Donald Trump, the GOP, the Media, and the Public: Plenty of Blame for All

by Tom Kando

American politics have descended into lunacy. The weird gyrations at the Republican Convention remind me of the Saint Vitus epidemic in 17th century Europe, an earlier attack of mass insanity. No need to rehash things: Melania Trump’s plagiarism of Michelle Obama’s speech was relatively unimportant, but the Trump people’s (e.g. Paul Manafort’s) reaction to the ensuing flap was absolutely “amazing,” to use the Donald’s favorite word. Never have I seen such contortions by people in desperate denial.

The Trumpites’ reaction to ANY accusation boils down to three tactics: (1) deny it; (2) change the subject; (3) blame Hillary Clinton.

Then there was Chris Christie’s witch-hunt: He accused Hillary Clinton of being to blame for the American deaths in Benghazi, the kidnapping of hundreds of young girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria, the deaths of some of the 400,000 Syrians killed by president Assad, protecting Al Qaeda affiliates, and much more. As he recited this litany, the hordes of delegates chanted “guilty!” and “lock her up!” A veritable lynch mob or medieval witch-burning mob.


And it works! Besides validating the vicious paranoid hatred of millions of Hillary-haters, it sows doubt in the minds of millions more, who were hitherto on the fence.

Not since the days of McCarthyism have so many Americans fallen into such a frenzy of mad, visceral hatred of...of what? That’s the rub: At first, they don’t even know what it is that they hate. The rage is diffuse, generalized. The hatred comes first. And THEN, it finds scapegoats: The government; the rich; the unemployed; the homeless; public employees; intellectual elites; liberals; private employees; Hillary Clinton; Muslims; immigrants; people of color; foreigners; LGBT; take your pick.

Why does the demagoguery work?
Well, for one thing, not all light bulbs are equally bright. Just one example of stupidity - this one by a Bernie Sanders supporter:
After Melania Trump plagiarized Michelle Obama on July 18, some wag joked that The House Select Committee might investigate whether or not Michelle Obama had plagiarized Melania Trump. Good. Funny. But then, a Trump opponent was stupid enough to miss the joke and to feel the need to come to Michelle Obama’s defense, saying: “This is outrageous! How could Michelle Obama have plagiarized eight years ago a speech given by Melania today?” Duh! So part of the problem is a deficit of intelligence - on all sides of the political spectrum.

The media’s complicity is another problem. I am not talking about the rabid liars and psychopaths at Fox and people like Rush Limbaugh. After thirty years of hate-mongering, they have succeeded in poisoning the brains of millions. Nor am I referring to most late-night talk-show comedians. Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Myers, Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert and other such figures have done a commendable job in unmasking the absurdity of the Trump campaign.

However, the same cannot be said of the so-called “centrist” and even the allegedly left-leaning networks, such as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews or Chuck Todd, or NPR’s Terry Gross. Why are these people not shouting as loudly as they can, that the emperor has no clothes.

Their conspiracy of “politeness” is dangerous. In American politics today, facts no longer matter. Trump’s campaign is the culmination of a trend that has been under way for many years: The attitude of much of the media and - as a result - of the public, is that for every alleged fact, there is an equally plausible counter-fact.

Man-made global warming? maybe; maybe not.
Did Hillary Clinton kill Vince Foster? maybe; maybe not.
Are most terrorists Muslims? maybe; maybe not.
Did Melania Trump plagiarize Michelle Obama? maybe; maybe not
Was president Obama born in the US? maybe; maybe not
Is president Obama a Muslim? maybe; maybe not
Did Hillary Clinton feel sympathy for Al-Qaeda? maybe; maybe not
Do cops kill too many black people? maybe; maybe not
Are there too many murders in America because there are too many guns? maybe; maybe not

Nowadays, an interview between, say, a member of the Trump campaign and someone like Wolf Blitzer is likely to go as follows:

Blitzer: “Wasn’t Melania Trump’s plagiarism of Michelle Obama’s speech a blunder?”

Trump spokesman: “Well, Hillary Clinton killed Vince Foster! That’s a lot worse.”

Blitzer: “I see... Now let’s move to the next topic: Isn’t Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall between Mexico and the US so as to keep out Latino immigrants likely to be counterproductive?”

Trump spokesman: “Not at all. Besides, Hillary killed our ambassador in Benghazi...”

Blitzer: “I see..”

Or take Washington Post syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who prides herself on being a “moderate:” On July 20, she reminded readers again that Hillary Clinton once said, at a Benghazi hearing: “At this point, what difference does it make?” in response to a question about who was responsible for the murder of four Americans. This quote has been widely abused to infer that Clinton is callous and uncaring. This is also Parker’s insinuation in this column, where she equates Hillary with the murderous Lady Macbeth. The truth is, Clinton was answering the question as to whether the murders had been committed by organized or unorganized terrorists, and she also expressed deep sorrow.

Also, what about this“lesser of two evils” nonsense? What bs! Trump is evil, and Clinton is great. Even if her opponent were a more reasonable Republican - say someone like Kasich, Ryan or Romney - the choice would be clear.

And one more thing: Why is the entire conversation about Hillary’s shortcomings, about Benghazi, about her e-mails and whathaveyou? Why are the media not talking about Trump’s four bankruptcies, his three wives, his womanizing? The desolation he left behind in Atlantic City? Where are his tax returns? How many people has he fired and ruined? How about his phony “university?” Have liberals forgotten that he who defines the agenda has already won half the battle? .© Tom Kando 2016 leave comment here