It's official: Truth is dead. Facts are passe.
And this sentiment — 😂 — is so last year.
Oxford Dictionaries has selected “post-truth” as 2016's international word of the year, after the contentious “Brexit” referendum and an equally divisive U.S. presidential election caused usage of the adjective to skyrocket, according to the Oxford University Press.
The dictionary defines “post-truth” as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
In this case, the “post-” prefix doesn't mean “after” so much as it implies an atmosphere in which a notion is irrelevant — but then again, who says you have to take our word for it anymore?
Throughout a grueling presidential campaign in which accusations of lies and alternate realities flowed freely, in every direction, hundreds of fact checks were published about statements from both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Dozens of media outlets found that Trump's relationship with the truth was, well, complicated.
“We concede all politicians lie,” conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote in September. “Nevertheless, Donald Trump is in a class by himself.”
She cited The Atlantic's David Frum, who described Trump's dishonesty in May as “qualitatively different than anything before seen from a major-party nominee.”
None of this seemed to matter significantly to those who supported him.
“There is no doubt that even in the quadrennial truth-stretching that happens in presidential campaigns, Trump has set records for fabrication,” Chris Cillizza wrote days before the election.
And yet, Cillizza noted, Trump was seen as more honest than Clinton by an eight-point margin, according to a Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll released on Nov. 2.[...]
Oh. Until now politics was a garden of pristine pre-truth. Uh-huh.
ReplyDeleteno - but there was not a blatant view that Truth is irrelevant
ReplyDeleteI always thought that the last honest politician was Honest Abe!!!
ReplyDeleteBut yes indeed,President elect Trump makes flip flopping too normal,which is quite disconcerting,as one can never know where Trump will stand.
But one amazing thing about Trump how he let goes of past fights.He actually met with Ted Cruz of all people,the guy he called lying Ted,and Cruz might get the Attorney job!!He backed down on saying he would get a special prosecuter against Clinton.So there is a good side to his temperament ,indeed.
It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is (William J. Clinton, 1998)
ReplyDeleteA great example of this is from the week before the election, where the way Trump categorized President Obama's reaction to a heckler was entirely at odds with the actual reaction. This despite anyone could easily see how the President in fact responded.
ReplyDeleteTrump is doing a very smart thing to snub the media. He should keep it up. They are his enemies. Their choice nominee lost but we didn't think they would roll over and play dead, did we? We didn't think their leftist venom would diminish, did we? They are the worst offenders of twisting the truth. When the leftist media is against someone, that's the biggest sign that the person has some merit. Otherwise why would they be fighting him so much? The massaleh goes that a Rebbeh saw in himmel on Rosh Hashana that there was a decree that all Jews would be rich that year and it needed the haskama of the tzadikim. Before he gave his haskama, he just wanted to check one thing. Who suggested this decree? He found out that it was the Satan. So he knew that it must be that this would not be a good thing so he vetoed it. If one knows nothing more than the fact that the mainstream media is fighting Trump, that is enough to determine that Trump has some positive merit.
ReplyDeleteyes we need to have blind faith that Trump will do what is best and the less we know about what is actually going on the better - right?
ReplyDeleteI guess you don't like the democratic system and would prefer a dictator or absolute monarch who is only accountable to himself.
Those nasty left wing papers that are constantly trying to prove that reality and Trump are in two different universes.
yes and the way he purged Governor Christie and his men show that the past is irrelevant - right?
ReplyDeleteDo you know the context of that statement? Do you know that he was distinguishing between the present tense "is" and the past tense "was" when asked if there "is" a relationship between him and Lewinsky? This is the entire point of this article: Politicians have always been evasive, but as for baldly stating things over and over that can easily be disproved, Trump has forged a new path.
ReplyDeleteHumpf.
ReplyDeleteLeft-wing media is also against anti-semitism, people trafficking, etc. So one cannot conclude that everything the left-wing media is against is good. The fact is Trump has twisted the evident truth on numerous occasions, and his supporters don't care. I guess that is what is called "post-truth" or "dogma" - believe in someone/something even when there is no evidence to justify such "blind faith".
