Thursday, August 11, 2016
It’s time to pay attention to what Trump is doing, not just what he tweets or says
by Larry Geller
The twittersphere and the commercial media seem mesmerised by whatever Trump tweets or says. It seems all to easy for him to get attention. But like a master magician, much of what we hear or see is misdirection.
It’s about time that he is given the serious analysis that a presidential candidate should receive. Fortunately, there are two programs, available as broadcast or as podcast, that provide much of the needed scrutiny.
While tweets argue over Trump’s alleged suggestion that Clinton be assassinated, another matter is getting little attention: Who are the “advisors” Trump is putting in charge of his policy? I put the term in quotes because it is interesting to swap the term with “donors.” Should he become president, I wonder how much it will take in contributions to be appointed to his cabinet.
For better analysis than one can find in a daily paper, watch or listen to Democracy Now (on `Olelo at 11 p.m. repeated the next day at 7 a.m.) or on the web at democracynow.org .
On this spacific issue, and regularly on all aspects of the election, I’ve been enlightened by Greg Palast’s regular conversations on Flashpoints, a long-running and popular program on KPFA which is available also as a podcast. The episoe feed is here.
Flashpoint host Dennis Bernstein interviewed Palast on the August 10 program on Trumps choice of economic advisors. The segment begins at the 29 minute point. The link to this program is here. Just move the slider forward to 29.
Much of the same material is in an interview titled Trump Economic Advisor Took Billions In Auto Industry Bailout on YouTube. It has the advantage that you get to “meet” Greg Palast visually, and yes, he always wears that same hat. I met him once in New York many years ago. I can’t say it was actually the very same hat, but it could be… nevermind. Here’s the video. I preferred the Flashpoint interview, but if you really must have video, try this:
Check the Flashpoint feed for more interviews with Greg Palast.Palast also has a website here. I greatly admire his style—he never, never pulls his punches.
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