I do think that we should ignore the crap said by his minions. It is very predictable what MTG, Gosar and the like will say about any given topic. Giving air to these performative gripes only draws more attention and hence credibility to them. Give them attention if and when they say something we would not expect from them. With Trump's statements, I think there should be a different standard because he is the head of a political movement. Maybe do a round up and point out how ridiculous they are (not funny) and fact check them. Because you are more centerist in your remarks, I think you have a chance to be persuasive in a way that more progressive commentator does not. By the way, I am a progressive and I look forward to all of your comments.
Fair enough. I think rather than just making fun of them I should, as you suggest, factcheck them and make clear that what he is saying is, in fact, false.
As a compulsive reader I have taken a complementary position. Reading only a few news sources for limited amounts of time per day. Otherwise my anxiety levels soar through the roof.
Chris - I think some of this may also be your business model...if you were being paid for views or clicks, and not based upon subscriptions, you might not have had this epiphany. I am sure some in the Finance Dept. at CNN appreciated your attracting eyeballs, since they maybe were paid by some advertisers for clicks, as well as for overall ratings. In a sense, you are processing through the same dilemma FOX News did when it decided to chase "...green...", and engage in the MAGA Lies as opposed to provide honest news. They chose to go with the lies to chase ratings and clicks. It is the same calculation for Twitter users may make (full disclosure - I am not nor never have been a "tweeter") - many there tweet to get clicks, interaction, be snarky, etc., as opposed to I'm,parting wisdom, and learned quickly people do not interact as much when sharing what you had for dinner...
Thank you for allowing us inside your journey - I am a subscriber because I like and appreciate your writing and perspective, however, it is an added bonus to grow and learn beside you as you share, not only your insights on writing, however, also on your life, as you did with the 'baseball" article yesterday.
This all being said, I do enjoy your Most Outrageous Lines articles, since I will never listen or watch DJT, so they do help me to be aware. Maybe as another reader indicated, a tweak to help engage more insights from the outrageous comments, or some other adjustment can allow you to make them more meaningful, and less porn-like.
Thanks for a nice post. I’d rather read this one than one about Donalds’ dumb statement. I got off Twitter after Musk bought it and his comments about Paul Pelosi. Seemed like a good time to leave. Really don’t miss it. Left Facebook farther back when I had “friends” sending me memes depicting how evil liberals are.
The Donalds comment is the sort of thing I would absolutely ignore nowadays along with anything Marge or Lauren or any number of others say. It sorta reminds of that saying about not fighting with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig loves it.
Elise Stefanik is my rep and for that reason I follow her. I get enough outrage just from that.
Thanks for this Chris, it helped settle a question in my own mind.
"My point is that I didn’t have anything profound to say about it. And the more I thought about my motivations for writing about it, the more I became convinced I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I needed to think harder about what I was doing rather than just write write write."
First, let me state that the reason you’re my favorite commentator (and why I decided to pay for a subscription (and the only one I pay for)) is because of your insightful writing.
But your point is extremely well taken.
From my own social media perspective, it’s why I never respond to ridiculous Trump supporting posts or comments from some (misguided) folks I follow. My response will have zero impact on their (typically illogical or fact free) perception, so why waste my time.
I love when you do them. However, I can understand why you may not want to continue. It’s a double edged sword to me as I love when you do them and yet, on the other hand, don’t think that every utterance this orange man/child says needs to be repeated. It’s what got us into the 2016 mess as his every utterance was said, repeated ad nauseam. It’s Trump everywhere, all of the time.
A strong vote FOR continuing to do them. Not all of us have the time to listen (or read) an hour and a half Trump tirade, but pulling out a few dozen representative quotes (with accompanying snark/factcheck) does serve a journalistic purpose.
Your point is well taken and it looks like you'll be doing a self-check ("Why does anyone need to read this?") but I hope you won't pretend that ignoring the liars and crazies and sycophants means they don't remain in positions of power. We OUGHT to know what sort of nonsense they're spouting even if we're spared much of it.
