Among my facebook feed, there is a lot of derision directed at Donald Trump. There is a lot of hand-wringing over if he would actually be the Republican candidate, and overall disgust over his continuous theatrics.
Well, I am here to say, I for one, welcome everything Donald Trump brings to the Presidential race.
At the end of the day, Donald Trump epitomizes everything that is wrong with how the media covers politics in our country. Instead of investigating the qualities and character that would really make a statement on how well different candidates would perform as President, the media focuses on contrived controversies. Instead of covering issues that many Americans consider important in this country, and how candidates actually plan to address such issues, the media chooses to focus on the most polarizing figures and their depraved comments that ultimately have very little to do with governance.
The media wants to act outraged by Donald Trump, in their anemic efforts at maintaining a veneer of respectability. The reality is that they relish the opportunity to write headlines about Trump, and for every voice of outrage about his Presidency, there are closet Trumpeteers who hope he stays in for the long haul.
In the words of Russell Crowe's character Maximus in the movie Gladiator, "Are you not entertained?" With the media playing the role of the Emperor distracting the public from their social ills with battles in the Colosseum. And just like in the fictional movie, the gladiator the media hoped to exploit is now threatening to overthrow their entire empire of spectacle.
Additional reasons why I love the Trump sideshow:
1. Almost all the heat is on Trump and the Republicans. Very little time is left to spend attacking Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. You know that in reality, they would love to use the time to complain about how Hillary gives them the cold shoulder, and to pry in her e-mail. Because the media is apparently no better than a pervy teenager. Instead, we have Trump vs. the rest of the GOP in some of the most ridiculous trolling ever.
2. The Donald is a monster hurting the Republican Party that they themselves helped create. The so-called Republican Party that claimed after the 2012 elections that they would do more to court the Latino and female vote. They now have to contend with a candidate who has no problems throwing all their efforts under the bus. Say goodbye to the minority vote. Say goodbye to the female vote. Say goodbye to the veteran vote, apparently as a bonus. When Jindal said that the Republican Party had to stop being "the stupid party," they obviously did not get the memo.
They helped create this monster by deciding entry into their televised debates would hinge on who was polling best. Not on things like, you know, the candidates who are most qualified, or who can garner the most respect from undecided voters, or who is the best role models the Republican Party has to offer. Nope, they just turned their party more into a popularity contest.
3. I'm sure there are a lot of people who disagree with me. The more attention stolen by Trump, goes the rationale, the less attention and airtime for people like Sanders and Clinton to get their progressive messages across.
But this sentiment completely ignores the pallid nature that mainstream media has become. Or, some may even argue, has always been. The mainstream media has been reduced to reporting politics like horse races and tweet wars and popularity contests. In an environment such as this, it is all but impossible for someone like Sanders to get a message of middle-class values and inspiration across.
Furthermore, as much time as they devote to Hillary, again, do they really focus on the types of stories that inform us as to her character, her accomplishments, her policies? Nope. It's all about her twitterfeed. Or her private e-mails. Or her fast food habits. Is that even much of a step up from 2008? I feel that it is not.
So yeah, in such an environment, if real politics is not going to get the media to pay attention to our candidates, there is nothing else but a Barnum & Bailey style circus to whet the media's appetite for spectacle. You could almost feel the electricity that ran into the media when Trump announced his candidacy. And yeah, while it's not the ideal reporting one would get on the Presidential race, it is better than the average reporting, which is dismal.
4. Every second the Donald is on the air, we get yet another opportunity to highlight Republican assholery.
So for example, we have Republican candidates repudiating Trump for his comments on McCain. It is no way to respect our military veterans! Oh, but what have you guys done for veterans, other than cut their benefits, cut their healthcare, cut their access to jobs. For all the talk the Republicans have for respecting veterans, they sure have a hard time remembering all that respect when it comes time to pass funding bills.
5. His continued presence and significance in the Presidential race serves to undermine a lot of political pundits' prognostications, something I always find much shadenfreude in. For example, a lot of people do not take Trump's campaign seriously, and I am one of them. However, the conventional wisdom of some pundits relied on the rationale that he would never be willing to disclose his finances as required by the FEC. But he did just that. Further underscoring how little political experts' and their pontifications really align with reality. I can't wait to see how he shatters their expectations next.
In reality, I am almost 100% confident that Donald Trump will not be the Republican candidate. And I don't think he would run in the General as an Independent or Third Party either. Being President involves a lot more serious work than I think he is willing to do. And I don't think his ego could stand him actually being defeated by anyone when it comes time for the General election.
Here is what I think is happening. Behind the scenes, Trump is working the Republican financiers and operatives to pay him a ransom to drop out of the race. If not in outright money, then in lucrative deals on any of his number of business ventures. And the longer he stays in, and the better he does in the polling, the ransom in only going to go higher and higher.
So based on this notion, I have no doubt that he will eventually drop out, but not as soon as the GOP would like, and without a doubt, not nearly as quietly. Because of this, I do not have any fears about how much The Donald can damage our political system, anymore than it already has been by decades of internecine media distortion. And so coming out the other end, there is much else to do but enjoy the ride while it lasts.
There is little I have more disdain for than how the media treats us, the audience, especially in terms of covering our political news. The Donald is turning his campaign into the most singularly delightful vehicle by which to highlight all the failings of this media system, and how it has so tragically reduced our political system into a farce.