Where are the responsible journalists? Oh…forgive me: it’s about selling advertising and preaching to the choir, not reporting the facts.
For example, more than 70 million Americans rejected Democrat candidates this last election. You can see that right here but you won’t see it reported in the New York Times…because it’s not aligned with the liberal core values of that institution and its readers.
More than 8 million Americans had the integrity to reject both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but the media focus on the 4 million who make the most noise…because that sells advertising. It is, however, fashionable to portray third-parties and their candidates as crackpots and kooks…but I forget: there’s a bigger scapegoat for that right now.
Anyone remember Bob Filner? This clown somehow served in Congress from 1993 until 2012 when he was elected Mayor of San Diego. Everyone – including the Democrat base he represented – understood his penchant for acting above the law and his lascivious predilection for groping and otherwise, er, being inappropriate to women who worked with and for him. His term as Mayor ended when he couldn’t survive the allegations of sexual harassment and the associated lawsuits. The local Democrat leadership and voters “held their noses” and voted for him anyway because “it’s more important that there is a Democrat in office.”
We looked the other way on Filner, Bill Clinton’s bimbo eruptions, Rick Santorum’s very screwy personal agenda, even Jack Kennedy’s chronic unfaithfulness. Generally it seems America doesn’t care how personally messed up our elected leaders are so long as they advance a “party” agenda. What’s frightening is that actors, for example, exposed for much less impropriety in the tabloids, never get a free pass from journalists, while elected leaders always advance directly to “go” if their politics align with the media’s preferences.
Yes, we have elected a despicable man as President. All of us did that, regardless of whether we were part of the 2.4 million Americans who left their Presidential ballot choice blank or the 137 million who actually voted for President. Bill Clinton was OK as President; so was Jack Kennedy.
The fact is, even if Trump wasn’t your choice, he’s our President. Yes: there are more of us who wish that wasn’t the fact than there are those who “support” him and however Trump supporters justify it to themselves. This is not new, people: power shifts. Democrats are out at present; Republicans are in. It would behoove everyone invested in rejecting Trump to take a careful look at why this happened…but the reason won’t be reported by the media (except for right-wing talk show hosts) because it doesn’t sell advertising.
What’s the reason? It’s as old as elections: right or wrong, voters have rejected the ideas and candidates that don’t work for them. Anyone who’s serious about winning the next election ought to be thinking carefully about ideas that are better than Trump’s. Why? Because while protests raise awareness – and sell advertising – they are meaningless in the long run if resistance is their only game plan.
It won’t be reported in the news, but the final, simple fact about the 2016 American election is that Trump had ideas that fired up more voters than Clinton. Get over it people…and if you want to help your favorite media outlet sell more advertising, have some ideas voters will believe are better than Trump’s.
