It's no secret that I don't think much of Mr. Trump, or of how he and his gang of Republicans are running the federal government, ringing up unprecedented debt, yanking the rug out from under the poor at home and abroad, handing out tax breaks to their ultra-wealthy pals who do not pay it back in the form of increasing employment* and engaging in wars of choice with murky and/or immoral victory conditions.
But I do try to limit myself to substantive criticism about issues of importance. I might think the way he combs his hair looks stupid, but so what? That hairstyle isn't picking anyone's pocket or breaking their leg, and in the course of a busy day, you can find five or six more at least as dumb.
So the recent fuss about sneaking the President out of Turkey in the wake of a credible threat (and leaving the Press as sitting ducks -- the very same sitting ducks they'd be if they were sharing the plane with him) or an aide who appears to have an unhealthy devotion to the President (as have many, to many Presidents, and it's never a good sign) strikes me as silly-season distractions, running while there are at least two and half wars on, and our country is well involved with all of them, and while the economy continues to teeter dangerously.
This August isn't a slow-news month. There's plenty of real stuff to report on, none of it reflecting any glory on the clod infesting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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* The thing about trickle-down economics is, something's got to be trickling down for it to make sense, and I don't mean job cuts. Otherwise, it's just a trick.
The utter and total failure of the Media to cover the guy properly is one of the reasons he became president in the first place, and why he got back in again. From the day he announced as a candidate, the media basically took the strategy of spamming out inconsequential negatives, rumors & innuendos, hyper-focusing on minor gaffes, appearance, angry comments, and other TMZ level fluff. For every substantial story, we had 10 about Melania's shoes or other nonsense.
ReplyDeleteAnd heavens knows that there was enough substantial stuff to get covered- but the fluff is what the public tended to see.
Which worked as well as throwing Br'er Rabbit into the briar patch- Trump thrives on this, as does his MAGA base who hate news reporters. Trump could dismiss stuff as fake news because the public saw a lot of pretty fake stuff coming out.
And because most of the coverage was negative, they stopped listening and isolated themselves inside the MAGA echo chambers. Even now, the base automatically dismisses anything negative about him or a supposedly Conservative figure. It was a strategy that Nixon used very well back during his admin, and the press fell for it like Br'er Fox.
The fluff is what the public… who gets bored at tedious policy wonk stuff and generally wouldn’t like about GOP policies if they knew about them …notices.
DeleteIt’s why Trump’s playground name-calling works. It’s why the administration freaked the hell out when Ossoff so much as mentioned Harp in an aside.
It’s why Lindsey’s sister made the insane comment that South Carolina voters were more worried about “boys in girls sports” than, you know, World War mf’ing Three.
Faced with incessant violations of decency and law from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., your restraint (through gritted teeth, I'm sure) is admirable. But let's remember, the Oval Office guy was put there by 77 million voters.
ReplyDeleteThey have to amend their values and sense of civic responsibility before any meaningful improvement becomes possible. Not expecting it in my lifetime.
Meanwhile, the Oval Office doles out fights and auto races, the updated form of bread and circuses. If voters settle for that easy bribery, they deserve all that goes with it.