Please Continue them. They provide me with helpful information. I don't need to know every stupid thing a republican says, but I think it is important to know what lies Trump is spreading.
PLEASE stop doing those articles. To me, this is a textbook example of an "outrage porn" article that you say you're quitting. Those articles don't educate me as a viewer and I find them to be pure "can you believe this?!?" clickbait. I would like much less of that in my media diet.
If I can be honest, I was never a big fan of them because it felt like it was treating Trump as one big joke and once he became president, it very much stopped being funny. I think it's better to maybe focus on one awful thing he says in a Hannity interview and why that matters versus throwing the book.
I hope that wasn't too critical, tone often gets lost over text
I like the premise of this essay very much and I fully support your evolving approach.
However: I think there’s a very good reason to keep doing those pieces about Trump’s most absurd lines.
I like to try to keep up with the mental state of our former President, and I would much rather get a list of highlights/lowlights from you than have to watch Trump speeches or read about them elsewhere.
Reading the tea leaves about what Donald trump will or won’t do doesn’t require this sort of reportage. But it is helpful to have good ongoing updates about what he is saying in public. It gives us some data that we can use to get a sense of how his fans might react to the speech.
I leave it to you to decide the best way to cover such material. But I hope you won’t ditch it entirely. I think it’s difficult to argue that this material isn’t of any value to readers. Perhaps there’s a way to write it up that will give us the information but will make you feel like you’re not just chasing clicks.
In my opinion, even a Chris Cillizza column indulging his own worst tendencies is still essential reading.
I understand why you don't want to dwell or write about the news of the day. But I think it would be nice for you to share your views /opinions on some very important once a life time current news and happenings in the Country. For example one would have wanted to read your post on today's once in generation criminal allegations( Federal) of a former President of the United States who is seeking another chance to be elected into the office again and your views/opinion on America's near default on it's debts a few weeks ago.. I believe you wrote a great pos on the latter.
Chris, another great post. I'm sure I don't recognize all the ways I'm sucked in by outrage porn, but I've come to realize that such a lure exists and that it's not healthy for me (I'm tired of being mad all the time). I dropped off of Facebook and Twitter for the very reason that they were keeping me mad all the time, and depressed about the state of my beloved country. I, for one, support your choice to be thoughtful in what you write for we, your loyal (and paid) subscribers. I want big picture, long view, meaningful, and not hyperbolic discourse. I count on that from you, and I'm here (reading you in Substack) for the long haul. Here here!
I agree. Outrage porn is, well, porn. I use Twitter to promote my political activities, mostly canvassing. I hope to inspire others to take real steps (and door knocks) to persuade voters. Emoting on Twitter is probably less effective.
I obviously do not know Donald Trump personally, and maybe I'm way off base. But I have always perceived him as a master of manipulating the media. I do think he says things in outrageous ways because he knows every journalist is going to report it and talk about it. And the old saying about 'it doesn't matter what they're saying, just that they're talking about you' is like a box of donuts in front of Trump. He doesn't care, as long as his name is headlines. It's a catch-22 ... if you don't keep telling what he says, then people won't be informed. If you do, then they'll just keep seeing his name. But to your post, I respect and admire you for what you put out here today.
While I see this comment as totally outrageous and stupid, we need to keep our eye on the ball. Republicans are going to spew lots and lots of outrageous claims to try and defend the indefensible and we can get caught up with it, all day and every day. What we need to focus on is Trump is charged with some extremely serious actions, who is still campaigning to become the next President of the United States. We need to make sure that he does not get elected again.
Republicans insist Trump’s bathroom is secure is an amazing headline from WaPo
and I've been to Trump Tower several times and I remember being disappointed in the restrooms. I was hoping they'd be gold, tacky and audacious, but nope, just plain ole white toilets.
Thank you for stepping away from the outrage cycle. If others can learn from your example, all the better.
I am trying. I will still for sure write some news of the day stuff but I want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons.
