so you no longer care if bad things happen to the people you see as your opponents.

 
it's a good contrast to the 'assassinate a sitting president thread'

There is a true difference that we are losing sight of 

One comment made in a political context dripping in hatred to people that share that same hatred and done to fan the flames

the other made by a comedian for a laugh

 
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Interesting. 

Can you give us the background on the word "Socialist" and/or "Socialism" and let us know the history of that word?  I could've sworn we had a thread in this forum about how some guy calling himself and identifying himself as a Socialist is such a nice guy.  

Not 100% sure, but I think he's running for POTUS.

 
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BladeRunner said:
Interesting. 

Can you give us the background on the word "Socialist" and/or "Socialism" and let us know the history of that word?  I could've sworn we had a thread in this forum about how some guy calling himself and identifying himself as a Socialist is such a nice guy.  

Not 100% sure, but I think he's running for POTUS.
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Lots of socialists are nice people.

 
Lots of socialists think other lots of socialists are enemies of the people.

Back to the OP. The President's use is atrocious. 

 
killface said:
it's a good contrast to the 'assassinate a sitting president thread'

There is a true difference that we are losing sight of 

One comment made in a political context dripping in hatred to people that share that same hatred and done to fan the flames
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And the other one is an outrageous attack on the press by the president.

 
killface said:
it's a good contrast to the 'assassinate a sitting president thread'

There is a true difference that we are losing sight of 

One comment made in a political context dripping in hatred to people that share that same hatred and done to fan the flames

the other made by a comedian for a laugh
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When you look at it this way it becomes obvious that it's the ~funny, uncivil people who must be stopped at all costs.

 
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Bozeman Bruiser said:
Absolutely okay.

The media has done nothing but spread hate, lies, and propaganda since Trump won the nomination.

Just look at the impact it has had in this country. This forum.

The US media in 2020 would make Hitler, Stalin, and Mao proud.
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The free press wouldn’t be so hard on Trump if he didn’t make so many incompetent mistakes and if he wasn’t so corrupt. It’s like fish in a barrel.

 
dozer said:
The free press wouldn’t be so hard on Trump if he didn’t make so many incompetent mistakes and if he wasn’t so corrupt. It’s like fish in a barrel.
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Or, more conversely, Trump is the first president to call them out and go after them for their decades of being an arm of the DNC.  

They don't like being exposed like that.

 
BladeRunner said:
Or, more conversely, Trump is the first president to call them out and go after them for their decades of being an arm of the DNC.  

They don't like being exposed like that.
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I don’t care what kind of shoes you wear, it’s not that hard to criticize our current President when he does so many thing’s incompetently.

 
BladeRunner said:
Or, more conversely, Trump is the first president to call them out and go after them for their decades of being an arm of the DNC.  

They don't like being exposed like that.
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Even with all their flaws, they don't deserve the constant antagonization they get from Trump, which includes video clips depicting Trump as a movie hero slaughtering others who are supposed to depict media companies.

 
The media has been Trump's best friend.   Trump has been able to convince millions of people that HE is the only bearer of truth.  Which is quite incredible for such an accomplished liar

 
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Bozeman Bruiser said:
Absolutely okay.

The media has done nothing but spread hate, lies, and propaganda since Trump won the nomination.

Just look at the impact it has had in this country. This forum.

The US media in 2020 would make Hitler, Stalin, and Mao proud.
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I suppose here is exhibit A as to why it’s an effective technique. 
 

While hyperbolic, it reminds me of that Black Mirror episode where the government altered soldiers’ brains to literally see the humans they were trained to kill as monsters. Obviously the enemy of the people situation isn’t as extreme but an actual person just aligned the media with evil dictators so...

 
Dickies said:
Disgusting post
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Repressive governments always have rules about what you can say and who can say it.  Meanwhile the Bozemans of the world are put in charge of things.

Everyone always thinks these authoritarians are clowns, right up until they actually do what they've been showing and telling you they will all along.  And it takes a shockingly small percentage of the population to do it as most people convince themselves not to get involved or that the dirty hippies had it coming because incivility. 

Who's going to stop them?  The Senate?  The Supreme Court?  Good luck with that.  

"Good men do nothing" is all it takes.

 
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It seems like the same people who are so adamant about protecting the 2nd amendment are the one's that seem to be so quick to disregard a portion of the 1st.

 
Godsbrother said:
The media has been Trump's best friend.   Trump has been able to convince millions of people that HE is the only bearer of truth.  Which is quite incredible for such an accomplished liar
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It is quite a phenomenon really.   The medias hate of Trump from before he was elected has actually helped not hurt Trump. During this whole process we have learned that Trump really has no idea what he talks about, and the media is really not as forthright as we need them to be.  

I have not watched cable news at all for years only because I don`t want to see Hannity, Lemon, Maddow, or whoever's emotional takes on nightly stories.  Just watching the same story on different cable station is almost comical.  I have just been watching my local news nutshell the national stories without any personal inflection and it is a much easier watch.

 
Da Guru said:
I don`t want to see Hannity, Lemon, Maddow
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This is really frustrating to me. 

