You seem to be under the delusion that only now - under people like Bongino - are we encountering an atmosphere where "the erosion of the mainstream media and concomitant rise of platforms where expertise and factual argumentation run a distant second to emotion and motivated reasoning" has magically and suddenly 'poofed' into existence under His Awful Terribleness and those dastardly billionaire minions represented by Musk who knows next to nothing about how real bureaucracy is supposed to work to produce government efficiencies (sit down, George, while we pretend only these billionaires are Very Bad People).
Au contraire.
This was the pre-existing media atmosphere (giving rise to the public hunger for independent substack media, IIRC... ahem), and I can't recall any scathing mainstream journalism standing up to the earlier rejection of objective journalism... you know, the kind that supposedly was busy incorporating factual argumentation where only Russian disinformation rags were blaming widespread use of emotion and motivated reasoning on left leaning popular politicians.
But I do seem to recall not just widespread condoning of exactly what you now criticize and apply to Trump/Musk but the widespread rise and use by MMS of offence archeology as if a 'fact checking' industry coming into its own. This mental obtuseness long predates TDS and MDR (yup, here's Musk smeared yet again) becoming the latest left leaning Kool-Aide trying hard to become a Real Thing. You know, pretending with such righteousness that the whole reap-sow result we have today can be repackaged as belonging only to Trump and thus justify framing him as his Awful Terribleness. This requires a doubling down by the deluded to attribute all this to a moral deficit that Trump/Musk exemplify but that is also shared by every voter that swept him into majority power. It belongs to these deplorables this revolutionary notion of political leadership that will draining the swamp that is government today, to alter that business as usual. And Bongino - like many cabinet and senior administrator selections - actually fits what these majority voters hoped would happen: NOT business as usual. Well, clutch my pearls; how could this have happened?
Even if I granted that everything you say is true, it doesn't validate the conspiratorial garbage coming from guys like Bongino. Two wrongs don't make a right. I don't care how sweet you find the tears from the left of center, it's important to stand up for facts and truth.
To agree with you requires that first 'wrong' to be recognized. That is what is so singularly lacking in a piece supposedly about "the erosion of the mainstream media and concomitant rise of platforms where expertise and factual argumentation run a distant second to emotion and motivated reasoning." Without that, the hypocrisy masquerading as righteous criticism is suffocating.
What a wonderful response to that MacDougall tripe. I'm surprised Harper would have tolerated such a misfit.
The American people asked for, voted for, are receiving from and supporting their current government. Post Zalenskyy and the Congressional Update, Trump's national appreciation continues to climb. It's >65%.
While Canada is booing the American national anthem, Americans are getting on with the job of sidelining the biases of their old media, changing government expectations and removing themselves from the job of "Nanny for the world".
Canada could sure use Trump's and Musk's expertise for a week or two.
Absolutely not a single damn word in any of the above three comments represents a coherent defence of Bongino; nor of the decision to appoint an unqualified conspiracy theorist to this role.
We at The Line have spent the last 5 years calling out the erosion of institutional credibility in MSM, et al. We absolutely reserve the right to call out bullshit wherever we see it. If you all are expecting us at The Line to give the Trump administration a pass for abject insanity because something something But The LEft! you should probably unsubscribe right now. We're not the place for you. JG.
I never expected gaslighting from a line editor, but here we are.
I don't need to defend Bongino and I don't care to. His track record will speak for itself when he eventually steps down from the job.
If he proves to be the unimitigated disaster that you (or in this case McDougall) claims he is, then by all means, do the little "I told you so" dance.
But what you DO need to defend is the fact that you published a piece that doesn't make a single convincing argument about why Bongino is as bad you think he is. There isn't a single line in this hit piece that supports the thesis. It's all conjecture and insults.
To wit:
"Can you smell it? (Deep inhale.) Ah … the heady aroma of conspiracism."
"His merch is almost as ubiquitous as the MAGA hats at Trump’s rallies."
"In the olden days, Bongino and Musk would have been the men at the end of the bar raging against the machine. They’d be the weird uncles at the family party the other family members did their best to avoid"
And that's I believe the essence of the criticism you've received: that piece is just making one ad hominem attack after another (one of the major logical fallacies).
