General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe most disturbing thing about this Pedophile/Nobel Peace Prize nonsense?
There were actually a bunch of ersatz "journalists" in our cowed press who took it seriously.
It wasn't remotely serious. It was an obscene joke that an ignorant racist intellectually empty wannabe Hitler deserved an award for peace.
That it was taken seriously by some in the media is a reflection of how far we've fallen.
Our country is doomed.

dalton99a
(90,665 posts)by bringing back the Fairness Doctrine (and look for ways to beef it up) and then we start examining the issue of consolidation of the media under the antitrust laws. The media and the Supreme Court are supposed to be guardrails of our Republic, but both have been irretrievably compromised.
reACTIONary
(6,741 posts)... that noble public servant, the sick fuck. Very, very fair.
No thanks.
Celerity
(52,463 posts)As for corporate media consolidation, you can thank, to a significant degree, Bill Clinton for pushing for and then signing the horrid Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was just one of multiple very negatively impactful (in the medium to long term event horizons) major pieces of deregulatory legislation he promoted and signed into law.
Two other examples of that were the repeal of much of the FDR-championed Glass-Steagell Act via the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, and then the odious Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (re-legalising many types of the long-banned and infamously renamed 'weapons of financial mass destruction' known as derivatives), both of which played prominent roles in the underpinning of the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2009.
Oeditpus Rex
(42,900 posts)Got any video?
Captain Zero
(8,497 posts)thought his insane, maniacal PR campaign was the way to win a Nobel Prize?
And now all his followers are mentally disturbed enough to believe he deserved it too?
And now at least half the media is following along in faux stunned outrage?
erronis
(21,570 posts)Gimpyknee
(890 posts)Oeditpus Rex
(42,900 posts)Coldwater
(374 posts)

Conjuay
(2,740 posts)will be attacked.
flashman13
(1,623 posts)defacto7
(14,147 posts)she is pro Trump and approves of his attacks on "suspected" cartel boat smuggling. JFYI
Clouds Passing
(6,108 posts)Escurumbele
(3,930 posts)will help Venezuela get rid of the Maduro regime.
Not sure why she doesn't understand that trump is not on the side of Democracy but on the side of fascism. According to John Bolton and Olivia Troye, they have said it many times that trump admires Maduro, he wants to be like Maduro. On chapter 9 of John Bolton's book "The Room Where it Happened" (dedicated to Venezuela and his efforts to down the Maduro regime), he explains that Bolton had all the pieces in place to bring Maduro down, Putin called trump and told him that Maduro was "Strong and Intelligent" so trump called Bolton and told him to leave Maduro alone, that Maduro was (you guessed it) "Strong and Intelligent". Then Olivia Troye went on TV and said that trump wanted to be like Maduro, all these attacks on little boats without proofs of drug smuggling is just a show, and of course a crime. I may be wrong but, I don't think trump will go after Maduro, if anything, he may retaliate against Maria Corina just because she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
I hope that I am wrong and the USA will help that country get rid of that awful regime, but I have my doubts, mostly when trump is actually following the blueprint from Venezuela. If anyone cares about current history, find the information on how Chavez was able to implement a fascist (communism is fascism) regime, and how Maduro has kept it going, then compare with what trump is doing in the USA and you will find the parallels, its the same blueprint for all fascists everywhere.
Ocelot II
(127,681 posts)Trump is, as usual, in an awkward position because he admires Maduro while at the same time he's attacking Venezuelan boats on the ridiculous pretense that they are smuggling drugs to the US. Really? How? Even if they aren't innocent fishermen, how can those tiny boats travel the very long distance to the US while carrying enough fuel and drug payload (Cocaine? Fentanyl?) to make the trip worthwhile or even feasible? Venezuela doesn't produce or sell fentanyl in any significant amount anyhow; most of that comes from Mexico. And almost all illegal drugs are still flown or carried overland, not by sea. "Some suggest that they may instead be intended to put pressure on Venezuelas president, Nicolás Maduro, or end his rule altogether. Trump officials have called him an illegitimate leader and accused him of running a cartel. He denies any involvement in drug trafficking."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/09/world/americas/drug-trafficking-venezuela.html
If Trump officials have called Maduro an illegitimate leader, does Trump secretly admire Maduro anyhow? If sinking the boats is actually intended to pressure Maduro or end his rule, will Trump's failure to win the Peace Prize while the Maduro opponent Machado got it affect his position vis-a-vis Venezuela, especially now that Machado has specifically thanked him for his efforts? He's just perverse and childish enough to stop bombing Venezuelan boats just because Machado is in favor of it.
