February 10, 2016

Quote of the Evening: America Currently Suffering Worst Economic Catastrophe in Recorded History


I know Trump has said this before, so technically it’s hardly new. Still, I mean, it’s…it’s…oh hell:

I am going to be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. Remember that. Don’t believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 percent and 5 percent unemployment. The number’s probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent. Do you think if we had 5 percent unemployment, do you really think we’d have these gatherings?

Yeah, Trump “heard” 42 percent recently. You betcha. Trump hears a lot of things, sort of like Joan of Arc. In any case, I assume Trump keeps saying this because it goes over well with his audiences. Why might this be?

  • Trump fans are really bad at arithmetic.
  • Trump fans know an ungodly number of unemployed people in their immediate circle of friends.
  • Trump fans are really eager to believe the government is lying to them.
  • Trump fans don’t actually know what unemployment is.
  • Trump fans don’t really have a clue what he’s saying. It’s just mumbo jumbo delivered with authority, and they love it.

I dunno. Could be all of the above, I suppose.

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Headshot of Editor in Chief of Mother Jones, Clara Jeffery

It sure feels that way to me, and here at Mother Jones, we’ve been thinking a lot about what journalism needs to do differently, and how we can have the biggest impact.

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We aim to hire, build a team, and give them the time and space needed to understand how we got here and how we might get out. We want to dig into the forces and decisions that have allowed massive conflicts of interest, influence peddling, and win-at-all-costs politics to flourish.

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Clara Jeffery, Editor-in-Chief

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