Nowhere there is an convincing argument made to support the thesis that Dan Bongino is a big bad man.
Not to mention that the label "conspiracy theorist" has become another one of those convenient argument-ending insults (cf "orange hitler"). When a lot of the major "conspiracies" of the last few years have proven to be true. I will spare you the obligatory examples.
We, the line readers, can see bullshit too and call it out when needed. This is not the exclusive territory of AngryJen™.
O-o-o...a sensitive spot was touched! Jen, you DO have the right to "call out bullshit" whenever you wish. But that right also extends to your readers.
I understood that the MacDougall piece was his and not The Line's. As the author of the second "of the above three comments" please note that it is factual, unfettered by foul language, absent of ad hominems (save 1), and is clearly not intended to present "a coherent defence of Bongino".
I did not understand your second last sentence but the last one is clear. Again I say: The Line is the best Canadian source of unfettered commentary available. However, if it can't withstand disagreement, fire me. TS
You claim that the Americans are getting on with sidelining the biases of their old media. What do you mean by that? What biases - those of the likes of CNN or those of the likes of Fox? And how are Americans, or indeed anyone else, better served by people, such as Bongino, spewing out unsubstantiated nonsense?
Trump's nomination of the people such as Bongino show Trump for what he really is - a nihilist. He lives to tear down institutions. He has shown no understanding of how to build new and better institutions.
Rob, you too have "shown no undertanding of how to build new and better institutions." Presuming your Democrat orientation, your party has no vision for it, no leader espousing new approaches, no coherent strategy for developing such a plan and only a "hate it all" operation--of even 13-year olds.
Your party is devoid of mostly everything. If Bongino is your latest "hate", the Democrats don't even have a Bogino.
Mainstream Canadian media as a quality provider of intelligent content ceased long before the internet's social media rise. MSM's profound failure to understand everyday people and what was important to them caused their fall. This MSM stupidly coupled with the same style of irresponsible and fatuous commentary that you ascribe to Bongino. Only from a different yet equally nonsensical political perspective. And this was politically reinforced here in Canada by government paying their salaries. Don't bite the hand that feeds you drives MSM existence and information presentation today. They are no longer independent. Thus they have buried themselves and now are realizing that their competition is simply better at reaching people. We need to defund MSM from the public trough and force them to compete and thrive or die. What MSM is doing now does not work. This is why people like me and the other readers here fund the Line. I don't miss ANYTHING about Mainstream Canadian media.
I completely agree. When I came to Canada and started reading the newspapers and magazines in 1980's, I noticed a certain sameness to the media. I did not reflect much on it then being busy with life, but looking back today, what you are saying fits.
Americans believed in him simply because he was formerly Secret Service. He's as nuts as the rest of the GOP. But the US no longer cares about facts or truth; just Trump's "alternative facts". The US as we know it is gone. We'd better pivot and fast.
Owww the tears! Cry from the roof tops! Were all being lead astray by the "EXTREME RIGHT WING". This is complete and utter bullshit form a FORMER political hack.
The world changed and Don Bognino is a sign, or symptom, of it.
The Freedom Convoy, or tucker convoy, was a sign that the propaganda that were supposed to eat, and smile about, is failing. The push back against authoritarianism is present in Canada, and in America.
Bognino, Shapiro, Rush Limbaugh, all speak to more common sense positions, than the left of center do. Like it or not, more people are right of center on most issues. And they speak to that as well. AND often there conspiracy theory's prove to be true. Russia Gate, legal persecutions of political opponents, Biden's multiple pardons are a sign of the fear running thru the Democrates that change is coming.
And the MSM press....... sigh ........ A very recent example is the "Many people and cancelling there US vacations" When you actually look into it, it is 1 in 10, meaning 9 out of 10 are still going south. Pushing anti American propaganda. For who? The Liberals.
CTV, CBC, and Global are all pushing the same propaganda. They did the same during the convoy. And they did the same during COVID. Never raised an objection. When Evan Solomon and Richardson went out into the crowds during the protest, I saw some fair and balanced coverage. intelligent questions asked, and some intelligent answers.