NONE of these guys are the media. They are professional  opinion makers. They are not journalists. 

When Trump calls the MSM the enemy of the people he is referring to Jim Acosta, Maggie Haberman, etc.- people who report the news. He claims, falsely, that they’re against him. Something like 90% of conservatives agree that these reporters are biased against conservatism. That’s a falsehood as well. What’s really happening here is that sometimes the truth is against conservatism, and that’s what a lot of people refuse to accept. 

 
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timschochet said:
 Jim Acosta
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The problem -- and the reason Trump gets away with what he does, which has really, really worn on me worse than I care to let on -- is that Acosta and co. do have an agenda, and it's as easy to spot as pink on black. They're Democratic operatives with bylines, to steal Glenn Reynolds's phrase, and it's obvious to almost all reading or watching.

That Trump gets away with saying things like this makes the charade all the more worse, and we're worse off as a country, from the First Amendment's solidity to the Fourth Estate's effectiveness and ability to inform.

It's awful all around. 

 
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rockaction said:
The problem -- and the reason Trump gets away with what he does, which has really, really worn on me worse than I care to let on -- is that Acosta and co. do have an agenda, and it's as easy to spot as pink on black. They're Democratic operatives with bylines, to steal Glenn Reynolds's phrase, and it's obvious to almost all reading or watching.

That Trump gets away with saying things like this makes the charade all the more worse, and we're worse off as a country, from the First Amendment's solidity to the Fourth Estate's effectiveness and ability to inform.

It's awful all around. 
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It’s not obvious to me (that he’s a Democratic operative.)  In fact I don’t believe it at all. 

 
timschochet said:
It’s not obvious to me (that he’s a Democratic operative.)  In fact I don’t believe it at all. 
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Well, Democratic operative is a strong, hyperbolic way of maybe addressing some confirmation biases he may have. I don't want to single out Acosta, really. He was just in your post and an example of someone who has been very antagonistic towards the President, if I'm not mistaken.

I think it's not far from fair to describe most print and news media as coming from the left-of-center side of things, that's for sure. To gussy off some of the pieces - especially ones about the President's mental health - that have been written as unbiased is stretching credulity. 

 
timschochet said:
This is really frustrating to me. 

NONE of these guys are the media. They are professional  opinion makers. They are not journalists. 

When Trump calls the MSM the enemy of the people he is referring to Jim Acosta, Maggie Haberman, etc.- people who report the news. He claims, falsely, that they’re against him. Something like 90% of conservatives agree that these reporters are biased against conservatism. That’s a falsehood as well. What’s really happening here is that sometimes the truth is against conservatism, and that’s what a lot of people refuse to accept. 
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Don Lemon is described by CNN as a news anchor.  Hannity and Maddow are on the air 5 hours a week.  I hold the same opinion of both.  I don`t think Acosta is against conservatism as much as he despises Trump personally.  

 
timschochet said:
This is really frustrating to me. 

NONE of these guys are the media. They are professional  opinion makers. They are not journalists. 

When Trump calls the MSM the enemy of the people he is referring to Jim Acosta, Maggie Haberman, etc.- people who report the news. He claims, falsely, that they’re against him. Something like 90% of conservatives agree that these reporters are biased against conservatism. That’s a falsehood as well. What’s really happening here is that sometimes the truth is against conservatism, and that’s what a lot of people refuse to accept. 
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It doesn't help their case when an actual journalist says they aren't covering Trump fairly and then gets suspended by their company for it. 

or when they publish opinion pieces that call to "abandon neutrality-at-all-costs" in journalism.

And it isn't a falsehood that the MSM leans left.  This has been established for a while now.  The headlines with Trump and Coronavirus are preposterous.  Nothing he can do right at the moment in their eyes. 

 
Max Power said:
It doesn't help their case when an actual journalist says they aren't covering Trump fairly and then gets suspended by their company for it. 

or when they publish opinion pieces that call to "abandon neutrality-at-all-costs" in journalism.

And it isn't a falsehood that the MSM leans left.  This has been established for a while now.  The headlines with Trump and Coronavirus are preposterous.  Nothing he can do right at the moment in their eyes. 
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This presumes Trump is "the People" here. Do you see the problem?

And I'll add it's easy enough to press these complaints legitimately without assigning a term shared both in letter and spirit by Stalinists, Nazis and Maoists. 

 
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SaintsInDome2006 said:
This presumes Trump is "the People" here. Do you see the problem?

And I'll add it's easy enough to press thees complaints without assigning a term shared both in letter and spirit by Stalinists, Nazis and Maoists. 
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I think denying the people fair and unbiased coverage should be a bigger issue than we currently make it. 

Trust in the MSM is at an all time low.  That isn't because of Trump alone. 

 
no of course not. If he’d simply said they were his enemy, I wouldn’t have a problem with that.

 
Max Power said:
I think denying the people fair and unbiased coverage should be a bigger issue than we currently make it. 

Trust in the MSM is at an all time low.  That isn't because of Trump alone. 
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I get it, and I’m even conceding the legitimacy of your point. Now I’m just asking you acknowledge the fascistic quality of the term distinguished from that. It’s not difficult.

 
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