Democracy or Gas Prices? Stupid Questions Shouldn't Be Celebrated
The David Pakman Show - November 4, 2022
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Does MAGA Care More About Democracy or Gas Prices?
Salon writer Chauncey DeVega made some excellent points in his article, “Is America ready to trade democracy for cheap gas? That’s fascism in a nutshell.” In the piece, DeVega points out that a third of independents are open to supporting somebody who questions the legitimacy of the 2020 election because they think economic issues should take precedence. While 71% of respondents believed that democracy was at risk, only 7% think that it’s the number one issue in the country. One might imagine that if people are saying economic matters are more critical than preserving democracy, the economy would be in tatters at the moment. But the worst of the inflation spiral and gas price hike is well behind us and other economic indicators like job numbers remain strong. It seems crazy for people to want to trade this in for democracy but that’s where some Americans are at in 2022.
Asking Obviously Stupid & Ridiculous Questions Shouldn't Be Celebrated
Fox News host Tucker Carlson this week utilized one of the most common weapons he has in his propaganda arsenal and that is the excuse of “I’m just asking questions.” Carlson said, “everybody is free to ask questions about it and demand real answers. If you’re coming up with some sort of crazy theory about what happened at Nancy Pelosi’s house last Friday instead of yelling at you or calling you names or telling you you’re a conspiracy nut — you’re Alex Jones. Just produce the police bodycam. Why is that so hard?” This technique is a way for Carlson to push the conspiracy theories he wants while having a fallback that he’s just asking questions and not making any actual assertions. Of course, asking obviously stupid questions meant to fire up low-information voters isn’t virtuous and isn’t something we should celebrate.
From yesterday’s show:
Fox News TRIGGERED to a Sputtering Mess by Biden Speech
Fox News was turned into a sputtering mess on Wednesday following Joe Biden’s speech on the importance of upholding democracy going into the 2022 midterms. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy went on the network and complained about how the speech wasn’t about other things. He said, “I listened to the president’s speech. I don’t remember hearing anything about inflation, about gas, about border, about fentanyl, about crime.” This is an idiotic complaint by the House Minority Leader especially since everybody knew ahead of time that the address was going to be about democracy specifically. Fox Host Jesse Watters also gave a reaction, saying, “no one is going to question the results of this election, Mr. President because it’s going to be a blowout.” Jesse thinks he’s being clever but he’s actually making Biden’s point, which is that Republicans are prepared to accept the results if they win but reject them if they lose.
From yesterday’s show:
Tim Ryan Does NOT Back Down from Fox News Mob
Fox News did town halls with the Ohio Senate candidates, Tim Ryan and JD Vance, and Ryan did not back down despite being in front of a right-wing audience. Ryan was talking about January 6, 2021 and said, “they stormed the Capitol on January 6th. They beat up 140 police officers — killed one. They killed one. We all watched the video.” This prompted the crowd to boo the Ohio congressman. The Fox hosts then got the crowd to quiet down. Ryan continued, “JD Vance raised money for the insurrectionists. He made several social media posts to raise money for them. Now again, I don’t care what your politics are, but Americans should say no. We have to say no to that stuff.” This line got Ryan a smattering of applause. What turned the tide for him was clearly that he was willing to have the conversation with everybody but he made it clear that he wanted an opportunity to speak his piece. Hopefully, Ryan is able to deliver on picking up Democrats that seat in Ohio next week.
More on the show:
-- MyPillow guy Mike Lindell goes wild with conspiracy theories on Lindell TV
-- Caller asks when the right will start accepting election results and stop encouraging violence
-- Caller wants to know how to convince people about the legitimacy of elections
-- Caller wonders what the right would say if a left-winger attacked Melania Trump
-- Caller talks about children who have Trump-supporting parents
-- Caller is worried the right wing is going to make America a dictatorship
-- Caller wants to see the 2022 midterm ballot early
-- Caller discusses conspiracy theorists and reality deniers
-- David responds to viewer emails and social media messages
-- On the Bonus Show: Pelosi attacker was in US illegally, rising profits are driving inflation, #TrumpIsDead trends on Twitter, and much more...
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[House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy went on the network and complained about how the speech wasn’t about other things. He said, “I listened to the president’s speech. I don’t remember hearing anything about inflation, about gas, about border, about fentanyl, about crime.”] This is hilarious because never once, during Trump's campaign, did he EVER talk about what HE would do if HE were re-elected. All he did was complain about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton; (and later) how the election was stolen/rigged; how the Democrats were criminals and corrupt; how the White Nazis were being tortured for speaking out; how COVID had been the fault of China and the Democrats...and on and on. The entire time he was in the WH, he was either golfing or trashing the Democrats, and trashing people who were trying to come to the U.S. for freedom. He HATED Black people, Asians, Latinos, and Jews. He was a poster boy for all of the right-wing extremists. God help us if he ever returns to the WH.