As soon as they got back in studio, the message switched back to pro government talking points. Funny, it's like there paid do to do that?
Lastly, Bognino's appointment to the deputy directors spot says more to the corruption of their FBI police force, than to his qualifications.
Canadians could use someone, like him, from outside, in the RCMP. Maybe then the 19 Liberal scandals would get investigated. Maybe the Green Slush fund would be examined. Maybe foreign interference would be investigated.
In closing Mr. MacDougall, your position died when COVID came along. The people who openly question are rising. You and the MSM no longer have control, and your opinions are old and irrelevant. Change in the media is coming, MSM is dead.
I know this will come as a shock to an "elite" like you. But people CAN decide what is right, we know when your bullshitting us, and we know when were getting fucked over. New media exposes you, and politicians for what you are. We can see that the emperor is naked.
Imagine a world where expertise is irrelevant, and attention is all that matters. That world is already here. Bongino’s appointment isn’t about law enforcement—it’s about performance. His job isn’t to oversee FBI operations; it’s to keep the outrage machine running, to turn every investigation into a battle between "the people" and "the deep state." In the past, gatekeepers—editors, political institutions, professional standards—would have kept him out. Now, those barriers are gone, replaced by an algorithm that rewards volume over value, conflict over clarity. This isn’t just bad for the FBI. It’s bad for democracy itself.
This seems pretty on the mark and the negative comments make think of that Emperor Palpatine meme. Truth doesn't feel good sometime.
There's an expression that used to be popular on the right ... "reality doesn't care about your feelings". The new information system is utter crap when it comes to quality. It's throwing up leaders who are quite frankly, really, really crap at the job. Think what you will about the wisdom or morality of past leaders, but American leaders like Reagan were just plain **better at the job**. In the Canadian context, contrast Justin Trudeau with Pierre Trudeau... policies aside, Pierre Trudeau was better at the job than his son.
And this matters in the US context more than anywhere else because if the US just plain sucks at global leadership or declines to do it, (both of which seem to be the case), it's going to take a long time for that to be replaced.
Does anyone want to seriously claim that the US has anyone even remotely as competent as Henry Kissinger in the Trump administration? (Or the Biden or Obama administrations for that matter?) Say what you will about Henry Kissinger, he was *skilled* and he knew which countries wanted to tear down the west and harm the USA.
The US wisely IMO realizes that Global leadership is virtually impossible (at least without force of arms and that only for a little while) and has told countries you do it yourself. This will result in Adolfs and Saddams and Idis and Vladimirs and Justins but that is up to their respective subjects to deal with. Even if they don’t time will take care of it.
So why do we want a global leadership in the first place?
Maybe you don’t. But if you give it up, you give up the benefits it brings.
This is a point that I’ve seen Matt and Jen make, but I’ve seen very few other people make as well as they have.
Americans seem to think that it’s the natural state of the universe that they have all the benefits that come with global leadership …. rather than those things being the result of the work of their grandparents. Leadership benefits are just like the sun rising…. it’s just the way things will always be.
The decision to reject global leadership and let the vacuum be filled by others is a choice that would be better made if it wasn’t made with an extreme case of historical myopia.
Good description of Bongino and his world of conspiracy theories but the dangerously politicized DOJ and FBI requires strong medicine to put it right and, for better or worse, Donald Trump gets to prescribe it. This apparent populist over-reach is the result of Biden era corruption, law-fare and hyper wokeness and some things will get broken as the rot is rooted out. We need the same sort of cleanup in Canada and hopefully it won't require the appointment of dingbats like Bongino to get the job done. I believe we are better than that.
As for the once upon a time Nirvana media landscape you pine for, we wouldn't have what we have now if the MSM (as we still call it) was doing a proper job instead of laundering and curating everything according to the acceptable (as it sees things) politics of the day, made far worse in recent years by federal government funding. The CBC is the worst of the lot and shows no signs of awareness or improvement. The Line is a good example of a rational market response to the MSM wasteland, a much more balanced outlet with the added benefit of sharing more of the profits with the actual creators of the content.
I can't believe that The Line published this unbalanced TDS screed. Talk about bulging veins!
