So Donald Trump got in the center of the news cycle, as is his wont, Wednesday night and into Thursday. So it is Thursday morning as I try to ponder what it means. I did not watch the "CNN Town Hall" with Kaitlan Collins, who I'm sure saw this as a plum for her career.
So we the public are allowing ourselves to be manipulated by people who work in the media, for whom success is measured in "eyeballs" in this media-drenched age. Again I remember the title of the Larry Merchant book from the 1970s: "And Every Day You Take Another Bite." Indeed we are. I tried offering a cautionary note in a comment posted to a Yahoo News article on Tuesday:
It seems people cannot see the forest for the trees. Trump is building up his momentum in exactly the same way as he did in 2016. He's using TV. He takes advantage of his notoriety and celebrity. And media outlets are eager to accommodate because it builds their own stature/ratings. Is the town hall a "coup" for CNN? Pardon the expression. Well it sure seems to be, as well as a breakthrough for Collins. What would we actually "learn" from Trump? So we won't watch it to learn anything, will we. Remember when TV news coverage was done as a "public service?"
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| Kaitlan Collins (adweek) |
These people are hard-working opportunists - give them credit for that. That and hardly anything else.
Many of us consume this media probably out of boredom. So today, Thursday, May 11, we are seeing coverage of the "CNN Town Hall" where Trump was centerstage, the man now found to be guilty of sexual assault. I wonder if Collins would be Trump's "type." And to think there was a time when reservations were lodged against Ronald Reagan simply because he had been divorced.
Today we have a sexual predator who objectifies and diminishes women, who appointed Federalist Society Supreme Court members who discontinued the Roe vs. Wade precedent, and this individual appears now to be the prohibitive favorite for the Republican nomination.
Remember the "Never Trumpers?" Glenn Beck was once one of them. Such wise and restrained people. but they could not stop Trump in 2016. Trump did lose the popular vote but that didn't prevent him from becoming our president for four years. And now we're ready to take the same wild ride again.
If Trump was able to orchestrate the end of Roe vs. Wade, what "accomplishments" might he make in his next term? Trump's lies and rhetoric sparked the outrageous mob scene at the U.S. capitol. The old gatekeeper media, people like Harry Reasoner, would have sat there astonished, disbelieving, maybe speechless if it was not their job to speak. Such people would have guided us to the obvious interpretation of it all. A true attempted coup? A violent overthrow of the government?
Our former state representative Jeff Backer, who now represents a different district, voted against condemning the Jan. 6 violence. So he might have wanted violence to be done to the Mike Pence family? Would it have been worth it for him? "Hang Mike Pence," as the rabble shouted? That satisfy Backer?
The MAGA backers who would read this, would be revulsed only by yours truly. I'd be branded a "Trump hater" or someone afflicted by "Trump derangement syndrome." I can get rather deranged when I think about Trump. Not to the point where I consider crude comments or violence. The Trump people are the threat when it comes to violence - the documentation is easy.
Trump lied as he fought to defraud the American people. A person who might commit sexual assault can be expected to be unhinged in a variety of ways. But our media puts him front and center for a ballyhooed "town hall." The upshot is a boost for this person named Kaitlan Collins, and why in hell should we care so much about her? I don't. Nice white outfit though.
Trump worked to try to overturn a free and fair election. Our own Congressperson Michelle Fischbach was totally in league with him. I'll remind you all of Fischbach's public statement on January 6:
Today,
I plan to vote for the objections to the certification of electoral
votes in certain contested states. This election was shrouded in
allegations of irregularities and fraud too voluminous to ignore. In
order to fulfill my duty to the constitution and my constituents, I
believe there must be a proper investigation to consider these claims.
A couple weeks ago I sent a message to Fischbach from her website asking if she still stood behind her words of that day. I confess I made one tiny mistake. When trying to type the year 2021 I accidentally typed "2001." I'll argue it's an easier mistake to make than you might think. Trump himself makes mistakes when typing stuff. Recently he typed "indicated" when he meant "indicted." His supporters would not care one bit. But if they notice yours truly making the same kind of mistake, they're all over me with epithets. "What a dumb s--t" etc.
But Trump himself? How do you suppose a cult leader would be evaluated by his own cult members? This phenomenon has prevailed since 2016 - seven long years now.
(I once heard Colin Powell misstate the year accidentally in an interview. We all knew what he meant.)
What is missing in today's America that makes the pollution of our discourse get so bad? Here are two theories: the "Fairness Doctrine" for the media was abolished years ago. And, the Voting Rights Act is no more, as John Roberts thought that America had progressed beyond the need for that. John Roberts of our U.S. Supreme Court which now has massive credibility problems. It's laid bare for us every day. Nothing can get done about it. Mitch McConnell excuses the massive ethical lapses. Anything to push along the far right political agenda.
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| Michelle Fischbach |
I got no response from Congressperson Fischbach. Maybe it was my typo or subconscious error that caused her to shrug and ignore my communication. A glance at my message made it clear what I was referring to. Really I should only have to type "Jan. 6" and everybody should know what I'm talking about.
What could Fischbach say if she were to respond? I mean, she could not actually repudiate her sentiment of that day. I can't imagine she's so naive to think that a full "investigation" of her alleged "voting irregularities" that were "too voluminous to ignore" would not take a considerable amount of time. With what consequences? Trump serving as president indefinitely? Turning the election results over to "the states" where gerrymandering has given the Republicans an artificial edge in so many places? Would any logical person buy this?
Believe it or not
Maybe there really are people out there who want to vote for Democrats, Congressperson Fischbach. And it's not fair to smear us as "radical left Democrats" the way Trump does, or to call moderate Republicans "RINOs." But Fischbach gives every indication of being in lock step with the cult leader Trump.
And Jeff Backer refuses to condemn violence. I thought we were a civilized people. We were when Reagan was our president. Now we are steered toward thinking that celebrity men are to be excused for sexually assaulting women, for grabbing them by the whatever.
My comments on all this will not have impact. I feel morally obligated to make them.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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