I do think that we should ignore the crap said by his minions. It is very predictable what MTG, Gosar and the like will say about any given topic. Giving air to these performative gripes only draws more attention and hence credibility to them. Give them attention if and when they say something we would not expect from them. With Trump's statements, I think there should be a different standard because he is the head of a political movement. Maybe do a round up and point out how ridiculous they are (not funny) and fact check them. Because you are more centerist in your remarks, I think you have a chance to be persuasive in a way that more progressive commentator does not. By the way, I am a progressive and I look forward to all of your comments.
Fair enough. I think rather than just making fun of them I should, as you suggest, factcheck them and make clear that what he is saying is, in fact, false.
"With Trump's statements, I think there should be a different standard because he is the head of a political movement."
You misspelled "cult." Great post though.
As a compulsive reader I have taken a complementary position. Reading only a few news sources for limited amounts of time per day. Otherwise my anxiety levels soar through the roof.
Chris - I think some of this may also be your business model...if you were being paid for views or clicks, and not based upon subscriptions, you might not have had this epiphany. I am sure some in the Finance Dept. at CNN appreciated your attracting eyeballs, since they maybe were paid by some advertisers for clicks, as well as for overall ratings. In a sense, you are processing through the same dilemma FOX News did when it decided to chase "...green...", and engage in the MAGA Lies as opposed to provide honest news. They chose to go with the lies to chase ratings and clicks. It is the same calculation for Twitter users may make (full disclosure - I am not nor never have been a "tweeter") - many there tweet to get clicks, interaction, be snarky, etc., as opposed to I'm,parting wisdom, and learned quickly people do not interact as much when sharing what you had for dinner...
Thank you for allowing us inside your journey - I am a subscriber because I like and appreciate your writing and perspective, however, it is an added bonus to grow and learn beside you as you share, not only your insights on writing, however, also on your life, as you did with the 'baseball" article yesterday.
This all being said, I do enjoy your Most Outrageous Lines articles, since I will never listen or watch DJT, so they do help me to be aware. Maybe as another reader indicated, a tweak to help engage more insights from the outrageous comments, or some other adjustment can allow you to make them more meaningful, and less porn-like.
Thanks for a nice post. I’d rather read this one than one about Donalds’ dumb statement. I got off Twitter after Musk bought it and his comments about Paul Pelosi. Seemed like a good time to leave. Really don’t miss it. Left Facebook farther back when I had “friends” sending me memes depicting how evil liberals are.
The Donalds comment is the sort of thing I would absolutely ignore nowadays along with anything Marge or Lauren or any number of others say. It sorta reminds of that saying about not fighting with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig loves it.
Elise Stefanik is my rep and for that reason I follow her. I get enough outrage just from that.
Thanks for this Chris, it helped settle a question in my own mind.
"My point is that I didn’t have anything profound to say about it. And the more I thought about my motivations for writing about it, the more I became convinced I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I needed to think harder about what I was doing rather than just write write write."
First, let me state that the reason you’re my favorite commentator (and why I decided to pay for a subscription (and the only one I pay for)) is because of your insightful writing.
But your point is extremely well taken.
From my own social media perspective, it’s why I never respond to ridiculous Trump supporting posts or comments from some (misguided) folks I follow. My response will have zero impact on their (typically illogical or fact free) perception, so why waste my time.
Byron Donald = Someone who makes me want to eat handfuls of paint chips.
Byron Donald= Someone who ate a handful of paint chips
HAHA
Just curious, Chris- does this mean you're done doing the Most Outrageous Lines from Donald Trump TV appearances posts?
Sam, that is a very good question. I enjoy writing those posts but maybe I should stop? I am open to idea/thoughts.
I love when you do them. However, I can understand why you may not want to continue. It’s a double edged sword to me as I love when you do them and yet, on the other hand, don’t think that every utterance this orange man/child says needs to be repeated. It’s what got us into the 2016 mess as his every utterance was said, repeated ad nauseam. It’s Trump everywhere, all of the time.
A strong vote FOR continuing to do them. Not all of us have the time to listen (or read) an hour and a half Trump tirade, but pulling out a few dozen representative quotes (with accompanying snark/factcheck) does serve a journalistic purpose.