The main stream media lost its place because of it unbalanced sycophantic leftist crap. Anyone with a conservative view is labeled "far right" or a "conspiracy theorist".
Crystal clear. America elected a fascist president intent on imposing single-party white Christian minority rule. And we know he's a pawn of Putin. And we know America as we knew it is dead.
With a poorly educated non-reader narcissist liar running the country, America will continue failing until said narcissist is gone and adults return to governance. Meanwhile, all Americans will suffer from bogus tariffs and an eventual lowering of their standard of living.
I don’t disagree with your comment at all, but gosh, “non-reader narcissist liar running the country” has a familiar ring to it. Who was it who so profoundly told us that he didn’t read (listen to) the news; that if something important happened, he assumed someone would tell him? Ah, yes, our very own “non-reader narcissist liar” who has chosen once again to be “running the country”, a Parliamentary Democracy, without Parliament and with the guidance of an unelected advisor. While the U.S. n-r n l is out of control, the northern one is on a binge of his own.
The replacement version is NOT different enough. In fact, it’s barely different at all other than the face. The ideology is the same, as are the arrogance, the elitism, the Liberal government know best bs; the entirely questionable regard for the truth/facts, the speaking out of both sides of the mouth. Carney is not the hero the Liberal machine and their media propaganda arm would have us believe.
Lamenting the demise of the MSM is misplaced - they are the masters of their destiny. The Line provides a different perspective to the MSM. Unlike the MSM, there is no attempt to pretend opinion is fact. That is why I subscribe.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too for the "truth".
I don’t really know who Bongino is. Never read or watched his stuff. But for my point, I’m happy to take all the criticisms of Bongino in this article at face value. He sounds like a real POS. Here’s the issue, many of the institutions these “whack jobs” are being put in charge of, have been run by entitled parties happy to abuse the very large power of their unelected offices for partisan, political or ideological purpose. And what’s worse is the MSM, who you present as a “gatekeeper” has for a very long time provided covering fire for these subversive operations and operatives. There’s nothing to see here ladies and gentlemen except of course, what we tell you. Our facts are THE facts and those facts are facts by virtue of being backed by the unimpeachable reputation of (pick your government agency). So I would say first then, the crying over the loss of the function of the MSM as you present it, are tears over fiction. They had long become a more pretentious version of Bongino protecting a self dealing and self perpetuating governmental apparatus.
Next, painting Elon Musk, as some sort of nefarious and deranged actor in this show is to me gross ignorance. Twitter (or X) is a beautiful disaster under him, it’s chaos. Under the Biden admin, we had proven censorship pressure from the executive branch of government and government security agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and NSA on all social media platforms. This is now all a matter of very public record (which strangely the MSM has failed to report on almost completely). And so the gatekeepers here were government and government agencies? This to me is a way more existential threat, but I digress.
Appointing someone such as Bongino seems a disgrace to be sure, but the institution he’s been appointed to got there first. Maybe the whole thing just needs to be smashed on the rocks so it can’t be rebuilt properly from the salvageable pieces? Maybe the rust is too deep. And maybe a clown like Bongino is just the man for the job?
Lastly, good on “The Line” for throwing an article like this out there on your platform. It’s been getting pretty echo chambery around here lately (don’t get me wrong in here for it!). But this is good. I’d like to challenge you to throw at least one article out there a month that really pisses us all off. That’s rock and roll.
You seem to be under the delusion that only now - under people like Bongino - are we encountering an atmosphere where "the erosion of the mainstream media and concomitant rise of platforms where expertise and factual argumentation run a distant second to emotion and motivated reasoning" has magically and suddenly 'poofed' into existence under His Awful Terribleness and those dastardly billionaire minions represented by Musk who knows next to nothing about how real bureaucracy is supposed to work to produce government efficiencies (sit down, George, while we pretend only these billionaires are Very Bad People).
Au contraire.
This was the pre-existing media atmosphere (giving rise to the public hunger for independent substack media, IIRC... ahem), and I can't recall any scathing mainstream journalism standing up to the earlier rejection of objective journalism... you know, the kind that supposedly was busy incorporating factual argumentation where only Russian disinformation rags were blaming widespread use of emotion and motivated reasoning on left leaning popular politicians.
