The media spends a great deal of time these days in what can comfortably be described as howling at President Trump. At the same time they’ll tell you it’s their responsibility to serve and defend the national interest, “humbly” reminding us it’s their “duty to seek the truth” and “to speak truth to power.”
So, consider some (but not all) of the problems generated since 2008:
– National debt doubled
– US interests all but abandoned in the South China Sea and East Asia
– North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile programs expanded
– US economic growth anemic for 8 years, leaving the US with its lowest workforce participation rate in decades
– International norms asserted, then ignored, failing to act when Syria used chemical weapons against its own people
– Functioning state (Libya) turned into a failed one, US interests in the Middle East damaged further
– Quality of life in inner-city America goes from bad to worse
– Russian influence in the Middle East expands substantially – at the expense of US interests – White House turns blind eye
– Iranian influence in the Middle East expands – also at the expense of US interests – White House turns another equally blind eye
– Health care system that was in trouble and growing in cost every day turned into one that’s on the verge of breaking completely
For 8 years the previous Administration so damaged US interests that it will take years and trillions of dollars to fix (if it can be fixed); and it will almost certainly mean that at some point in the future US forces will engage in a war that might otherwise have been prevented; Americans soldiers and sailors will die.
But no one in the media suggested any of the above was ‘un-presidential.’
Rather, most of this is ignored by the bulk of the media. Unwilling (or unable) to address real issues, they work themselves into a lather over Mr. Trump.
President Trump is trying to correct all the above – and more; to simply work for US interests and address a host of inherited problems, problems that leave us on the edge of disaster. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump suffers continuous attacks from nearly everyone in the press, people who claim objectivity as their standard. When he responds to these attacks he is pilloried as un-presidential.
We live in an age where Hollywood celebrates “stars” having babies without the benefit of marriage, even as the problem of fatherless households in our inner cities has become perhaps the key indicator of a life of crime for those children; where members of a certain organization are caught on film apparently discussing harvesting and selling of body parts from aborted babies and the film-maker is the one charged; where public figures and politicians publicly use language that would make a sailor blush, and they are applauded for being “brave” and “tough,” but when the President is found to have used locker-room language in a private conversation he’s pilloried as crude.
Do I think the President shouldn’t conduct ad hominum attacks, nor make comments about people’s appearance? I guess it would probably be best if he didn’t. But in a world where standards of public discourse are so low that its hard to know what isn’t acceptable, where a previous president had the temerity to dodge a question under oath by responding that “it depends on what the meaning of is is” and not only got away with it, but is hailed as a great president by the same media that attacks Mr. Trump; where the public trust is stood on its head and government spends without regard to the next generation; I find it hard to get worked up over the President’s nasty remark, particularly when the target of his remark has suggested the president is criminally insane.
When we consider all the problems on the President’s plate, I understand his frustration and the desire to poke back at the screaming, intemperate members of the press. Perhaps, if they really want to move beyond all this, the press might consider actually discussing the mess the country faces and then maybe engaging in a rational discussion of problem and solutions rather than their never-ending caterwauling. The nation needs to address these issues; President Trump was elected to do just that. Perhaps the media might consider trying to help, rather than generating noise.
Copyright 2017 Arrias
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