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend this article, especially to those obsessing about Trump and his supposed racism:
ReplyDeletehttp://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/16/you-are-still-crying-wolf/
Trump stopping the government/lobbyist feeding trough. I'd call this keeping a campaign promise. The one about draining the swamp.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/17/trump-transition-team-announces-five-year-lobbying-ban-for-appointees.html
Actually: "Norm Eisen, the former chief ethics lawyer in the Obama White House, called the rules a “good start,” but he said they need to be expanded to avoid potential loopholes and cover all people with potential conflicts of interest — whether they’re registered or not. Eisen met with Christie’s transition aides to discuss the proposal, even proposing a draft executive order on the issue."
ReplyDeleteI knew the context of his statement. That doesn't change the snide nature of it. Like Hillary's statement about wiping a hard-drive with a cloth.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't support the recently expressed opinion of a gadol why Trump won.
ReplyDeleteOr: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
ReplyDeleteRabbi Eidensohn, Why this continued obsession with President-Elect Trump? The election is over! He hasn't done anything yet! Give it it a rest until after his inauguration! There is an Agudah Convention next week with a keynote speaker who enabled adultery! Why not concentrate on that for a while??
ReplyDeleteFirst of all,Christie and President elect Trump always got along.Why Christie got ejected can be based on two reasons.One,The Trump's powerful son-in-law,Jared Kushner was the one holding a grudge for Christie apparently prosecuted Jared's father and found him guilty.The second reason I read today is that Christie was filling the positions with lobbyists,and that is a no no with the Trump's campaign.
ReplyDeleteAgain, that is a bending of the truth. According to halacha, he did not.
ReplyDeleteBut it seemed as the son in law of President elect Trump was the one behind the dismissal of Governor Christie and his men, and not Trump who seemed to get along with Christie.
ReplyDeleteJoe, here's a great example of him completely missing your point. Hillary told everyone that Comey declared her totally truthful, after he did precisely the opposite. But, it's only the Trump era that is 'post
ReplyDeleteTruth.' Ridiculous.
didn't realize Trump was such a wimp that he gets pushed around by his son-in-law?!
ReplyDeletesorry but you are the one missing the point. Yes Clinton has lied. But if you keep track of the amount and type of lies - Trump is the big winner and in a class by himself. This is not a unique observation on my part - there are quite a few articles - including those written by right wing conservative Republican's who have concluded the same thing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/17/romney-and-trump-to-discuss-secretary-of-state-position-nbc-source-says.html
ReplyDeleteConfounding liberal expectations. Trump is really good at this game.
Bringing jobs back home. Keeping campaign promises:
ReplyDeletehttp://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Apple-could-make-iPhones-in-US-in-future-sources
The person added that one view among the Apple supply chain in Taiwan is
that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may push the Cupertino,
California-based tech titan to make a certain number of iPhone
components at home.
David Frum may be a Republican, but he is not "right wing" by any stretch of the imagination.
ReplyDeleteIf there is one area where there has been some -- in this case very
ReplyDeletepositive -- disruption in the transition it is the ejection of
lobbyists from the team, many associated with Chris Christie. Trump
pledged in his Gettysburg speech to disconnect lobbying from public
service, promising a five-year ban on such activity after serving. This
ban would be permanent when associated with foreign countries. On this
one, so far, the president-elect seems to be following through.
https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2016/11/17/transition-the-mainstream-media-does-its-duty-or-not/
did it say he was doing it or that he may push to have it done?
ReplyDeleteI might learn all of Shas in 30 days
Come on, Harry, you can do better than a one word response. RDE is falsely equating the media with the other branches of government.
ReplyDeleteOur constitution protects us against an absolute monarch, not the media. With how they played their hand this election, relying on them for anything factual is lunacy.
The Atlantic article is dated, and most of the 'lies' he claims against the president elect have been shown since to be true.
ReplyDeleteBut, more to the point, I didn't know you had a scale that somehow measures lie quantity and lie 'type' (whatever that means). Hillary's lies are of the 'type' that: have endangered our national security, have cost government workers their lives, have crushed victims of sexual abuse, and have offered her a constant diversion so that she can escape justice. Each of these by itself makes her entirely worthy of severe censure, zero trust, and criminal indictment. Taken all together, they make DJT's words pale by comparison. It's no wonder no one is embarrassed to now be urging she be pardoned before the big O leaves office.
There was not? Wasn't the Peace Process just another way to kill and endanger Jews, formally known as the War Process?
ReplyDeleteFine. So Trump beat the liers at their own game. All the honor to him.
ReplyDeletePoint is, Apple is taking his promises seriously. I doubt they are the only ones.
ReplyDeleteNo comparison to Shas in 30 days, which is not doable. What Trump is saying is doable, you simply have decided, for no apparent reason other than that you read it in the WP, that he will not do it. I, on the other hand, take a rational wait-and-see attitude toward a president who has not yet assumed office and was elected a bit more than a week ago. So far he has accomplished what he said he would against all expectations, including yours and the WP's, so I'm ready to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Forgot to mention -- bouncing lobbyists is a campaign promise being kept.
ReplyDeleteIts a personal Reason. Jared has a personal animosity against Christie. Trump had to give this to him. Not a question of being pushed around.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not that day. Other days definitely yes. Uncontested.
ReplyDeletedon't understand this argument at all. Why was Christie and associates allowed in - only to have them be purged? This was a plot of revenge by Jared while Trump watched helpless from the sidelines?!
ReplyDeleteyes Trump is the role model of a successful liar and he is far advanced of whoever is 2nd best. This is someone to brag about?!
ReplyDeleteno
ReplyDeleteplease provide evidence that most of the lies he claims are not true
ReplyDeleteAs I said it is a common observation that Trump is in a category by himself regarding truthfulness and accuracy of "facts."
your description of HIllary's lies - is not accurate but simply represents Trumps categorization of them - which doesn't carry much weight.
simply proclaiming that I am making a false comparison - doesn't get you much mileage
ReplyDeletePlease make the statement "The facts that Trump has told us are more accurate and reliable than that reported in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal - because they are the evil left wing media and are biased. He needs no support in reality because it is enough he has told us it is true."
I have no problem with a wait and see attitude - except in areas where he has already announced significant changes in what he promised. While it is true that he might fulfill some of what he has said - the mere fact that even before assuming office he has backtracked significantly is definitely something worth noting. Or are you saying that even when he backtracks he doesn't mean it and thus his words are meaningless and that we have to wait and see what he will do?!
ReplyDeleteHard to keep track of what the comments are responses to, but if you are saying that Lewinsky would be pasul lekehuna as a result of interactions with Clinton, that is not halachically accurate.
ReplyDeleteTell me, are you purposely being obtuse?
ReplyDeleteHarry commented on the pernicious media, to which you replied that he doesn't like democracy, and that we're headed for a return to the monarchy.
I'll let your readers decide if that's not endorsing the media's role as a bulwark to the existence of the republic.
Please make this statement: "Hillary lost, and the democratic system in the U.S. functioned as it was designed to. It's time for me to move on. If I can't, I should seek professional help."
Why not doable? According to chabad, making a siyum only requires saying the words of a masechta tractate, not to under stand even one word. The them, read through 2,,811 pages in thirty days, no problem.
ReplyDeleteexcept for the rule in this case of "don't ask, don't tell", she is pesullah lecohen forbidden to a Cohen.
ReplyDeleteYes. Esauv Tzaid B'Phiev. Esauv was a smooth talker. Trump may or may not be an Edomite. But I think we can all agree that to reach a higher truth, "lying" is justified. Sometimes. As in, "I am", and Yaakov receives the Blessing.
ReplyDeleteyes there is truth - for us little people and there there is Post-truth for those spiritual "giants" like Trump who is a master liar in the service of "truth." To compare Trump to Yaakov Avinu is incredible and shows just how far people will go to justify the unjustifiable. BTW G-d also bent the truth - perhaps you meant to say if G-d can do it so can Trump:?!
ReplyDeleteDue to what? There was no intercourse.
ReplyDeleteWell, yes. A "lie" in the service of household tranquility. Mr. Trump brought about peace with the political system. With this election, we threw the proverbial "bums" out.
ReplyDeleteWe've been through this. This is normal politics. I don't see any point in rehashing it, and I'm not going to.
ReplyDeleteAccording to chabad, making a siyum only requires saying the words of a masechta tractate, not to under stand even one word.
ReplyDeletehighly doubtful
Please site a source for that, as it does not on the face of it appear to be correct. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav rules that for Torah SheBa'al Peh, one needs to have havana for it to be a mitzva.
ReplyDelete