But I do seem to recall not just widespread condoning of exactly what you now criticize and apply to Trump/Musk but the widespread rise and use by MMS of offence archeology as if a 'fact checking' industry coming into its own. This mental obtuseness long predates TDS and MDR (yup, here's Musk smeared yet again) becoming the latest left leaning Kool-Aide trying hard to become a Real Thing. You know, pretending with such righteousness that the whole reap-sow result we have today can be repackaged as belonging only to Trump and thus justify framing him as his Awful Terribleness. This requires a doubling down by the deluded to attribute all this to a moral deficit that Trump/Musk exemplify but that is also shared by every voter that swept him into majority power. It belongs to these deplorables this revolutionary notion of political leadership that will draining the swamp that is government today, to alter that business as usual. And Bongino - like many cabinet and senior administrator selections - actually fits what these majority voters hoped would happen: NOT business as usual. Well, clutch my pearls; how could this have happened?
Even if I granted that everything you say is true, it doesn't validate the conspiratorial garbage coming from guys like Bongino. Two wrongs don't make a right. I don't care how sweet you find the tears from the left of center, it's important to stand up for facts and truth.
To agree with you requires that first 'wrong' to be recognized. That is what is so singularly lacking in a piece supposedly about "the erosion of the mainstream media and concomitant rise of platforms where expertise and factual argumentation run a distant second to emotion and motivated reasoning." Without that, the hypocrisy masquerading as righteous criticism is suffocating.
No, it really doesn't.
Tildeb, my thanks.
What a wonderful response to that MacDougall tripe. I'm surprised Harper would have tolerated such a misfit.
The American people asked for, voted for, are receiving from and supporting their current government. Post Zalenskyy and the Congressional Update, Trump's national appreciation continues to climb. It's >65%.
While Canada is booing the American national anthem, Americans are getting on with the job of sidelining the biases of their old media, changing government expectations and removing themselves from the job of "Nanny for the world".
Canada could sure use Trump's and Musk's expertise for a week or two.
Ditto. This piece is a thinly veiled hit piece that entirely misses the mark and deflects the blame to the symptom of the problem, not the causes.
This is frankly not worthy of the Line’s otherwise more measured opinions.
Lastly, why should we give a shit about bongino, when we have so many unaddressed problems at home?
Your time would be better spent exposing the corruption of our own oh-so-righteous government.
Please do better Matt and Jenn.
Absolutely not a single damn word in any of the above three comments represents a coherent defence of Bongino; nor of the decision to appoint an unqualified conspiracy theorist to this role.
We at The Line have spent the last 5 years calling out the erosion of institutional credibility in MSM, et al. We absolutely reserve the right to call out bullshit wherever we see it. If you all are expecting us at The Line to give the Trump administration a pass for abject insanity because something something But The LEft! you should probably unsubscribe right now. We're not the place for you. JG.
I never expected gaslighting from a line editor, but here we are.
I don't need to defend Bongino and I don't care to. His track record will speak for itself when he eventually steps down from the job.
If he proves to be the unimitigated disaster that you (or in this case McDougall) claims he is, then by all means, do the little "I told you so" dance.
But what you DO need to defend is the fact that you published a piece that doesn't make a single convincing argument about why Bongino is as bad you think he is. There isn't a single line in this hit piece that supports the thesis. It's all conjecture and insults.
To wit:
"Can you smell it? (Deep inhale.) Ah … the heady aroma of conspiracism."
"His merch is almost as ubiquitous as the MAGA hats at Trump’s rallies."
"In the olden days, Bongino and Musk would have been the men at the end of the bar raging against the machine. They’d be the weird uncles at the family party the other family members did their best to avoid"
And that's I believe the essence of the criticism you've received: that piece is just making one ad hominem attack after another (one of the major logical fallacies).
Nowhere there is an convincing argument made to support the thesis that Dan Bongino is a big bad man.
Not to mention that the label "conspiracy theorist" has become another one of those convenient argument-ending insults (cf "orange hitler"). When a lot of the major "conspiracies" of the last few years have proven to be true. I will spare you the obligatory examples.
We, the line readers, can see bullshit too and call it out when needed. This is not the exclusive territory of AngryJen™.
