Trump in Washington, Michigan

Here's the thing: I really do not like Donald Trump at all. I did not vote for him, I do not support him, I think he is a bad man, and I sincerely hope that he is run out of office (preferably seated next to Pence on a very thin rail) before another month passes. 

And I think that his decrying everything that he disagrees with as Fake News is just pathetic.

Crystal?

However . . . .

He did this pep rally thing in Washington, Michigan, tonight. And before it even started, I was starting to worry about the way that CNN and MSNBC were approaching it. I read banners at the bottom of the screen that said things like, "Trump spurns The White House Correspondents' Dinner." I saw reporters stopping some of Trump's people--who were attending the dinner--asking why Trump wasn't there. I heard pundits saying that Trump's failure to show up for the dinner indicated that he had no sense of humor, that he was so egotistical that he couldn't laugh at himself.

And I have to say . . . that's not news. That's some bullshit, actually. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that it invites the accusation of Fake News. 

Trump is not obligated to attend this dinner, you know. And he's not obligated to let people make fun of him. And I have seen him show a sense of humor . . . and even laugh at himself.

Doesn't mean I have any respect or affection for him. Just means I don't think I need to support my lack of respect and affection for him with lies. 

ANYway . . . I decided to watch a little bit of the speech. And I decided to flip between CNN, MSNBC, and Fox to see how the coverage stacked up.

Got to admit, I was astonished at what I found.



Over the course of an hour, regularly flipping between the three channels, I found that I never saw any coverage of the speech on CNN. They stayed on a panel discussion and the Correspondents' Dinner. And I never heard a word of the speech on MSNBC. They had a split screen when I checked in, and Trump was on one of the screens, but there was an MSNBC person on the other side of the screen talking the entire time. And Fox . . . stayed on the speech almost from start to finish--missing only a few seconds when there were technical difficulties.

Now, it wasn't a particularly good speech. A lot of what Trump had to say was the same old bullshit that I have heard many times before. There were a few moments, though, when I could see that he really connected with the people there. You could tell that they saw him as being on their side, as a guy who would fight for   them. 1

Now, I don't think that's what was really going on. But instead of calling these people idiots and dismissing them, I wonder why nobody from the opposition is trying to address this. Instead of repeating Trump bullshit verbatim then saying that it's a lie, why don't they take hold of the narrative? Doesn't anyfuckingbody read George Lakoff anymore? 

And, more to the immediate point, when the president gives a speech, don't you think the news should cover it first, then have their say about the contents? Seems like the way to go to me.

But what the fuck, I'm voting for Senator Macron in 2020, so I've got no dog in this dog and pony show.

1  And I have to say that I didn't see any signs of a mind that was in disarray and decay. And that I did see some signs of a sense of humor.