OPINION
Donald Trump is a parasite. He creates nothing beneficial, but drains his host until it is a dried husk; and then moves on. For nearly a decade he has been clawing at the integrity of the Office of the President and the elections that install that officer.
It is fallacious to think that the nation will be rid of Trump at 12:01 pm, January 20, 2021. Trump’s bullhorn is far larger and louder than it was in 2011 when he latched on to the so-called “birther” conspiracy. Because of his celebrity, news outfits gave him air time. Yellow journalism is alive and well, never fading, thanks to the ever present quest for ratings, clicks and views. With respect to the mainstream media, it is exaggeration to call sensational headlines, “fake news,” but “ manufactured outrage,” might be appropriate.
The general public has a hard time distinguishing between actual news and opinion. For the love of advertising dollars, news outlets blur the line between the objective and subjective. Consumers are bombarded with talking heads, sitting at desks that resemble a news studio, further eroding that which separates fact from philosophy. I cannot say, from the view of production value, what would make a better alternative. However, putting the onus on the reader or viewer to divine the news facts from commentary is a bridge too far. In the olden days, opinion columns were clearly separated from the news at large. Larger papers created entire sections for opinion and letters to the Editor. Now, it all seems blurred into hardly discernible swirls.
My writing on DK is almost always (if not exclusively) opinion. Once upon a time, I was a professional journalist — a reporter of relevant news. I wrote for a small paper and avoided the pronoun “I.” I was diligent in limiting the use of adverbs and adjectives that might indicate what I thought about the news I reported. That’s just basic journalistic integrity. I left the opinion and editorializing to my editor. Since I am no longer a reporter and have no obligation to withhold my interpretations of today’s news, I say or write what I want. No one should mistake my words as solidly matters of fact. While I try to always cite sources for facts I record, it should be clear that I am simply sharing my thoughts and opinion about those facts.
These first paragraphs are for context. It would be nice if the bulk of mainstream media would refuse to give Trump further opportunity to spew his lies, hatred and filth — but they surely won’t. Major news outlets were more than happy to report Trump’s false and sensational allegations that Barack Obama was disqualified from the office to which he was resoundingly elected. It didn’t matter that the allegations against Obama’s citizenship were verifiably false — it only mattered that it was sensational. The claim was outrageous — but it was the media that inflated it and gave the argument credence. It is, therefore, unthinkable that the media will disavow or ignore Trump’s continued ranting and purveying of lies and insinuation.
That the quantity of votes Trump received, albeit a far cry from that of Biden/Harris, is notable, and will give MSM a plausible excuse to continue recirculating Trump’s hot air. Left and right leaning bobble-heads will continue with the handwringing and outrage but delight in the non-stop ratings fodder. Late night talkshow hosts will continue to be pressed to reach for the low hanging fruit that is the very absurdity of Trump’s existence. Long after Donald Trump has been claimed by worms, his name will live on as a punch line to uncountable jokes. An appropriate legacy to be sure, but one that will carry his stench far into the future.
Yet, in the immediate aftermath that begins when the Trump presidency ends, the addiction to Trump’s never-ending outrage will hardly subside. This has gone on for years — certainly more than the past four, but most profoundly in that time. Quitting Trump news cold turkey may be too much for a lot of folks. By virtue of the pandemic, Trump’s behavior and incompetence has proved to be as deadly as it is infuriating.
Let’s consider the present moment. We know that there has been and e’er shall be some fraud perpetrated in our elections. It happens, but rarely at a scale that tips an election. When there is significant fraud, it is typically found out in short order. The notion that a large-scale, multi-state, concerted fraud could possible executed is absurd. Such a thing could never be carried out with a small number of people. It would take dozens or even hundreds of people to pull that off. Furthermore, very vocal supporters of Trump have denounced Trump’s claims of fraud and gone to great lengths to prove it so. Why then, is this news? The first attempts at overthrowing an election were news. The derogatory court opinions against the plaintiffs were news. Now, though, none of this is news. The election is decided. Full stop. There are two crucial dates left on the calendar: December 14th and January 6th.
Republicans have made it virtually impossible for the Trump campaign’s tactics to gain purchase. They put the kibosh on so called “faithless electors” and sealed it with a SCOTUS kiss. Even though Bush v. Gore keeps being brought up, it has no bearing on what is happening now. SCOTUS itself would not accept that case as cited precedent and is, therefore, a moot point. Will the final electoral college vote tally equal 306 to 232? Maybe, maybe not. Will 37 or more electors defect from Biden and favor Trump? No. Not even on a below-zero day in Hell.