No problem with calling out the nonsense. But when so much is unbelievable, doing hit pieces is suspect. Let's see his actions first.
O-o-o...a sensitive spot was touched! Jen, you DO have the right to "call out bullshit" whenever you wish. But that right also extends to your readers.
I understood that the MacDougall piece was his and not The Line's. As the author of the second "of the above three comments" please note that it is factual, unfettered by foul language, absent of ad hominems (save 1), and is clearly not intended to present "a coherent defence of Bongino".
I did not understand your second last sentence but the last one is clear. Again I say: The Line is the best Canadian source of unfettered commentary available. However, if it can't withstand disagreement, fire me. TS
You claim that the Americans are getting on with sidelining the biases of their old media. What do you mean by that? What biases - those of the likes of CNN or those of the likes of Fox? And how are Americans, or indeed anyone else, better served by people, such as Bongino, spewing out unsubstantiated nonsense?
Trump's nomination of the people such as Bongino show Trump for what he really is - a nihilist. He lives to tear down institutions. He has shown no understanding of how to build new and better institutions.
Rob, you too have "shown no undertanding of how to build new and better institutions." Presuming your Democrat orientation, your party has no vision for it, no leader espousing new approaches, no coherent strategy for developing such a plan and only a "hate it all" operation--of even 13-year olds.
Your party is devoid of mostly everything. If Bongino is your latest "hate", the Democrats don't even have a Bogino.
Bravo. Print this instead
Mainstream Canadian media as a quality provider of intelligent content ceased long before the internet's social media rise. MSM's profound failure to understand everyday people and what was important to them caused their fall. This MSM stupidly coupled with the same style of irresponsible and fatuous commentary that you ascribe to Bongino. Only from a different yet equally nonsensical political perspective. And this was politically reinforced here in Canada by government paying their salaries. Don't bite the hand that feeds you drives MSM existence and information presentation today. They are no longer independent. Thus they have buried themselves and now are realizing that their competition is simply better at reaching people. We need to defund MSM from the public trough and force them to compete and thrive or die. What MSM is doing now does not work. This is why people like me and the other readers here fund the Line. I don't miss ANYTHING about Mainstream Canadian media.
I completely agree. When I came to Canada and started reading the newspapers and magazines in 1980's, I noticed a certain sameness to the media. I did not reflect much on it then being busy with life, but looking back today, what you are saying fits.
Americans believed in him simply because he was formerly Secret Service. He's as nuts as the rest of the GOP. But the US no longer cares about facts or truth; just Trump's "alternative facts". The US as we know it is gone. We'd better pivot and fast.
Owww the tears! Cry from the roof tops! Were all being lead astray by the "EXTREME RIGHT WING". This is complete and utter bullshit form a FORMER political hack.
The world changed and Don Bognino is a sign, or symptom, of it.
The Freedom Convoy, or tucker convoy, was a sign that the propaganda that were supposed to eat, and smile about, is failing. The push back against authoritarianism is present in Canada, and in America.
Bognino, Shapiro, Rush Limbaugh, all speak to more common sense positions, than the left of center do. Like it or not, more people are right of center on most issues. And they speak to that as well. AND often there conspiracy theory's prove to be true. Russia Gate, legal persecutions of political opponents, Biden's multiple pardons are a sign of the fear running thru the Democrates that change is coming.
And the MSM press....... sigh ........ A very recent example is the "Many people and cancelling there US vacations" When you actually look into it, it is 1 in 10, meaning 9 out of 10 are still going south. Pushing anti American propaganda. For who? The Liberals.
CTV, CBC, and Global are all pushing the same propaganda. They did the same during the convoy. And they did the same during COVID. Never raised an objection. When Evan Solomon and Richardson went out into the crowds during the protest, I saw some fair and balanced coverage. intelligent questions asked, and some intelligent answers.
As soon as they got back in studio, the message switched back to pro government talking points. Funny, it's like there paid do to do that?
Lastly, Bognino's appointment to the deputy directors spot says more to the corruption of their FBI police force, than to his qualifications.
