All the news that’s all about Trump
This post is not about Donald Trump.
It’s about coverage of Donald Trump.
Remember last summer, when his candidacy was new? Pundits, bloggers, and commenters kept using the phrase “Trump sucks all the air out of the room” to express his dominance of the news and therefore his overshadowing of the news of the other GOP candidates, who had a lot of trouble getting their message heard above the raucous din.
People don’t use the phrase “Trump sucks the air out of the room” much anymore, because it’s become stale. But the phenomenon continues apace with no end in sight.
Case in point: news and blog aggregate memeorandum’s page for today. I often go to that site to see what the most-talked-about stories du jour are, and Trump dominates day after day after day. For example, today I counted 24 stories/articles that memeorandum is highlighting, and all but 7 are Trumpcentric. That’s about 2/3 Trump, which is fairly typical. The un-Trump articles consist of 3 about Hillary’s emails, one about Venezuela’s woes, one about Sanders vs. Clinton, and two having to do with the Muslim world.
And it’s not as though there is some actual news about Trump today, something important or different. It’s just the way things have been now since last June, on that fateful day when Trump announced his candidacy and drew attention by making some controversial comments about the Mexicans coming to this country.
Looking back at what I believe was my very first post about Trump’s candidacy, it’s interesting that the very first paragraph of that very first post goes like this:
You can’t say Trump isn’t getting press. That’s his thing, in addition to making money: attention-getting.
In the second paragraph I mention that although Trump was already the frontrunner, I didn’t think he’d get the nomination. That was in July, but by August I was saying that he could, and that what’s more I had thought so for a while. A lot of people took much longer to take Trump seriously, but one thing that did not take a long time at all—in fact, it was nearly instantaneous—was to cover him as though almost nothing else was happening in the world. Initially, the press thought (and hoped) this would hurt him, but on that (as on many other things) they turned out to be wrong. But one thing they’re not wrong about is that he’s good for ratings.
Yes; it’s almost like they wanted him to be the nominee. The Democrats will have to approach Republican party levels of ineptitude to not be able to defeat him.
It’s not just the “news” that’s all Trump all the time; the pundits can’t keep away from the catnip either. And the interesting thing is how so many of them either get things wrong because they just don’t get the point of the Trump bandwagon, or PUT things wrong to make their own points.
In category 2 is Smarick’s Federalist article; read it, then look at the first few comments. Those readers understood the author’s point all right.
http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/26/how-conservatives-should-respond-to-the-trump-riot/#disqus_thread
J.E. Dyer is not a Trump supporter, but she always gets the point.
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/05/27/protests-old-consensus-right-still-not-getting-trump-phenomenon/
Your 1st paragraph in your 1st column on Trump explained why Trump is the nominee and may have a shot at being President: he controls the news coverage and therefore can get his narrative out there. No Republican before him could do that. There may be something behind the saying that nice guys finish last. Nice guys can’t get their narrative listened to.
Aesopfan: 2 great articles that explain the Trump phenomenon perfectly. If one extends the premise of both articles, then the logical outcome will be CW II. All those “voiceless” people WILL be heard; fighting both the left and the political establishment.
AesopFan, those two linked articles confirm the Bret Baier special on Foxnews in which Baier interviewed the people who are supporting Trump. They are people who feel left behind and abandoned by both parties. Trump represents a change agent. They don’t care about his knowledge gaps on foreign policy, the military, government functions, etc. What they see is a man who is not PC and speaks their language. They see him as their last best hope.
Whatever we may think of him, it’s them who put him in the position to be the next President.
I don’t see in him what they see, but I now have an understanding of them.
Two thoughts come to mind:
The first, in reaction to neo’s;
“This post is not about Donald Trump.
It’s about coverage of Donald Trump”
This instantly brought to mind Bette Midler in “Beaches” saying “But enough about me, let’s talk about you. What do you think of me?”
The second, a George Orwell quote that applies somewhat to Trump, not as to his veracity but to the public’s desperation for plain talk;
“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Trump, to a certain degree gets closer to speaking the truth plainly (nonPC) than any other candidate, i.e. stop illegal immigration, ban Muslim migration, correct the trade imbalance and that, America’s government should put Americans first.