Escurumbele
(3,930 posts)and the international courts have called it so.
According to the two sources I mentioned, Bolton and Troye, who were there with trump, he does admire Maduro, and as I said before, it only takes a Google to find out how Chavez/Maduro were able to create a fascist regime in Venezuela to see the parallels with what trump is doing in the USA.
Blowing a few boats, committing murder is not going to move Maduro, he and his regime commit more crimes in one morning than three little boats. Read about a place called "El Helicoide" which was built by Marcos Perez Jimenez who, by far, has been the best president that country ever had. He was supposed to be a dictator, but he did more for that country than any other president in its history. The "Helicoide" was a futuristic development at the time, it was supposed to have stores, residential apartments, etc. The Maduro regime has converted it into a torture jail, where many citizens who dared to protest against the regime are held in there and tortured, many young people have died from the tortures.
Here is the link:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46864864
Make no mistake, Venezuela's experiment with fascism is the blueprint trump and his minions have copied to the "t", and unless it is stopped now, USA can become another Venezuela...IT CAN HAPPEN HERE!
OMGWTF
(4,922 posts)defacto7
(14,147 posts)I don't know what her position is, but that's how it was stated in the broadcast without any counter opinion.
Champp
(2,294 posts)He and his Republican Besties Pedo Protection Pals have certainly earned something sinfully skanky.
bucolic_frolic
(52,735 posts)In bad sitcoms anything is possible. We are rapidly losing all connection to sound reasoning, strategic planning, justice and consequences.
OldBaldy1701E
(9,296 posts)This is what you get.
That phone is a tool, not an alternate reality. Despite what some of the app creators want you to believe.
The problem is, plenty of them believe it. Some, desperately so.
Escape
(296 posts)for the Heisman Trophy this year?
NNadir
(36,733 posts)GusBob
(8,019 posts)Its not journalism anymore, its clickbait
Its gonna get worse because we will have to suffer another 3 years of this give the baby his binkie he pooped in the potty today nonsense
tetedur
(1,371 posts)I'm surprised they aren't suggesting we change the name of Earth to Planet Trump.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,820 posts)Typical MAGAt shithead and Trump bootlicker.
cab67
(3,505 posts)Last edited Fri Oct 10, 2025, 10:24 AM - Edit history (1)
This was during the tragic case of Terri Schiavo, a young woman who fell into a persistent vegetative state after suffering brain damage. Her husband wanted to remove life support, but her parents and siblings did not. It became the center of a political battle when Republicans decided to get involved on the side of the parents, only to realize that the majority of Americans wanted the government to stay out of it. But by then, it was too late for the Republicans to reverse course without losing a lot of face.
There's a lot more to it than this, and there's a chapter in Charles Pierce's Idiot America that does an excellent job of describing what happened. It really was a tragedy.
I bring it up here because an MD named Hammesfahr kept showing up on right-wing news outlets claiming he could cure Ms Schiavo. This was a highly dubious claim, to put it mildly. But when he was being introduced by such luminaries as Hannity, someone would point out that his congressional representative had nominated him for a "Nobel peace prize in medicine."
This was silly for multiple reasons. First, there's no such thing as a "Nobel peace prize in medicine." It's like winning an Olympic decathlon gold medal in the 100 m backstroke.
But more importantly, the Nobel committees don't normally take outside nominations. That this quack's congressional rep "nominated" him meant nothing.
