Can America Survive the Trump/Corporate Media Industrial Complex?
By Thom Hartmann A...
With fewer than two weeks to go before inauguration day and serious questions left unanswered about Donald Trump's cabinet nominees, one of the leading stories in American mainstream media is the president elect's Twitter rant against an actress.
Seriously - I'm not kidding.
Just in case you haven't been glued to Twitter over the past 24 hours, here's what's going on:
At last night's Golden Globes ceremony, actress Meryl Streep gave a speech slamming Trump - without naming him - as a bully, a coward, and a con artist.
The speech then went viral, with liberals celebrating it as a heroic protest against bigotry and conservatives condemning it as yet another example of Hollywood liberalism.
Hollywood vs. Real America... the Coasts vs. the Heartland - it was the perfect culture war soap opera for the era of Donald Trump.
All it was missing was an appearance from the Donald himself - which he happily provided this morning in a series of tweets blasting Meryl Streep as an "over-rated" "Hillary flunky" in league with the "dishonest media".
The "dishonest media," of course, loved it - and gave Trump's tweets equal billing with stories about cabinet nominees, Russian interference, and nuclear weapons.
This was a completely predictable reaction - and it's exactly what Trump wanted to happen.
He knows that if it tweets it leads.
He knows that if people are talking about his Twitter rant about Meryl Streep they're most definitely not talking about his unreleased tax returns, his Klan-loving attorney general nominee, and his Reaganomics-on-steroids economic agenda.
He knows that the mainstream television media decided a long time ago that they were going to give this kind pseudo-scandal wall-to-wall coverage - even if it meant destroying our democracy in the process.
That corporate media handed Donald Trump between $2 and $3 billion in free coverage, making him president, just to jack up their ratings, is the biggest story of the year, perhaps even the biggest story of our lifetimes.
The directors and managers and producers of a small handful of immensely powerful and profitable media corporations made the decision, in 2015, that The Donald Trump show was more important to put on TV every day and night than any actual news.
And why did they do this?
They did this because The Donald Trump Show brings ratings, and ratings determine their profitability.
This sick, symbiotic relationship won Trump the White House, and it's what will keep his presidency afloat long after it reaches its past due date.
Oh yeah, and if you're expecting some kind of mea culpa from the mainstream media for installing Trump, then good luck.
That would mean that mainstream corporate television media would have to admit that its primary goal is to make money, not keep people informed about what really matters.
Not going to happen.
So, can America survive the Donald Trump/Corporate Media industrial complex?
Comments
#2
"We"- meaning the US populace can only blame ourselves...not the media, not Trump. Don't pay attention to the Tweets from the Tweeter-in-chief and they both dry up. We got ourselves into this mess.
#3
If media is not driven by profit, then there only remains state owned media.
As both have their downside, we will just have to live with both.
However, Trump won the presidency because Hillary was corrupt and out of touch with unemployed workers.
ct
#4
Hi. we the people should begin a class action case and sue the federal government. Is this a possibility? We are all in this together....It may be the only way... I am sick and disgusted, but I am not by any means policitally knowledgeable. However, I am aware that the best way to justice is to remove money out of politics and give government and our personal freedoms back to the people. Money is NOT the answer, nor is it the solution....
#5
HOpe you have read the DailyKos report today.....interesting, if true, that Russia bailed out trump in 2008, and that there was money laundering going on through the non-existen Russian Chamber of Commerce!
#6
Too many people believe what they hear in 30-60 second soundbites. Many have never given thought to looking at the source! I am 80 years old and I only believe what I see with my own eyes, and question most of that! hahaha.
Like many I rely on Thom and Democracy Now, and the actual radio/TV interviews with individuals tells a lot about them and their beliefs.
Bless you and your team, Thom. We really need you as a voice of reason and truth.
#7
not me, but it is way of the world now....
#8
cappy - the government owns the judiciary
#9
I love the back and forth here. But Deander has it right, elections have consequences. We are the USA, we will survive, and if we don't it won't be from Putin or any other despot. We, the people are accountable and responsible. We teach our children by sending them to bad schools, with poorly paid union teachers who are more concerned with pensions and freebies. Pay them more, put local charter schools in place. Attach the the dollars to the child and make parents get training on bringing up kids in a global ever changing ecomonmy. by the time I die, if things continue, the USA will have more dummy, cupcake, soft, worthless kids running amok. We are what we teach. Beware of the Federal Nanny State. It will eat our lunches.
Volunteer, get active locally, get smart and kick but on the nanny state.
#10
Those who voted for President Obama and didn't vote Democrat in this past election are as much to blame for Mr. Trump being elected as those who chose whole-heartedly to support him. Hillary was not nearly as corrupt as everyone thought. She isn't perfect. None of us are. But a lot of the things being said about her are just as much B.S. as the things Mr. Trump is telling you about himself! If MI6 is correct in their report today, Mr. Trump may be impeached after his inauguration as the 2nd Order of Business for the 20th. And if not, then why not? We don't need a Manchurian Candidate as Leader of the presently Free World. It looks like Putin has him by the short hairs, and when Putin says "dance," then dance he will. Not a very good choice for America.
