I hate politics, I truly do. Because I genuinely believe that you’ve got a bunch of people who have come to the conclusion that theirs is the only way forward and that the only way to insure that THEIR way forward is used is by staying in power and so therefore absolutely anything is legit in making sure they stay in power. I hate it all. That’s not, however, the same thing is saying Trump and Biden are equivalent in their sliminess.
Frankly – there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know. I’ve HEARD plenty of things. I think of myself as a well-educated voter and a well-read citizen. I don’t JUST read NPR (though I must admit I consume MOST of my media there) but because I don’t JUST pay attention to their news but also think about it I’m very aware that over the years of Trump being in office, though their reporting seems to continue to be fact-based and intelligent, the reporters are definitely getting more of their (clearly liberal) jabs in and there ARE stories here and there that I wish they’d think twice about how their presenting – or think thrice about how they’re ignoring them.
There’s a lot of stuff that I don’t know though. And a lot of stuff you don’t know, whether or not you will ever admit it. YOU and I weren’t there. We don’t know how Trump’s “perfect” phone call with Ukraine went. You and I don’t really know how Breonna Taylor’s shooting went down. I try to look at NPR, and local papers, and even Fox News. When the New York Times drops a big story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, I come to the table with many, many years of my opinions of the New York Post’s reporting… not just the story.
That last story’s an excellent example of how critical thinking simply needs to come into play… comparing different sources and THINKING about things. Unfortunately, there are newspapers out there (New York Post is a HUGE one) that are sensationalist and really, they’re tabloids… not “news” papers. With BIG FONT FRONT PAGE HEADLINES like “GREAT BALLS OF FIRE Air Bomber’s blast-packing undies are the real hot pants” and “AXIS OF WEASEL” and “OSAMA BIN WANKIN’”(their story about ‘porn found in Laden’s foxhole’) it’d be really great if people didn’t conflate the New York Post with a REAL newspaper like the New York… TIMES. Beyond getting into the details of what’s ON the hard drive, how it came to the attention of Rudy Guliani, what it means even IF it’s genuine (since, you know, we already know that Hunter had legitimate business deals with all parties involved – Hunter’s not actually running for president, etc) – and most importantly – if you’ve got REAL dirt on your political opponent why the HELL would you break the story to a TABLOID rather than a bastion of genuine Conservative News (Fox News – though they absolutely distort what they present through a conservative lens, generally do so through emphasis, order and tone rather than simply making up or distorting actual facts) – other than to have the story splashed far and wide by someone who’s not going to do due diligence in their reportage.
Even Fox news is reporting “as reported in the New York Post” rather than putting their own reporting on the subject.
But damn it NPR… you can’t IGNORE something like this. AP news did a great write up (https://wtop.com/social-media/2020/10/ap-explains-trump-seizes-on-dubious-biden-ukraine-story-3/ ) sort of laying things out and giving context to it all – but this is an excellent example of one of the ways in which we’ve been expertly and absurdly divided. NPR’s not even REPORTING on the subject. They’re maybe reporting on Twitter and Facebook blocking the story… but they’re not addressing the story itself. Perhaps the logic is not to give it legitimacy, but when half the nation (more than half – remember Fox News is the MOST watched cable news station, hardly the outlet that should EVER be whining about “main stream media” since they ARE the MOST streamed media!) is being fed information about the Post’s story as headlines every day, the other half (or less) needs to not be in such a bubble that they can’t talk intelligently about it.
Bah.
In any case. It’s hard to dig up facts. All I can really, truly know is that I despise the way Trump talks about and to people. I am disgusted by his treatment of those around him. I was disgusted by his nature when he was a repetitive tabloid cover story in the 80s, I was nonplussed when he was a repeat guest star in random sitcoms in the 90s. I was appalled by his existence as a reality TV star in the 00’s and in the 2010’s his rise into political theatre has just amplified his worst traits. Looking at people and seeing if they’ve changed or simply remained the same, how they portray themselves over the decades – that’s important. How a self-purported playboy rich kid from New York City, known for gold-plated toilets and owning casinos and Miss Universe pageants EVER came to speak for the “everyman” I cannot fathom.
Biden’s not perfect. But he’s done the job. He hasn’t even done the job perfectly, but I understand his evolution. His spoken gaffes and changing politics are the gaffes and politics of a man who’s literally been doing this his entire Life, for decades, and who has had to adapt (not always successfully) to the world around him. Trump’s gaffes and ever-changing politics are mean-spirited, self-serving and duplicitous. I can sort of understand people who’re not that involved being taken in by this conman – again I think of myself as a well-educated voter and a well-read and I’m under NO illusion that that’s the average. However, I CANNOT understand people who feel that the way he speaks to people is the way they want to be spoken for, and the way he treats people is the way they’d like to be treated.
