How Fake News Mischievously Changes Information

Each day we see dozens of Fake News stories concerning Trump, and many are copies of each other. As each newspaper creates a lie, others copy it before several assembly lines converge into one. Nothingburgers roll off the end to be sorted, packed, and loaded into trucks for distribution. By the end of the day, the Left has fed America another web of lies about their President.

LeftyLiars takes random nothingburgers off the assembly line to analyze their content, report on their author, and reveal their falsities. Today’s is by Bess Levin for Vanity Fair, under the caption:

 TO GET BACK AT G.M., TRUMP THREATENS TO PUNISH ANY AMERICAN WHO BUYS AN ELECTRIC CAR.

The heading is a lie. President Trump is angry that General Motors decided to close five North American factories since they receive Obama-generated government subsidies. Let’s switch for a second to Americans For Prosperity for this 2016 quote:

How many subsidies should electric vehicles receive? Judging by the actions of the Obama administration, the answer is always more. From the factories that build them to the stations that charge them, the government subsidizes electric vehicles at multiple points in their production, sale, and use. This begs the question: At what point should taxpayers stop subsidizing electric vehicles and let them compete on their own merits—yet there currently seems to be no end in sight.

The POTUS is well within his rights to suggest withdrawing such taxpayer funds any time he likes. Yet Bess Levin describes this as ‘punishing Americans.’ Protecting Americans’ taxes is hardly punishing them.

Bess continues:

 [G.M.’s] move was a logical decision that you might expect someone like Donald Trump, a self-described businessman…

Writing self-described is a college kid sneer. The world describes Trump as a businessman.

…who claims to know “more about” money, taxes, trading, banking, and the economy than anyone, to understand.

Bess links us to the Washington Post to ‘prove’ this claim, but the page is a Gish Gallop. When presented with Gish Gallops, our rule is only to address the first three. If they are wrong, you have no reason to believe the rest. The Post’s headline reads, “19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump,” so here are the first three [emphasis mine]:

(1) “I understand the tax laws better than almost anyone, which is why I’m the one who can truly fix them,” Donald Trump claimed Monday in Colorado.

(2) “I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth.” — April 2016

(3) “I understand social media. I understand the power of Twitter. I understand the power of Facebook maybe better than almost anybody, based on my results, right?” — November 2015

In number 1, Trump said, almost anyone, not anyone, so Beth and the Washington Post are wrong to say the President said he knows this better than anyone. Aside from that, the almost anyone line is an expression used by white men of Trump’s age. “Wow, I hit that better than almost anyone!” he might laugh after a golf swing. “Almost anyone could have won that round!” he might joke at a game of poker. It’s not to be taken literally – it translates roughly to ‘most people.’ Mind you, if by most people he meant the earth’s population of 8 billion, and if 50 million know a lot about US tax law, including him, then Trump does know more than almost anyone since 99.375% is virtually everyone.

Number 2 is not available as the link does not work, and all the other Fake News references to the same thing also fail. I will replace 2 with 4.

Regarding 3, once again, the President said almost anybody, not everyone, so Beth and the Washington Post are wrong to state that Trump said he knows this better than anyone. As for his knowledge, Trump is the most successful person ever regarding Twitter and has achieved impressive things that have changed the whole world using social media. For that reason, he is one of 50 million experts more knowledgeable than 99.375%, which is almost everyone.

4. “Nobody knows more about debt. I’m like the king. I love debt.” — May 2016

It belongs to the same expression described above. For more detail, I think it is a Jewish cultural influence in New York because I see Jewish folk speaking that way all the time. You can imagine actors Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Larry David meeting in New York. All are honest guys, and none of them lie, yet they talk like this (Jason can be George Costanza):

Larry:  Jerry! George!
George:  What are you doing here?
Larry:  What? I can’t walk in the street?
George:  No, I mean, I thought you were sick…
Larry:  Sick? Me? George, I’m the healthiest man in America! Look at me!
Jerry:  You are looking good, Larry. Best I’ve ever seen you.
Larry:  Oh, I’m flyin’. I’m like God. I’ve never been so happy.
George:  Heh. So, uh, why you so happy? Hmm?
Larry:  George, you’ll never see a happier man. I’m the most gleeful man on the planet!
George:  Yeah, okay, I get it, but why? You win the lottery or somethin’?
Larry:  George, it has nothing to do with money.
Jerry:  What then? Why you so happy?
Larry:  Jerry. George. You guys… I’M IN LOVE!
George:  That’s it? Geez, is that all?
Larry:  She’s the greatest! The most fabulous woman in America! You gotta meet her.
Jerry:  Sure, Larry, sure. We can do that.
Larry:  Great? Jerry, it’ll be the greatest…
Jerry:  Yeah, I know, the greatest day of my life. So you busy tonight?
George:  Not tonight, Jerry – remember?
Jerry:  Oh yeah, George is having a baptism.
Larry:  Baptism? Are you kidding me?
Jerry:  He’s becoming a Catholic.
Larry:  A Catholic?
George:  I’m born again, Larry. I can feel Christ’s love!
Larry:  Has he been drinking? You been drinkin’, George?
Jerry:  He’s as sober as a judge.
Larry:  That means nothing. All New York judges are drunks!
Jerry:  Isn’t that a little harsh?
George:  Hah! He’s still dyin’ of embarrassment over the parking fine.
Larry:  I was innocent! I’m the most honest man in New York!
Jerry:  Larry, I could kill for a coffee, how ‘bout you?