Your point is well taken and it looks like you'll be doing a self-check ("Why does anyone need to read this?") but I hope you won't pretend that ignoring the liars and crazies and sycophants means they don't remain in positions of power. We OUGHT to know what sort of nonsense they're spouting even if we're spared much of it.
Please Continue them. They provide me with helpful information. I don't need to know every stupid thing a republican says, but I think it is important to know what lies Trump is spreading.
PLEASE stop doing those articles. To me, this is a textbook example of an "outrage porn" article that you say you're quitting. Those articles don't educate me as a viewer and I find them to be pure "can you believe this?!?" clickbait. I would like much less of that in my media diet.
If I can be honest, I was never a big fan of them because it felt like it was treating Trump as one big joke and once he became president, it very much stopped being funny. I think it's better to maybe focus on one awful thing he says in a Hannity interview and why that matters versus throwing the book.
I hope that wasn't too critical, tone often gets lost over text
No, I totally get it. Very fair.
I like the premise of this essay very much and I fully support your evolving approach.
However: I think there’s a very good reason to keep doing those pieces about Trump’s most absurd lines.
I like to try to keep up with the mental state of our former President, and I would much rather get a list of highlights/lowlights from you than have to watch Trump speeches or read about them elsewhere.
Reading the tea leaves about what Donald trump will or won’t do doesn’t require this sort of reportage. But it is helpful to have good ongoing updates about what he is saying in public. It gives us some data that we can use to get a sense of how his fans might react to the speech.
I leave it to you to decide the best way to cover such material. But I hope you won’t ditch it entirely. I think it’s difficult to argue that this material isn’t of any value to readers. Perhaps there’s a way to write it up that will give us the information but will make you feel like you’re not just chasing clicks.
In my opinion, even a Chris Cillizza column indulging his own worst tendencies is still essential reading.
I understand why you don't want to dwell or write about the news of the day. But I think it would be nice for you to share your views /opinions on some very important once a life time current news and happenings in the Country. For example one would have wanted to read your post on today's once in generation criminal allegations( Federal) of a former President of the United States who is seeking another chance to be elected into the office again and your views/opinion on America's near default on it's debts a few weeks ago.. I believe you wrote a great pos on the latter.
Chris, another great post. I'm sure I don't recognize all the ways I'm sucked in by outrage porn, but I've come to realize that such a lure exists and that it's not healthy for me (I'm tired of being mad all the time). I dropped off of Facebook and Twitter for the very reason that they were keeping me mad all the time, and depressed about the state of my beloved country. I, for one, support your choice to be thoughtful in what you write for we, your loyal (and paid) subscribers. I want big picture, long view, meaningful, and not hyperbolic discourse. I count on that from you, and I'm here (reading you in Substack) for the long haul. Here here!
I agree. Outrage porn is, well, porn. I use Twitter to promote my political activities, mostly canvassing. I hope to inspire others to take real steps (and door knocks) to persuade voters. Emoting on Twitter is probably less effective.
I obviously do not know Donald Trump personally, and maybe I'm way off base. But I have always perceived him as a master of manipulating the media. I do think he says things in outrageous ways because he knows every journalist is going to report it and talk about it. And the old saying about 'it doesn't matter what they're saying, just that they're talking about you' is like a box of donuts in front of Trump. He doesn't care, as long as his name is headlines. It's a catch-22 ... if you don't keep telling what he says, then people won't be informed. If you do, then they'll just keep seeing his name. But to your post, I respect and admire you for what you put out here today.
🤗🤗🤗
While I see this comment as totally outrageous and stupid, we need to keep our eye on the ball. Republicans are going to spew lots and lots of outrageous claims to try and defend the indefensible and we can get caught up with it, all day and every day. What we need to focus on is Trump is charged with some extremely serious actions, who is still campaigning to become the next President of the United States. We need to make sure that he does not get elected again.
Totally unrelated but:
Republicans insist Trump’s bathroom is secure is an amazing headline from WaPo
and I've been to Trump Tower several times and I remember being disappointed in the restrooms. I was hoping they'd be gold, tacky and audacious, but nope, just plain ole white toilets.
Carry on...