Hello again. I haven’t written anything in quite a while. The reason is, I got Civilization VI for my birthday, and all my spare time since then has been used (wasted?) playing it. It’s an interesting game, but it’s no substitute for an actual life. So now that I have surfaced for air, I am going to put my two cents in on some things.
The most eye catching goings on of the last two months are, as usual, south of the border, where dictatorship seems to be taking hold. First, Trump has appointed all manner of racists and over the top Christian zealots to key positions in government. Second, King Cheeto has denounced journalists as lying and picking on him, and is now starting to ban the press from his briefings. Third, political commentary and satire has been branded “mean spirited,” and denounced. Whoo! I sure wish I lived in a free country like America! The latest shot out of left field is Trump’s assertion that Obama bugged his cell phone before he left office so he could eavesdrop on the new administration – without a shred of proof, of course. I am sort of hoping Obama sues him for defamation of character, as he should have done when The Donald said he created ISIS.
I think in all this ongoing circus, the thing that gets me the angriest is Trump’s treatment of journalists. I took journalism in college and despite never having done it for a living, I still think of myself as a part of the profession. Journalists are taught to adhere to strict codes of conduct when reporting. The story, as reported, is supposed to be honest, fair and in the public interest. The USA theoretically protects the freedom of the press in the first amendment, along with freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, but when the president is of such delicate composition that every critical word hurts his little feelings, these freedoms are being threatened. It isn’t quite Nazi Germany and the Ministry of Propaganda, but it is nudging that direction.
The truth isn’t always an absolute, sometimes different points of view are valid. Most times, however, the truth is an absolute. Take the crowd size of Trump’s swearing in ceremony: he says it was the largest ever, when clearly it wasn’t. Same with his claims on unemployment, climate change and crime – they are proven wrong by available data. His idea of “alternate facts” is basically twisting the truth to satisfy his followers and in so doing, picking a fight with a noble profession. I have seen his fans on line claiming that people who listen to mainstream news are sheeple. Do his alt-right people who write these things think Trump is a credible news source? That he is in a position to oppose glaring truths like Kim Jong-Il? Do they believe Mr Silver Spoon has seen through the veil of lies that is the news media? Is he leading them to the Truth? The real sheeple are the poorly educated masses who don’t have the critical thinking skills necessary to assess specious arguments and half truths; those people who feel undervalued and possess skill sets that they don’t see as being useful in the future. Those are the people who have nothing to lose by throwing out immigrants and embracing ideas with potentially disastrous consequences like believing climate change is a hoax. The trailer park has assumed power! And since it likely won’t ever happen again, they’re going to make it count. First order of business: do away with the critics.
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I wouldn’t spend as much time worrying about all of this, but the world is pretty small now. Madness in a world power concerns everyone, and unhappy, suspicious masses everywhere might embrace it. People’s immune systems are not designed at birth to repel bad ideas, especially ones with lots of catchy phrases and wild promises.