Today’s Fake News journalists, with their one hundred and ninety-five different nationalities, with their communist English teachers, and their lack of understanding of how people talk, would say the men lied often. They would insist that:

• Larry was not the healthiest man in America.
• Larry was not the best looking Jerry had ever seen.
• Larry was not flying.
• Larry was not like God.
• Larry had been as happy before.
• George would see a happier man.
• Larry was not the most gleeful man on the planet.
• Larry’s girlfriend was not the most fabulous woman in America.
• All New York judges are not drunks.
• Larry is not dying of embarrassment over a parking fine.
• Larry was not the most honest man in New York.
• Jerry would never kill for a coffee.

Each of the three men knew that none of those things were meant to be taken literally. They are what we call “an expression.” Larry’s, “I’m the healthiest man in America!” merely means, “I’m very healthy.” His statement, “All New York judges are drunks,” means, “Some New York judges are drunks.”

Did George or Jerry think Larry believed his girlfriend was the most fabulous woman in America? No, they knew it was just an expression, meaning, “My girlfriend is fabulous.” Millennials from California may not understand a New York man of Trump’s age. People from India will have even less understanding. Turkish immigrants will have no hope of getting the gist of Trump’s words. It allows Fake News to tell many fibs.

The first three items on the Gish Gallop were nothingburgers. You can imagine what a load of codswallop the rest of the list was. Now, back to Bess Levin and her Vanity Fair insult list.

 But, of course, Trump is only a businessman in so much as he played one on TV—

Since he owned and ran many successful businesses, he was a businessman by definition, and the Left keeps yowling for his tax returns for that very reason.

his real-life accomplishments are more along the lines of bankrupting a casino and receiving a lifetime allowance from his father

When any business suffers from events beyond its control, like government inefficiency and a failing economy, they take the best action they can, which sometimes involves bankruptcy. The casino is not sent bankrupt by its owner unless he makes poor decisions, which Trump never does. When governments cause businesses to go broke, owners will follow their accountant’s advice and do what they can to cover their losses or even make a profit. All of this is legal and above board. There are always unhappy parties during such procedures, since bankruptcy is like divorce, and some will gnash their teeth and point fingers of blame, especially when they hate the business owner, as Bess Levin hates Trump. One thing the haters cannot do is specify anything illegal Trump did. Following accountants’ advice is perfectly legal, and receiving an inheritance is also lawful. Will Bess Levin refuse to leave her children a will, as it would make her an evil villain? No, rest assured she will do her best to leave her kids whatever she can, proving that it is one rule for Bess Levin and a different standard for her arch-enemy Donald Trump.

, who had to bail him out on numerous occasions.

“Bail him out” is the dishonest way of describing ‘help.’ Bess uses the terminology employed when paying money to a court to stay out of prison while waiting for one’s trial. She wants the whiff of murderers, rapists, and burglars, who also apply for bail, to rub off on Trump. She will probably say, “It’s just an expression,” but wait – notice she never lets Trump use such expressions. Again, it is one rule for Bess and a different rule for Trump.

Trump told a reporter that G.M. “better damn well open a new plant there very quickly,” that the company is “playing around with the wrong person,” and that Barra will have “a problem” if she doesn’t immediately open a new facility.

Yes, and this is the kind of thing that General Motors CEO Mary Barra needed to hear. If she is happy to take all the Obama subsidies on the one hand, and then close down facilities and lose jobs on the other, then Trump has the right to say that her company was “playing around with the wrong person,” which he did.

In case you were unaware, Mary Barra was born Mary Makela, and her parents are Finnish. She was CEO when Obama began shoveling money at her in subsidies and was almost certainly a fan of the socialist President. Her Finnish parents would, in my opinion, have probably raised her to believe the government should give businesses handouts. She appears to be anti-Trump, and for some better proof, there is this, from Wikipedia:

In December 2016, Barra joined a business forum assembled by then President-Elect Donald Trump to provide strategic and policy advice on economic issues. However, she left the forum in 2017, following Trump’s response to the Charlottesville protests.

Only a politically naïve Lefty would do such an irresponsible thing. General Motors needs a man in that job, and perhaps Mary Barra’s two children require a mother. Sacking her might kill two birds with one stone.

So, back to Bess Levin, whose case is failing badly.

And then on Tuesday, still foaming at the mouth, he came out with this:

Is Bess using another expression? If Trump said that about someone, she would cry, “Trump lied! There was no foam on the man’s mouth!” However, it is okay for her to use similes, figures of speech, and informal, colloquial jargon.

Bess continued, saying:

Obviously, the president of the United States threatening to punish a private company

Turning off government subsidies is cutting taxes. If that is ‘tit,’ then Mary Barra’s shutting down of five plants is ‘tat.’ She would say it was just business, and Trump would say it was only a government saving taxpayers. Is it true Barra was happy to invest in Mexico and China and disagrees with Trump’s foreign policies? Does she admire Germany’s wrecker, socialist Angela Merkel? Does she intend to help Democrats win in 2020? Did swamp critters give her bribes? You missed all that. Trump did not.

As Dan Primack points out, subsidies for G.M.-specific electric vehicles do not exist. Rather, there are industry-wide federal tax credits of up to $7,500 available for U.S.-bought electric cars, with “aggregate caps of 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer.”

Governments continuously generate new labels to camouflage taxes, grants, subsidies, and handouts. People hate taxes, so bureaucrats give them various names, like registration, charges, licenses, permits, import fees, and the like. In this case, they merely took a grant and called it a tax credit, which allowed people like Bess to say it is not an Obama grant after all.

The rest of Bess’ Fake News session continued as it started. You get the idea – she lays out one piece of misinformation after another. So who is this Bess Levin knucklehead, anyway?

She seems like a nice girl, but her head is filled with all the usual nonsense taught in school. Hopefully, she will grow out of it. In the meantime, I will grade her as Less Bevin.