I don't know if the Peace Prize committee operates differently from other Nobel committees - they're awarded in Norway rather than Sweden, so maybe they take outside suggestions - but I'm willing to bet they get many thousands of such suggestions, and they most likely treat them with equal disinterest.
CaptainTruth
(7,917 posts)I never forgave him for that.
cab67
(3,505 posts)It's a phenomenon found across the political spectrum, but it's been especially prevalent among Republicans during the modern era.
I named it from Bugs Bunny cartoons in which Bugs is being chased by Yosemite Sam, who's portraying a pirate or a soldier. Sam chases Bugs all over, and eventually, Sam is led into the barrel of a cannon. There's a brief moment of silence before Sam yells, "Retreat!" But before he can get out, Bugs pulls the lanyard.
Here's an example:
The Schiavo case follows this model. Republicans at the time thought this would be a good way to excite religious conservatives who backed Ms Schiavo's parents, and that everyone else would either not really care or could be persuaded to support their cause. But by the time they realized just how unpopular their efforts were, it was too late to back off without causing even more damage to their image.
The same was true for another case in Florida - that of Elian Gonzalez. He was a 10-year-old Cuban boy in the 1990's whose mother died while trying to bring him to the US. HIs mother had divorced his father, who remained in Cuba. Every bit of relevant law - local, state, federal, international - said that Mr Gonzalez should be returned to his father. But the Cuban exile community in southern Florida was having none of it, insisting that Mr. Gonzalez remain with his mother's relatives in the Miami area.
The Clinton administration had to tread very carefully; there were always crowds around the the relatives' home, and an effort to get the boy and send him back could have ended badly. (In the end, it didn't. He was rescued by Federal agents and reunited with his father.)
There were a lot of Republicans at the time who thought this would work like the Shiavo case several years later - they'd shore up support among Cuban exiles without alienating anyone. But even in Miami, there was very strong support for returning the boy to his father. And by the time Republicans realized just how unpopular their position was, they couldn't back down without looking like hypocrites.
NNadir
(36,733 posts)McConnell and putting through Supreme Court justices at the end of a Presidential term is a case in point.
Arguably, this action is responsible for the destruction of the World's most prominent democracy, as the Supreme Court has effectively declared the Constitution unconstitutional after the installation of a set of corrupt bigots and rapists.
womanofthehills
(10,470 posts)Ryan Grim - Drop Site News
I mean what can you even say about a govt that pretends to accept a ceasefire, celebrates Trump for reaching it while urging he get the Nobel Peace Prize, and meanwhile just keeps slaughtering civilians. Utterly putrid behavior unbecoming of the civilized world.
(Israel just killed over 70 people - most under rubble)
Link to tweet
?s=46
Link to tweet
?s=46
unblock
(55,685 posts)their idea of journalism is presenting whatever republicans want to present -- no matter how obvious the lie, no matter how evil or dangerous or contrary to America's principles, laws. Or constitution -- as if it were a perfectly reasonable position worth of respect and consideration.
Then they present any contrary facts, logic, reason, sensibility, etc. as if they are merely partisan democratic opinions.
The topic chosen, the framing, the language used, the accusations, the priorities, all invariably emerged from the overtly right-wing portion of the media and then get taken seriously by the rest of the media as if these are all legitimate questions democrats "have to" respond to.
Over the course of 45 years or so, the media has abandoned any sense of the responsibility to protect democracy, truth and the people from tyranny -- the entire reason that the press is protected in the first amendment.
multigraincracker
(36,466 posts)TFG No Bell Prize.
Mother Of Four
(1,722 posts)TACO Bell prize.
roscoeroscoe
(1,789 posts)One of our favorite shows, we will rewatch Jack Ryan about as often as we re-watch Shogun. So if you haven't seen it, in Season 2 Ryan and Greer wind up dragging Mike November into helping Gloria Bonalde, wife of a 'disappeared' official, who winds up winning a rigged election.
The story of these U.S. intelligence officers helping restore democracy to Venezuela just about gives me tears when we watch it. it's so well filmed. And Gloria and the kids are reunited with her husband aboard the USS Rafael Peralta... amazing.
