Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Trump's Media Enablers

The Emperor has no hair

Politically this last week has been one of the most depressing of the Trump administration. Last week the wannabe despot gave a state of the union address that received a level of media hype of the kind I have never witnessed for any president. The cable news networks were desperate to get eyeballs on the screens and ratings in their pockets. The speech itself was hardly notable, except for its complete lack of policy proposals.

Of course, the media tried to polish Trump's turds, as they always do. They talked, yet again, about pivots. Why? Because the media CANNOT admit that this is not situation normal. They cannot admit that this is not a regular president, not even a bad regular president, because acknowledging reality would actually force them to stand for something. We are living in a Twilight Zone episode where millions are crying out about how the emperor has no clothes, but those in charge of the media, who are supposedly the most suited to see this, refuse to do so. They are not equipped to deal with what this man truly is: a wannabe despot consumed by ego and sociopathy who is totally unfit for the job, and who owes his position due to the bigotry of wides swathes of America, as well as the assistance of a foreign power.

And, as one could easily predict, after Trump was done reading insincere nonsense off of his teleprompter, he went back to being his usual self. In a move reminiscent of Mao or Stalin, he accused Democrats who did not stand and clap for him of treason. He released a classified memo in an attempt to thwart a criminal investigation against him, and that memo actually turned out to do nothing to exonerate him. Did any of the pundits who fawned and talked of "reset" apologize or admit they were wrong? Of course not. I am sure that when Trump has his stupid military parade they will be fawning again, going out to talk to dipshits at lunch counters in the backwoods and reporting that people just love seeing their leader supporting the troops.

As much as I hate Trump and his minions, this week my rage is reserved for the media. The president has called them the enemy, has declared war on them, and they have responded by shirking their duty. Trump claimed to have had the best state of the union TV ratings in history, which simply wasn't close to being true. And yet the Times called it a "boast" rather than a "lie"! The media are simply too chickenshit to defend their integrity. Trump is a goddamned ignorant, bigoted moron, but he is extremely smart at manipulating the media. He used the media to get hours of free publicity in the primaries. Every week a new scandal emerges from his administration, but he just keeps shotgunning them out there and putting on the Trump Show. A tweet will get more news than evidence of corruption or collusion.

So please folks, pull the plug on the Trump Show. Play the long game. Donate, vote, canvas, write, call, fundraise, protest, and strike and for God's sake turn off cable news.

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