Canadians could use someone, like him, from outside, in the RCMP. Maybe then the 19 Liberal scandals would get investigated. Maybe the Green Slush fund would be examined. Maybe foreign interference would be investigated.
In closing Mr. MacDougall, your position died when COVID came along. The people who openly question are rising. You and the MSM no longer have control, and your opinions are old and irrelevant. Change in the media is coming, MSM is dead.
I know this will come as a shock to an "elite" like you. But people CAN decide what is right, we know when your bullshitting us, and we know when were getting fucked over. New media exposes you, and politicians for what you are. We can see that the emperor is naked.
Well said. Thank you
Better said than I could have myself.
Imagine a world where expertise is irrelevant, and attention is all that matters. That world is already here. Bongino’s appointment isn’t about law enforcement—it’s about performance. His job isn’t to oversee FBI operations; it’s to keep the outrage machine running, to turn every investigation into a battle between "the people" and "the deep state." In the past, gatekeepers—editors, political institutions, professional standards—would have kept him out. Now, those barriers are gone, replaced by an algorithm that rewards volume over value, conflict over clarity. This isn’t just bad for the FBI. It’s bad for democracy itself.
Yet another reason for our country to get its shit together asap.
This seems pretty on the mark and the negative comments make think of that Emperor Palpatine meme. Truth doesn't feel good sometime.
There's an expression that used to be popular on the right ... "reality doesn't care about your feelings". The new information system is utter crap when it comes to quality. It's throwing up leaders who are quite frankly, really, really crap at the job. Think what you will about the wisdom or morality of past leaders, but American leaders like Reagan were just plain **better at the job**. In the Canadian context, contrast Justin Trudeau with Pierre Trudeau... policies aside, Pierre Trudeau was better at the job than his son.
And this matters in the US context more than anywhere else because if the US just plain sucks at global leadership or declines to do it, (both of which seem to be the case), it's going to take a long time for that to be replaced.
Does anyone want to seriously claim that the US has anyone even remotely as competent as Henry Kissinger in the Trump administration? (Or the Biden or Obama administrations for that matter?) Say what you will about Henry Kissinger, he was *skilled* and he knew which countries wanted to tear down the west and harm the USA.
The US wisely IMO realizes that Global leadership is virtually impossible (at least without force of arms and that only for a little while) and has told countries you do it yourself. This will result in Adolfs and Saddams and Idis and Vladimirs and Justins but that is up to their respective subjects to deal with. Even if they don’t time will take care of it.
So why do we want a global leadership in the first place?
Maybe you don’t. But if you give it up, you give up the benefits it brings.
This is a point that I’ve seen Matt and Jen make, but I’ve seen very few other people make as well as they have.
Americans seem to think that it’s the natural state of the universe that they have all the benefits that come with global leadership …. rather than those things being the result of the work of their grandparents. Leadership benefits are just like the sun rising…. it’s just the way things will always be.
The decision to reject global leadership and let the vacuum be filled by others is a choice that would be better made if it wasn’t made with an extreme case of historical myopia.
Good description of Bongino and his world of conspiracy theories but the dangerously politicized DOJ and FBI requires strong medicine to put it right and, for better or worse, Donald Trump gets to prescribe it. This apparent populist over-reach is the result of Biden era corruption, law-fare and hyper wokeness and some things will get broken as the rot is rooted out. We need the same sort of cleanup in Canada and hopefully it won't require the appointment of dingbats like Bongino to get the job done. I believe we are better than that.
As for the once upon a time Nirvana media landscape you pine for, we wouldn't have what we have now if the MSM (as we still call it) was doing a proper job instead of laundering and curating everything according to the acceptable (as it sees things) politics of the day, made far worse in recent years by federal government funding. The CBC is the worst of the lot and shows no signs of awareness or improvement. The Line is a good example of a rational market response to the MSM wasteland, a much more balanced outlet with the added benefit of sharing more of the profits with the actual creators of the content.
9/11 happened when adults were in charge. Now the threat actors have the keys to the kingdom.
I can't believe that The Line published this unbalanced TDS screed. Talk about bulging veins!
The main stream media lost its place because of it unbalanced sycophantic leftist crap. Anyone with a conservative view is labeled "far right" or a "conspiracy theorist".
