What if…. For a day or two, for 24-48 hours, the media stopped covering trump? What if the media just went mute on the man’s shock and awe pronouncements and executive orders and proclamations? What if twitter cut off his account for a day?
The world wouldn’t fall apart. But trump’s ego might suffer some severe damage. What? No one’s talking about me? How can that be? I’m the most powerful man in the world and no one is talking about what I’m doing? Oh, you blasted media, you’re the opposition, you’re the devils, you’re the…how can you ignore me?
Even a 24-hour media blackout on trump would tamp down on the fear and uncertainty that many people feel. Remove him from the discourse. Remove Bannon from the discourse. Shut them all up for a day or two. What might happen? Well, many of us would sleep more soundly. We would begin to feel hope again. We wouldn’t be feeding emotionally into the paranoia and dissension that trump and bannon strive to create nationally and globally.
Yes, Fox News would still cover every word he utters, every silly tweet he composes. So there would still be an outlet for his diehard fans. But the rest of us would have time off. So what if he’s president of the U.S.? That doesn’t entitle him to continual 24/7 coverage. Journalists could cover good news for a change – something trump and his people don’t want us to hear because, after all, good news is anathema to the climate of fear they’re trying to create.
The Bush administration did the same thing in the aftermath of 9-11. Their mantra was, Be afraid, be very afraid. It’s an effective political ploy. When people become terrified, they go silent, stop protesting and resisting.
So how about it, mainstream media? How about a 24-hour blackout on news about trump and everything and everyone in his administration? If he calls a press conferences, boycott it, just as the dems did for a couple of confirmation hearings. If he tweets his outrage, ignore it. If he screws up a phone call with a foreign leader, let that leader report it.
24 hours. 48 hours.
The world won’t end, but trump’s ego will throw a tantrum. Imagine what might happen if he was robbed of the limelight for a week!
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An aside: tomorrow, February 4, marks the 8th anniversary for this blog. Thanks to all of you!
Im going to take that media blackout today! And yes, they feed on fear, it’s what they want.
Congratulations on a great Blog!
EIGHT YEARS!!!!! WOW! I remember when you gave it birth, and what a wonderful place the blog has become! A community of like-minded friends from all around the globe who are free to express our thoughts, ideas, opinions, and SYNCHRONICIRIES!
Re DJT……Hang in. Wait. Change is coming, and it isn’t the Change he keeps harping about. Silence will indeed be golden.
Happy Anniversary! I can’t believe it is 8 years. But I say that about everything these days.
I have been thinking the same thing about Trump and how he “plays” the media so well. He is a master at that. The media can’t help themselves. They see it as their job to report his every breath and that if one channel keeps quiet they will lose ratings. For this to work they would have to all cooperate with each other. I doubt that will happen.
I have been reading a biography of Gertrude Stein – beginning from when she was born in 1874 and am now at the part where she and Toklas are living in France during WW 2 and reading what Hitler did killing killing killing. Madness. Beyond depressing. Young people today have no clue about all those atrocities. Which brings me back to the media. Hitler banned all the reporters so people did not know what was really happening. That is the other side of the coin of the danger of stopping the media. We need help! Perhaps a visitor from space would be what could unify the world.
Very strange, but fitting, I guess, that Trump or his team – probably Bannon – altered the State Dept. statement on Holocaust Day last Thursday, removing all mention of Jews. The admin’s response to criticism: ‘We were being inclusive.’ In other words, not forgetting the others who were killed by Hitler, but not mentioning the 6 million Jews. That’s what happens when you get a white nationalist making policy for Trump, whose main interest is his fame. (Neo-Nazi, white nationalist websites applauded the change in the script.)
This is totally disgusting and depressing.
I have had the exact same thought about what would happen if they suddenly stopped reporting on every last little thing that man utters. I’ve stopped watching the news except for PBS once or twice a week. NPR is on my radio in the car, but that’s it. Otherwise I cannot keep my sanity. 🙁