Those of you who don’t remember Wil Wheaton as boy genius Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation might remember him from his relatively recent appearances on The Big Bang Theory as himself. Just a few days ago, he wrote a column on Medium.com calling the media out for ignoring the Trump Foundation scandal, and he also posted a very similar version here on Daily Kos.
I have more to say about Wheaton's column, but before that, indulge me as I recap an old Next Generation episode, “The Game.” Crusher takes a break from Starfleet Academy to go back to the Enterprise (yeah, sure, okay).
It's very convenient because the crew are being taken over by this mind control device passed off as an innocuous game. Probably the game has no effect on the android Data (Brent Spiner), so he gets shut off before he can do anything to derail the nefarious plot.
Crusher resists the game long enough to reactivate Data and figure out what's going on. Finally the game is forced on Crusher and he gives in, but Data shows up just in time to disrupt the game’s hold on the bridge crew.
In real life, Wil Wheaton is not the only one pointing out that the press are ignoring the very real and easily proven Trump Foundation scandal. But you’re forgiven if you think that, because the list of journalists bringing up the issue is quite short: Joy Reid, John Dickerson, and maybe Jake Tapper if you’re feeling generous.
The Trump Foundation sent Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s PAC a $25,000 donation and tried to deceive the IRS about it. And Bondi claims she was unaware of the Trump University lawsuit at the time she asked Trump for the donation. And then Bondi decides to drop the Trump University lawsuit? It’s a similar story in Texas with Greg Abbott, the attorney general there at the time and now the governor.
And what is the reason for the media to ignore this obvious example of corruption? Do they want to commandeer Starfleet’s arsenal to obliterate some people the Federation has no quarrel with? (Oops, I think I may have gotten my Next Generation episodes mixed up). No, it’s just this:
This isn’t really a horserace election, because even though we have a flawed candidate in Hillary Clinton, we have an absolute psychopath in Donald Trump. ... That’s a problem for cable news, because cable news needs a horserace. It’s the only way cable news knows how to fill all the time in the 24 hour cycle, and keep its advertisers happy.
That sounds about right. Cable news has no problem taking us to the brink of insanity, genocide and global thermonuclear war just for the sake of ratings.