#11
@ #9:
The "nanny state" is one of the favorite red herrings of the Koch-head Tea Bagger faction of the far right.
You see, the Federal "guvmunt" is an overbearing force of darkness populated by self-serving bureaucrats who "eat our lunches" (mostly liberals), who seek to brainwash the masses at their evil indoctrination centers, i.e., public schools. Those worthless teachers with their damn unions are the worst. They could care less about the kids, as they cash in on the freebies and line their fat pensions with taxpayers' hard-earned paychecks.
The people (everyone but the enlightened, condescending wing-nuts, that is) are basically lazy and stupid, lacking critical thinking, free will, and any sense of self reliance -- easy targets for mind control. They will be made dependent for life, herded around like sheep, bent to the will of the big bad guvmunt in Washington DC.
No federal resources should be spent on helping little people, because they need to be taught harsh lessons and learn to fend for themselves. Sink or swim, you lazy bastards! This is "free" market capitalism, son!
Privatize and profitize absolutely everything, including the schools. Turn it all over to the tender mercies of millionaires and billionaires, so that they can feed off everyone else's taxes, while they order their pet politicians to cut their own taxes as much as possible.
With well over two hundred, mostly unregistered, corporate lobbyists for every one politician in the U.S. Congress -- and God only knows how many flooding the state legislatures -- most of society's wealth is guaranteed to flow to the top one percent.
When the People's "commons" are privatized, it's called socialism for the rich and capitalism for everyone else. When corporate interests are wedded to government power, it's called fascism. When white supremacists are running the reality show, it's called Amerikkka.
In the back and forth here, I know whose butt I'd love to kick!
#12
Who's to blame;
Regarding who's to blame; there is plenty of blame to go around. But people certainly are one factor at play; too many are uninvolved, uninformed, have short attention spans, short memory spans, apathetic, not doing critical thinking... And Manchurian Candidate doesn't just apply to Trump; there are too many of the masses who turn a blind eye and deaf ear to facts and reality, and regurgitate nonsense talking points in a way reminiscent of a cult-like conditioned reflex. The deluge of propaganda out there clearly has an effect.
#13
Fooling some of the people all the time is what wins elections. Forget the money. Get the BS out of politics.
#14
I just caught this piece by Nafeez Ahmed on Alternet - I think it important analysis and reminder that Peak Oil never went away!
http://www.alternet.org/environment/economic-oil-crash-around-corner
#15
This may be hard to accept, but we need never ask WHY Trump says or does any of the outrageous things he does. We might study PATHOLOGICAL NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER to understand his behavior. Having an intimate relationship with these disordered, deeply troubled human beings causes cognitive dissonance and emotional traumatic injury. We get his public face (which is confusing enough).
#16
Hillary was out of touch but not by enough to cause this!
I think it was a perfect storm.Budwieser renaming its flagship beer America,the British Exit, cable channels running the 13 hours Benghazi movie and Wikileaks doing the rest.
I am a believer in free speech so I will pass on Mr.Assange's work.
The rest will go down as a mistaken chapter in our history.Next we have the voter suppression by Mr.Kobach and the Republican Governors and the poison pill the Senate put into the ACA.My premiums have gone up drastically.
Waiting until October to sign up for Medicare ,if it still here.
#17
Meryl Streep deserves an award for giving that speech. What a beautiful, wholesome, healthy woman!! I don't know anyone who does not respect and admire her talent, and her character which was on full display that night:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NxyGmyEby40
Ms. Streep reminded us that theatre (and film - the arts) is about empathy ... about perceiving essential truths and sharing them in a way that other people can experience them more deeply.
Her speech was insightful and profound. - not to mention, heartfelt. Mr. Trump may have lashed out at her with his tweets because his 6 - year old self was feeling the pain ... clearly, he had not donned his presidential hat for the day - or his ((invisible)) cloak of empathy.
If Meryl Streep, had insulted Mr. Trump in the same vile, despising tone that he shows towards her (( and other women, including 'that disgusting' Hillary Clinton )) don't you think he would sue her?
Here's a thought. The Donald is fishing for a class action suit from all the people who are unified in their chagrin toward him (( though they might disagree in other things )) ... and it won't matter to him who wins, because he'll be orchestrating the reality tv show of the century ((( and uniting the country to boot - or, is it booty? ))).
That ought to show Meryl Streep who's boss.
By the way, Thom - you said the contact page for the White House is closed? Here's a link I found that says you can leave a message directly for Barack, and Michele, Obama, and VP Biden, or get help with a federal agency too:
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