THIS & THAT # 15

PRELUDE

After being worn out about the thought that there’s too much to write about, I took a brief hiatus from writing and publishing. There’s still too much to write about, and yet it’s a long-overdue time to start. As Alexander Portnoy’s psychiatrist said after their last session, “So. Now vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?”

THE NAME OF THE GAME

IS WHOM DO YOU BLAME?

There always seems to be a myriad of people and groups who rush for recognition when something goes right, even when they didn’t contribute anything to the outcome. On the other hand, there’s a definite dearth of individuals around to admit to their inadequacies and speak up when anything goes woefully wrong.

This extends to most everything in our world from the outcome of elections, to other man-made disasters, to mistakes in the world of sports of gigantic proportions. At times, there seems to be equally attributable woman-made mistakes.

ELECTION TIME BLAME

Both the Republicans and the Democrats can stake claim to their share of the blame, as to what went wrong during the 2016 Presidential Election.

PART ONE — THE GOP

As you may have learned, Donald J. Trump won the Electoral College vote and is now the President-Elect of the entire country, including Guam. In all honesty, can you blame Donald J. for being an egomaniacal, narcissistic, self-promoting, bombastic, crude, and unrefined provocateur? Those characteristics and his bending of the truth are what helped get him elected.

Can you blame him for seeming to be off-script and out of control at his rallies, for that attribute made him an American idol to his fans. Those who did not vote for him are praying that during his term he doesn’t disrupt their lives and the country too much. They would be pleased to see him as an American idle.

When it comes to blame, Donald J. and his satraps have consistently pounded on their number one enemy — “the media.”

With Donald leading the attack, his campaign made sure that his voting bloc knew that “the media” were a major source of their personal woes. They, and Hillary, became the common enemies, and he said so wherever and whenever he spoke.

I was in Las Vegas in December 2015, and while strolling through my hotel, I noticed a large group of people waiting to enter one ballroom, which turned out to be where a Trump rally was being held. I entered and found an inconspicuous place in the back, behind what could be described as a holding pen — like a cattle pen in a stockyard. But this pen was filled with reporters. In front of the pen, was a ten-foot platform crowded with camera-laden media people from local and national television outlets.

When Trump came on stage to perform, he immediately told his followers to turn around and look toward the pen and the platform. He announced, “These are our enemies. Yet they are clamoring to cover our great movement.” If on cue, his people started to loudly boo the media, and that became part of his act on the road.

NO DOUBT ABOUT "THEM"

During his campaign rallies Trump has described “the media” in a myriad of derisive terms, such as “sleazy,” “unfair,” “not good people,” ”slime,” “dishonest slime,” “disgusting,” “weak,” “clueless,” “scum,” “ridiculous,” unfair,” and finally he truly and deeply hurt them and inflamed his loyal supporters by calling the media “bad.”

At his rallies, he always points to the media in the back as he labels then “the most dishonest people in the world. They are the worst.” He reiterates his point and retaliates against “them,” by telling his people that “I am not running against crooked Hillary.  I’m running against the crooked media.”

SAYING IS BELIEVING

Because Donald J. has elevated the media to the top of his hit list, eighty-seven percent of Trump’s supporters see the media as biased against him. Which translates into the media being against them, and therefore the media can’t be trusted.

Trump may become the most anti-media President since Richard Milhous Nixon unleashed his attack dog Spiro T. Agnew. Both men were forced to leave office because of their crooked dealings — we can only hope. Don’t forget Nixon’s two main men H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, who were both forced to take early retirements.

He plans no press conferences, much like Hillary, summoned top media executives to bow before his throne in the Trump Tower, and has hinted of plans to open up libel laws against his enemies.

PART TWO – COMING DISTRACTIONS

Stay tuned for more on the Democrats and their role in losing the election, and who should take the blame for their failure. It will appear in an upcoming blog, as well as whom to blame for the Oakland fire and the Warriors loss in the last NBA championship.