That he fails to provide any indication of how he’ll do these things is for many, decidedly second in importance to the fact that at least he has the boat pointed in the right direction. And, whether the captain is ‘drunk’ or honest or not, at least he is acknowledging that our ship of state is headed toward deadly shoals. That he does so crudely is taken by many as an indication that he will not let political correctness (which is responsible for much of our woes) stand in his way.
When mortal dangers threaten, people seize ‘lifeboats’.
There seem to be 2 types of trump fans. Those who are afraid for their futures and feel alienated, and the alt-right who seek destruction. I understand the first group as I feel estranged from the boys and girls who preen inside the Beltway and inhabit the msm and Hollywood. However, I do not seek at the tiller of the “lifeboat” someone who knows not south from north or west from east, someone who would throw me overboard if I questioned his navigation skills.
The afraid and alienated had several excellent choices to turn the lifeboat towards shore. Instead they chose the serial liar and reality tv narcissistic buffoon. No thanks.
GB,
The grandeur of donald will do absolutely nothing on the wish list should he end up inhabiting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I just hope that should that happen there are SS agents who will throw him down and handcuff him if he starts playing with ‘the nuclear football’. 😉
parker,
I’m not hopeful but do admit to the possibility that Trump may surprise in, despite himself, accomplishing some things of worth.
For the Sec. Service to step in will require an extraordinary set of circumstances.
GB,
I was joking about the SS, well mostly. From my pov your possibility that trump may surprise has all the weight of turning an F5 tornado away from my house with a fart. Yes, djt will surprise given the opportunity. Increased funding for PP. ‘Assualt weapon’ bans via EO. XYs in XX shower rooms. Yet another “reset” with Putin. And the beat goes on, and on, and on, and on. A big, YUGE sheesh.
GB,
Djt is an extraordinary set of circumstances. Its like Son of Sam in charge of the DOJ. When you side with the burn it down crowd you shall reap the whirlwind.
GB,
You admit to… pardon the Adolf comparison, but this was exactly the Weimar Republic circa 1931. A non PC nationalist demagogue. Wow, yes all abandon principals for a reality tv progressive in non pc clothing. Yes, lets all line up to vote for a progressive who will champion pretend to be a confused gender puppy in my granddaughter’s shower room. No, I prefer a wall, blindfolds, and 30 caliber.
GB:
Seizing lifeboats generally doesn’t work out if you have read anything regarding loss of life at sea.
Jammed rigging/davits, boats dropped into the ocean/smashed, boat overfilled or with not enough people aboard… Those who keep their head in times of peril are more likely to be of service and survive.
Physicsguy Says:
May 28th, 2016 at 3:52 pm
Aesopfan: 2 great articles that explain the Trump phenomenon perfectly. If one extends the premise of both articles, then the logical outcome will be CW II. All those “voiceless” people WILL be heard; fighting both the left and the political establishment.
***
I have seen variants of the following maxim, and I think it describes the essence of the Trump situation:
When you drive the reasonable people out of political discourse, all you have left are the unreasonable ones.
The Left has been shouting down reasonable people on all sides of the issues for decades; when the Right (especially in the leadership cohort of the Republican Party) weighed in against the concerns of the “peons” as well, there arose a perception that no reasonable people remained in the discourse.
Trump never seems to express that he is concerned with the gravity and immensity of some of decisions he may have to make.
Plus he is often critical of everyone but himself.
Those two qualities combined more than bug me.
“When you side with the burn it down crowd you shall reap the whirlwind.” parker
My point is that the consequence of America’s ‘decision’ to install either Trump or Hillary/Sanders/Biden will be the reaping of a whirlwind.
The nature of that whirlwind may be the same or it may differ enough to matter. Time will tell. But however things go; Improvise, Adapt and Overcome.
OM,
Yes, seizing lifeboats rarely ends well. Desperate, ‘stampeding herds’ of people are incapable of reasoned actions.
Rudyard Kipling had the right of it;
I’m surprised people are talking about CW 2 online. Back in 2009 and 2007, nobody was. Not even the old guard confederate Democrat KKK slave barons were talking about re fighting Civil War 1, let alone another one.
People only talk about things when they become imminent, then it’s too late to stop the events in motion, so all they can do is talk about them.
America has long ago run out of time, and second chances. This may be the last back stop until the Pyrhhic Victory or Retreat and Burn the Russians did against Napoleon, but it’s not going to be quite as successful as people hope. The cost will most likely be higher than people can imagine.