TDS needs to stop
TDS is an ailment of those who still believe in him.
Changing the definition is silly. You're referring to Trump illusionment syndrome
No sane person has any illusions about Trump anymore. Delusions reign......until it bites them in the ass. It's too late by then.
It's pretty clear what's going on. Not wanting to understand it is very different than just disagreeing with it. The difference will liberate you.
Crystal clear. America elected a fascist president intent on imposing single-party white Christian minority rule. And we know he's a pawn of Putin. And we know America as we knew it is dead.
I laughed good at the dreangement
A conspiracy theory podcaster is now running America’s FBI. Putin must be pleased; his plan is working.
With a poorly educated non-reader narcissist liar running the country, America will continue failing until said narcissist is gone and adults return to governance. Meanwhile, all Americans will suffer from bogus tariffs and an eventual lowering of their standard of living.
I don’t disagree with your comment at all, but gosh, “non-reader narcissist liar running the country” has a familiar ring to it. Who was it who so profoundly told us that he didn’t read (listen to) the news; that if something important happened, he assumed someone would tell him? Ah, yes, our very own “non-reader narcissist liar” who has chosen once again to be “running the country”, a Parliamentary Democracy, without Parliament and with the guidance of an unelected advisor. While the U.S. n-r n l is out of control, the northern one is on a binge of his own.
Thankfully the Canadian version will be history by next Monday and we’ll have a different version. Thanks for pointing this out.
The replacement version is NOT different enough. In fact, it’s barely different at all other than the face. The ideology is the same, as are the arrogance, the elitism, the Liberal government know best bs; the entirely questionable regard for the truth/facts, the speaking out of both sides of the mouth. Carney is not the hero the Liberal machine and their media propaganda arm would have us believe.
Trudeau with boring socks and zero charisma.
I purposefully said “a different version” rather than a better version.
I appreciate that. My reply stands - not different enough.
Touché
MacDougall's article is an unusually poor piece to be featured by The Line.
Lamenting the demise of the MSM is misplaced - they are the masters of their destiny. The Line provides a different perspective to the MSM. Unlike the MSM, there is no attempt to pretend opinion is fact. That is why I subscribe.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too for the "truth".
Compared to MSM, another good old fashioned thing about The Line is that The Line does not hide facts.
Nor do reputable news organizations.
I don’t really know who Bongino is. Never read or watched his stuff. But for my point, I’m happy to take all the criticisms of Bongino in this article at face value. He sounds like a real POS. Here’s the issue, many of the institutions these “whack jobs” are being put in charge of, have been run by entitled parties happy to abuse the very large power of their unelected offices for partisan, political or ideological purpose. And what’s worse is the MSM, who you present as a “gatekeeper” has for a very long time provided covering fire for these subversive operations and operatives. There’s nothing to see here ladies and gentlemen except of course, what we tell you. Our facts are THE facts and those facts are facts by virtue of being backed by the unimpeachable reputation of (pick your government agency). So I would say first then, the crying over the loss of the function of the MSM as you present it, are tears over fiction. They had long become a more pretentious version of Bongino protecting a self dealing and self perpetuating governmental apparatus.
Next, painting Elon Musk, as some sort of nefarious and deranged actor in this show is to me gross ignorance. Twitter (or X) is a beautiful disaster under him, it’s chaos. Under the Biden admin, we had proven censorship pressure from the executive branch of government and government security agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and NSA on all social media platforms. This is now all a matter of very public record (which strangely the MSM has failed to report on almost completely). And so the gatekeepers here were government and government agencies? This to me is a way more existential threat, but I digress.
Appointing someone such as Bongino seems a disgrace to be sure, but the institution he’s been appointed to got there first. Maybe the whole thing just needs to be smashed on the rocks so it can’t be rebuilt properly from the salvageable pieces? Maybe the rust is too deep. And maybe a clown like Bongino is just the man for the job?
Lastly, good on “The Line” for throwing an article like this out there on your platform. It’s been getting pretty echo chambery around here lately (don’t get me wrong in here for it!). But this is good. I’d like to challenge you to throw at least one article out there a month that really pisses us all off. That’s rock and roll.
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