Perhaps I can get some credit for being prescient on this? Donald Trump has all along gotten too much "slack" from people. The media did not hold him to account nearly well enough in the run-up to the 2016 election. I say "run-up" instead of campaign because run-up is a longer-term thing.
Trump built celebrity that he could capitalize on over a long period of time. It greatly preceded the literal campaign. Secondly, slack was afforded this dangerous man by the people around him as he served in the White House. And guess what: people are starting to talk about it now. Like it's revelatory.
The real truth is that a whole lot of people are now realizing the danger of Trump continuing to "hover" as it were. He has begun a new round of "rallies."
Concern is sensed from Fox News, often called "Trump TV" in the past, but this network offers a canary in the coal mine by refusing to carry Trump's current rallies live. "Newsmax" is proud to promote itself now as the place to go for live coverage of the rallies. I've heard ads on Fargo radio, probably WDAY.
WDAY continues to sound like a Trump mouthpiece much of the time. Naturally it doesn't only fawn over Trump, it suggests that Democrats have a lot of unsavory qualities and you can guess the descriptions. The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the USA. If it's as stupid as what media outlets like WDAY suggest, I guess we're all in trouble, because logically speaking we'd end up with one-party government.
And one-party government is inherently bad, right? A recipe for corruption? Although if it's Republicans getting down and dirty with corruption, all their followers across the U.S. would probably just shrug. Anything to tamp down the Democrats!
Is it really that simple? Can't you see that the broad American public is slowly pushing back? But if true, the many voter suppression efforts across the U.S., tailored to suit Republicans, will have a blunting effect. Look at Wisconsin. It's already in a contorted state because of the strings that the Republicans have been able to pull.
There is a fresh headline on the "Mediaite" website this a.m. It's about George Conway's reaction to the new book by Michael Bender of the Wall Street Journal. We might expect Conway to be hard on Trump himself. There's a track record of that. But Conway is now going off on senior advisors to Trump.
We might not be surprised that the likes of Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence and Bill Barr had reservations about Trump as the presidential term neared its close. I mean, the people surrounding our nation's president can't be that stupid, can they? The problem is this, as stated in Mediaite's article: "None had the conviction or principles to push back on Trump's baseless claims."
If you're a normal human being with a normal conscience, wouldn't this failure cause you to at least lose some sleep? What's wrong with all of them? Drunk on power or being close to power? It's an old human failing naturally. Look at the circle of people who came to surround Hitler. They surely weren't stupid, were they? I think not. Their brains got corrupted with evil.
If our president's advisors could not bring themselves to challenge Trump based on simple principle, how are they really any different? We were at risk of losing our very democracy. That is not overstatement. Yet we had powerful people wishing to indulge the president.
How is yours truly prescient? Well my own thoughts go back further in time and are centered, naturally, on the media, my own personal focus for trying to understand so much of the reality we embrace. So just two days ago, I sent off another email to John Ziegler sharing my concern and perspective. From my email:
If Trump succeeds in coming back as autocrat, we will all regret that the media did not hold his feet to the fire more in the 2016 campaign. It will be revelatory IMHO. Examples? OK I have a couple.
- The interview where Trump adamantly claimed he had "sent investigators to Hawaii to look into Obama's birth certificate," and "it is unbelievable what they are finding." Hope you remember that - he repeated the "unbelievable" part. THE PROBLEM IS THIS: The interviewer would just passively move on. Trump's claim was incredible. But if true, would he not have come forward with a formal report with the damning evidence, which would hurt the Democratic Party? And secondly, isn't Trump notorious for not paying people? So he sent investigators, who would presumably have to be paid, to Hawaii where they found "unbelievable" stuff, and then there was no follow-up, no dramatic news conference? Nothing? Maybe we should all just assume Trump lies sometimes. But is that a healthy attitude?
- Alisyn Camerota interviewing Kellyanne Conway and asking if Trump could produce the formal letter that is sent to anyone having their taxes audited. Alisyn just thought it would be nice if Trump could confirm the audit with the simple letter. To which Kellyanne responded: "Are you accusing him of lying?" Well hell's bells, those of us in the media aren't exactly Pollyannish. You sure aren't.
Are such things a big deal? Well, I feel that if Trump was totally fabricating the Hawaii thing, knowing he was speaking to a national audience, how could his conscience be comfortable with it? Oh, he doesn't have a conscience? And wouldn't that be concerning? If he ascends to autocrat, we will regret not probing more. But Trump was such a gold mine for the media and its ratings, as opposed to another Bush vs. Clinton, a possibility I remember you broaching as cringeworthy! So the media cut a little slack? And Trump got elected? He he's hovering again now? And Mark Levin roots for the capitol rioters? Yes, "Alice Through the Looking Glass."
Keep up the good work.
- Brian R. Williams, Morris MN
 |
| John Ziegler |
Maybe you don't know who John Ziegler is. He thinks a lot like yours truly, which may or may not impress you! He is a radio program host, documentary film writer/director and conservative journalist. Yes, conservative! I can have rapport with certain folks in that circle. Just be factual in your arguments and I'll listen to anyone.
"Zig's" most notable work in the media has been as the evening (7-10 p.m.) host of a radio talk show called "The John Ziegler Show" on KFI a.m. 640 in Los Angeles CA. In 2007 he was ranked in the top 50 - OK he was 54th - on the "Heavy Hundred" list of most important U.S. radio talk show hosts (by "Talkers" magazine).
At present Ziegler hosts the Sunday night radio program "The John and Leah Show" which is nationally syndicated. He's a staff columnist for Mediaite which is how I got familiar with him. I read his stuff and he just seems to have an analytical bent similar to mine. Source of pride? I personally think so. Thank you, "Zig."
Addendum: Why have Republicans lost their grasp of simple manners? I remember an elementary school unit here in Morris called "Manners." What's with the potty mouth so much of the time? You might be familiar with the Morris residence right next to Eastside Park that comes across as Trump Central locally. So as I recall, there's a sign there that reads "Biden, stick your unity up your (blank)." The word for "blank" does not appear there but we all know the phrase. Little kids play on park equipment right across the street. "Mom, where are we supposed to stick our unity?"
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment