Black Lives Matter. Donald Trump. Cecil the Lion. Donald Trump. Jon Stewart. Donald Trump.
These are among the hot topics in America at present.
Sure, there is some talk about the undercover Planned Parenthood videos. But the focus has been on the politics involving the organization, with images of Planned Parenthood supporters bearing pink placards emblazoned with the Planned Parenthood logo topping a number of the stories. It’s obvious that unborn babies’ lives do not matter to the major news sources covering the story.
And yes, the headlines this morning concern the deal Obama made with Iran, the FBI checking out Hillary Clinton’s private server, and tomorrow’s GOP debate.
But filling up the main page at the Huffington Post’s website as I write this is a story about Ferguson. Over at the New York Times, another Ferguson story is at the top of one side of its front page and an editorial complaining about “strict” voting rules is on the other side.
Slate wants you to know that the dentist who killed a lion wanted to kill an elephant, too.
The media thinks you care about a soon-departing host of a news satire show on cable TV. Or they just won’t shut up about him because he’s a buddy of Obama’s.
And then there’s the Donald. It seems that pretty much every God-blessed current events-oriented website has a story about Donald Trump.
I’ve kept my commentary on Donald Trump to a minimum here on purpose. The media is using him and his words to get people on the Right riled up, and the Left laughs at them for being utter fools who–as the latest polls indicate–think he has the remotest chance of becoming our next United States President. I’ve refused to add to the confounding amount of attention that he’s gotten.
But it does need to be pointed out how absurd this Trump phenomenon is.
But Trump’s attacking the political status quo! He doesn’t hold back! He tells it like it is!
He was a reality TV host who’s been the butt of so many jokes over the years that the jokes don’t need to turn their heads to see behind themselves.
Get serious, conservatives. Don’t fall for the Left’s trap. Ignore that man. He’s screwing the Republican Party’s chance to win back the White House. Candidates who are far better qualified to hold the world’s highest office aren’t getting the opportunity to make their case because people are paying attention to the rich guy with the trademark combover.
The Democrats love that this is happening. They can already see another eight years of radical progressive rule. And so can I.
Also in the upper tier of GOP candidates is Jeb! Bush–another person who hurts the Party’s chance of winning the general election, another person who the media puts in the spotlight because they know he can be beaten. If the voters make him the next Republican presidential nominee, he will lose like McCain did, like Romney did. He will lose because a vital segment of the electorate–the unwaveringly principled Right–will stay home in November of next year. America doesn’t want another member of the Bush family to lead our country. So get the idea of Jeb! being a viable candidate out of your heads right now.
The media plays to our nation’s short attention span, our habit of not looking too far past the headlines. It drills certain points into our heads with those headlines, repeating the same people, places, and events over and over. Trump. Ferguson. Voting rights. We come to accept that we are supposed to care about these topics the most. We take these concerns with us to the voting booth, oblivious to our nation’s real problems and sources of division.
You’re being manipulated, America. You’re falling for it…again. Think for yourselves. Ask yourselves if the things you think you should be concerned about really matter. Stop allowing the corrupted news empire dictate your very consciousness, filling your head with noise. Don’t let the traps that progress has set ensnare you. It wouldn’t be so bad if your ignorance only affected you, but it doesn’t. It affects all of us.
You should know all this already, folks. But sometimes you need reminding.