My favorite alternate history timeline - the US helping restore democracy to Venezuela.
Mme. Defarge
(8,800 posts)then we are doomed. I admit that I need to take my own advice when I say, Get a Grip!
Ol Janx Spirit
(423 posts)Truly good people act out of a commitment to putting others above themselves, to not seeking personal glory but lifting everyone, and to consider the interests of others in all that they do. MAGA sees the world in the exact opposite light. The light of pride and selfishness guides their way.
To them it is not only acceptable but desirable to elevate a person so fundamentally flawed as to demand that glory be bestowed upon them under threat of the destruction of others when glory isn't given.
The moral flaws of their leader could fill paragraph after paragraph, and we all know what they are very well--but the fact that it is rarely even discussed anymore how far it is outside of what we used to consider being a good person is frankly depressing.
Plato posited that only those that do not seek wealth and power but care only about the good of the community should be allowed to hold positions of authority. This is obviously unrealistic and always has been, but it is a worthy goal--one we should consider at the ballot box. But it takes everyone thinking in that way. Having one party that only wants power while the other party only wants change for the good of all is part of why we find ourselves here in this moment.
For thousands of years humanity has struggled to find a way to make morality and virtue the center of public life--mostly failing to do so; but at least managing to keep the concept alive. Is it now on death's door? Despite being the party claiming "Christian values," MAGA could not be farther from the values taught by the movement's namesake. And I fear the rest of us are quickly losing sight of how far away they have pulled us all from the light of humility.
NNadir
(36,733 posts)...was to set me free in a bookstore to buy three (which morphed into five) books.
The first one my list was Romm's Plato and the Tyrant which examines the conditions under which Plato wrote The Republic. Apparently he was in the court of Dionysuis II, an antiquarian version of the orange pedophile in the White House.
I haven't gotten to reading it yet - I started with one of the other five - but based on the reviews I thought it a perfect time to read it, the reign of error, elevation of the pedophile to the role of dictator. The subtitle of the book is The Fall of Greece's Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece
The Fall of United States, once the world's premier democracy, is well underway, precipitously. As we were a democracy, it amounts to national suicide. We elected this moron.
Ol Janx Spirit
(423 posts)...fell into ruin or at least irrelevance--most of which the average human alive today would not have ever heard of--and we feel that it would never happen to us.
As even the Great Pyramid of Giza is being reclaimed by the earth, it serves as a metaphor that societies--like structures--take constant maintenance to survive.
As a society we have clearly failed to maintain our democracy and we have willingly turned it over to those that do not intend to live by its founding principles--and the result will likely be catastrophic.
Oneironaut
(6,136 posts)Dear Leader gets what Dear Leader wants! Otherwise Dear Leader throws a tantrum and wants its bottle! Wah! Wah!
- American journalism, which has touched the lowest point of the toilet bowl after circling for a while.
2naSalit
(98,053 posts)SQUIRREL!!!
C_U_L8R
(48,262 posts)would have at least noticed that Trump hasnt stopped any wars at all.
Sneederbunk
(16,885 posts)Blue Owl
(57,585 posts)Please dont give these buffoons the time of day, and make sure the prizes are given to those who EARNED them otherwise they are meaningless
Warpy
(114,014 posts)so at least some things are still out of reach of those little, pudgy hands
Machado is a wonderful choice and the fact that she is Venezuelan is a real poke in the eye since it looks like he's ready to invade them.
Also, I don't think for a NY second that anyone in the press really believed Fatso's record of appeasement with vicious dictators around the planet has anything to do with peace or would impress the committee. They were forced to write those puff pices about that stupid man to please their owners.
Texin
(2,808 posts)corporate jobs and/or subsequent retribution by the orange toad god.
Skittles
(168,016 posts)yes indeed
the usual SANE-WASHING
BlueWavePsych
(3,180 posts)
Oeditpus Rex
(42,900 posts)Why is that said here so much? Do people think change does't happen, or are they just inveterate doomsayers?
usonian
(21,332 posts)Did anyone mention this today?