# The Irish Times is nailing it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 29, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715 "2020-06-29T23:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/1 "2020-06-29T23:25:05Z")
This is the second political commentary, on US politics, article I’ve read by this fellow that is on the mark. To be honest, this one is more unsettling than the last! > **[Fintan O’Toole: Trial runs for fascism are in full flow](https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375)** > > Babies in cages were no ‘mistake’ by Trump but test-marketing for barbarism Give it a read. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/2 "2020-06-29T23:49:06Z")
I remember-- his earlier article was dynamite! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/3 "2020-06-30T02:20:42Z")
What was the first article? I agree, he is engaging in undemocratic and cruel trial balloons against out groups so he can start doing them more and more against more people. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/4 "2020-06-30T02:36:27Z")
That’s a good article, but it’s almost exactly 2 years old. What does he think of Trump’s popularity today? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/5 "2020-06-30T02:36:30Z")
I can’t recall the title, but if you search, it’s about how USA is now pitied by much of the world. Unfortunately, The Irish Times has a firewall, but you can access his articles by searching his name, I believe. An Irish journalist is doing what the American press should be doing! ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/6 "2020-06-30T02:38:15Z")
The last I read was the aforementioned, ‘USA once respected, now object of pity’, article. That was most recent, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/7 "2020-06-30T06:01:28Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > … > > An Irish journalist is doing what the American press should be doing! Oh please. Plenty of American journalists have called trump out. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/8 "2020-06-30T10:50:59Z")
Not as pointedly, as well, or as consistently, as this fellow has, in my opinion. YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/9 "2020-06-30T18:03:33Z")
I would have to agree with DrDeth: there have been a number of journalists or news outlets who’ve expressed grave concerns about this era of politics and the decline of institutions. Unfortunately, there is a concurrent wave of counter-factual information that is increasingly pervasive, as are the anti-factual information cottages and communities that exist on social media. People are able to amplify misinformation and socially corrosive ideas much more than they ever could in the past, and all of this competes with facts and quality information for our attention. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/10 "2020-06-30T18:51:19Z")
I’m certain you’re both right, I’d forgotten that upon his election I began avoiding most US news outlets. I mean, every outlet covers his antics, but mostly it’s snippets and sound bites. So I am indeed underexposed to comparable US pieces. Still think it was worth a read. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/11 "2020-07-07T19:19:44Z")
Here’s a more recent piece by him > **[Unpresidented | Fintan O’Toole](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/07/23/trump-unpresident-unredeemed-promise/)** > > The US has engaged in many armed conflicts, but three of them have never ended: the Civil War, the Vietnam War, and the so-called war on terror. Their toxic residues flow from different directions into the current breakdown of the American polity. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irish-times-is-nailing-it/913715/12 "2020-08-02T22:38:26Z")
Oh, I agree, it was well done, but hardly unique.