On December 14th, the electoral college votes will surely be newsworthy — either in that the vote stands as expected or is not. Regardless, Biden has more than enough votes to carry him forward to the final, official act, when Mike Pence has to read the results in a joint session of Congress. This is a train, fully loaded and heading downhill. This is not an object that Trump’s inept legal team can push aside.
I will admit that the very noteworthy, newsworthy aspect of these ridiculous legal challenges is that Trump and his cronies are making a fortune off of this. Donations are pouring in, retiring whatever debt the campaign racked up and lining the pockets of the corrupt. I expect the next AG will be very interested in how that money gets divvied up. I also expect Trump to be well insulated from any liability. That’s his thing and he does it well. If there’s anything genius about Donald Trump, it his ability to convince people to throw their lives away for him.
For a good two-thirds of this nation’s population, Trump is a puzzle. How can such a buffoon garner such loyalty and sacrifice? (I’ve written about that quite a bit, so I’ll skip any sensible answer to that question.) The people who eagerly lay down their lives, livelihood and reputations at the altar of Trump are much more interesting to look at than Trump himself. It is obvious to most that Trump is a charlatan, peddling useless and even harmful snake oil. What is much harder to discern is why anyone would buy such bullshit. This further punctuates my thought that Trump and his antics are hardly worthy of mention, let alone hours of daily commentary.
Still, Trump commands the press to give him a platform and they eagerly oblige. Before his election, Trump was an entertaining sideshow — but when the unthinkable and unlikely turned into reality, the hook was set. Trump’s outlandish behavior is outrageous and often infuriating, but it is also entertaining in a masochistic way.
Trump may very well be the reincarnation — if there is such a thing — of P.T. Barnum. The likeness of personality is uncanny. Both men were and are hard to ignore — but it surely would be worth a try. In just a few long, long weeks, Trump will be returned to the realm of curiosity he has always belonged in. That he takes with him the loyalty of a quite significant voting bloc is not trivial; however, marking Trump as irrelevant would likely serve humanity better than endorsing and legitimizing his clout. That won’t happen.
The news and commentary media are beholden to advertisers to keep the lights on and the makeup fresh. Those dollars depend on people tuning in. Those of us who have suffered the outrageousness of Donald Trump would like time to gloat and pour salt on Trump’s wounds of defeat. The media will joyfully oblige and continue to offer Trump a free platform upon which to stoke the flames of madness that surround him.
Like a fire needs oxygen, Trump needs attention. Without it, he would surely wither and blow away. Still, his insanity is the side show that draws in the chumps and suckers and marches them across the midway — spending the currency of time and attention on rigged and unfulfilling games — leaving lighter than when they entered.
Personally, I don’t know what I might gain by keeping an eye on Trump and his basket of deplorables. It isn’t the same as watching a hurricane track toward my house. I may not be able to do anything about the hurricane, but I can at least get out of the way. Trump, though, is a disaster I can do nothing about. The only headlines I want to see are things like: Trump Indicted, Trump Convicted, Trump Begins His Life Sentence Today. Anything else will be unsatisfying.
The saving grace is that I can filter out what I don’t want to see. I can Voldemort the Donald and refer to him only as He Who Must Not be Named if I so choose. But Trump is now an epithet. He is a stain amongst a long list of heinous acts this country has perpetrated. He is a reminder that democracy takes work and cannot protect itself. He has shown awful light through all of the cracks and flaws in our establishments. Maybe we, as a nation, can work to fix what has been broken; because it is those flaws in our collective psyche that gave rise to a Trump.
The truest way to hurt Donald is to ignore him. Since, however, he has such a massive following, that won’t happen any time soon. Since such an act would be futile, the left-leaning and mainstream press won’t ignore the man. Anger and outrage sell. All eyes are on Trump. Half the country want’s him to rise again, the other wants to see him fall into an abyss. There is simply no way that Trump will fade away. I think that he will eventually stop being able to command attention every day. I think that we may be able to get a few consecutive days without so much as a mention — but like malaria, he will resurface long enough to make us ache, just to remind us we’ll never quite be rid of him.