Some Words from EE

Soap Opera Politics

If there is one thing we know for certain about the American press corps’ interaction with President Trump, it is that they presuppose him an unserious and very vain dolt. If anyone grabs too much of the spotlight or utters anything disloyal, the President throws them out the door.

That is what so much of the press believes. In fact, I suspect some of you reading believe it too. Certainly, some in the White House believe it. They have tried to exploit it by circulating rumors about various people riding too high in the saddle. The press has tried to drum up divisions between the President and Vice President in this way.

How many stories have we read about the Vice President overshadowing the President or operating as a shadow President, etc.? These were not true, but they were circulated to try to spark division in the soap opera-like drama of Washington.

The press fundamentally believes the President will fire people who are more likable than him, overshadow him, or make him look bad by outperforming him.

So I have to wonder if a portion of the press corps is trying to get a lot of Americans killed right now.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has loyally served Presidents of the United States going back to Ronald Reagan. In 2008, due to his loyal service to the nation, President George W. Bush awarded Dr. Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dr. Fauci is the most prominent voice in the administration now and its foremost presence on national television. But in the past several days, various media outlets have started pushing stories about Fauci undermining the President. Various reporters on Twitter have grabbed screenshots of Dr. Fauci at White House press briefings where he appears to be rolling his eyes or shaking his head when the President speaks — the full film shows he was not doing either.

There have been stories where the media plays up what appears to be Fauci disagreeing with the President or being critical of the President, but these have been taken out of context too.

Given the media’s presuppositions about the President, it is reasonable to conclude they are trying to get Dr. Fauci fired. Why would they do that? Is this not a crisis where they want the best men and women in charge?

The reason is that the media is addicted to drama. In the past two weeks, there has not only been no drama, but the President’s approval ratings for handling the crisis have gone up. Both Gallup and ABC News have polling showing as much. The drama of the virus should be enough, but the media now is addicted to the soap opera narrative.

When not trying to break up the marriage of George and Kellyanne Conway, the Washington press corps these days seems to pick other targets to try to get the President firing in that target’s direction. Right now, it is Dr. Fauci the press is after and they are after him selfishly. As long as President Trump is relying on Dr. Fauci, the President looks presidential. That is too much for the media.

Now they have to try to spark drama, get Fauci fired and go back to their narrative of an out of control, vain, and petty President.

Cancel the Briefings?

As a quick aside, I suspect we are about to see very loud calls for the White House press briefings to be canceled. Why? Because the President’s approval rating is going up.

We have witnessed the press, for several years, demand briefings from the White House. They are now getting them every day. The President’s approval has gone up correspondingly. Therefore, I can conclude we will start to see screams about the briefings. We’ll hear that it is impossible for Fauci and Birx to work if they’re always on TV. We’ll hear that the President is lying and harming the public. Heck, look at reporters trying to tie him to idiots taking fish tank cleaner because it contains chloroquine phosphate.
The press is going to now oppose what they’ve long demanded because these briefings are helping the President.

Easter

For a great example of the media manufacturing controversy where there is none, consider the President suggesting he wants people going back to work by Easter. Actually, what the President said was, and I quote:

I think Easter Sunday and you’ll have packed churches all over our country, I think it would be a beautiful time, and it’s just about the timeline that I think is right. It gives us more chance to work on what we’re doing and I’m not sure that’s going to be the day but I would love to aim it right at Easter Sunday so we are open for church service and services generally on Easter Sunday, that would be a beautiful thing. [Emphasis added]

Later in the day, the President said he would continue to rely on the experts and he was not committed to Easter Sunday being the day.

I will forgive you if you did not know any of that. The press corps ran with the story as the President saying the nation will go back to work on Easter Sunday. There has been a collective freak out. But the press is reporting the President as definitive when he said multiple times that he was not being definitive. He wanted that as the goal, but he was not sure it was possible.

Yet again, the media is destroying its own credibility trying to destroy the President’s credibility. For all the issues you or I could have with the President, this really should not be one of them.

It kind of strikes me as the outrage-o-meter needing a re-calibration. Right now, if the President says the sky is blue a certain segment of America will deny it, scream about the President, and hate the color blue. I don’t want to downplay disputes with the President. I vehemently disagreed with his behavior on Friday as Pete Alexander asked him a question.

But wanting to set a goal and noting it depends on what the experts say is really not something to get upset about. And frankly, given the way so many people think the President operates, getting mad about it and self-immolating about it makes it more likely the President is going to push for that day. So calm down.