Good Morning, Amerike!
Watching the news anymore has become a frustrating, eye-rolling chore. Since the election, the news media has become obsessed with its high drama politics. The ambulance chasing, ratings savvy, advertising dollar greed of the media has once again found you in its crosshairs, and now with your new best friend.
The Truth.
Shootings, fires, crashes, racial tension, even ISIS, have seemingly taken a back seat to President Donald Trump. We can’t seem to get over his being elected. We continue to be stunned, and the media continues to be incredulous, even as his bravado and campaign promises continue to lose their hold.
But we’re totally entertained, and that’s all that matters. Who needs shootings and crashes when this train wreck administration covers all the bases.
The good news is that Trump has served to exposed the lies and corruption that plague the American political system. The bad news is that he brings his own brand of dalliance.
From the New York Times brand and all print journalism, and all television news offerings ...from NPR to Rush Limbaugh to Bill Maher ...from news mosh pits like Britebart and BuzzFeed ...from The Hill to Vice and everything in between ...and even with a fairly good understanding of history ...I am getting the impression that America may be on its last legs.
Either the media is out of control or we Americans are out of control. Is the media reflecting our true American culture and society, or is America being ridiculed by the media as it satisfies and sustains our addiction to negativity, gossip and drama?
Either way, we’re not looking good, and the Truth seems to be suffering.
Here’s an example of how truth and perspective can be missed, even warped by the media:
The controversy about the “Russians” hacking the DNC and even influencing the Trump election shouldn’t be over whether or not they did it. Everyone does it. Let’s assume they actually did influence the outcome. What we should be concerned with is that they were able to do it. There’s the focus, and the implications would be the real news. Are America’s security systems so weak that a 9th grader can expose our national secrets?
We’re more interested in savoring the immediate, entertaining dilemma of someone’s purported treachery, while we completely ignore the serious, long range impending effect.
Vulnerability should be the question and focus. If trust and truth among the people are not fostered by our government we are a soft target to all who would harm America. But our collective focus seems to be entertainment, and America’s GNP continues to be the high-maintenance, shortsighted consumer.
It’s what the marketing and ratings show us, and what the vote for president told us.
We, you, elected Donald Trump President of the United States, and he used the media to do it. He used their ratings to get his best demographic coverage and he used his showmanship to win your heart and soul. He convinced you that he knows "what the American people want."
And you bought it. He’s still holding “rallies” to hold your attention.
Wake up America. Use your head ...and your heart.
As Americans, sadly, we are looking like a nation of idiotic consumers who “cant find our butts with both hands” ..as the saying goes. But it’s true. Just look around you.
The 24 hr. cable news networks and the Sunday morning news programs all feature personality oriented anchor people orchestrating dramatic political controversy while a plethora of pundits chase their own tails, all around tailored commercial breaks.
How many times have you accepted the patronizing cliché, “...what the American people want” from a politician who thinks he knows who the American people are and what they want? He may know whatever constituents who take him seriously want, but it's painfully obvious he doesn't really know or care much about anything but his own self-interests.
He knows the media, however, and how it can work for him.
Who are these “American people” to whom they refer? They must be the people who elected Donald Trump, the people who are influenced by their favorite 24 hr. cable news show personality, the people who the politicians and advertisers frisk daily.
We are all striving to be our individual selves in this consumer oriented land of American freedoms. So many choices. So many voices. It all adds up to who we are, and maybe more important, how the rest of the world sees us.
And even more important than that, how vulnerable our adversaries see us.
We’re seen through the eyes of our media. Not just the news media but through our television programs, movies, music, clothing styles, automotive dreams, trending fads and sex appeal. Our education system. Even our history is written with a show biz zest that captures our imagination as heros and leaders. But it all depends on who’s writing the history, the movie script, or the song ...and who’s writing, and selling, the news.
Ultimately, it depends on what you believe to be true.
Donald Trump is not the cause of our national concern. He’s the effect of our national indulgence.
Wake up America ...or we’ll all be watching “Good Morning Amerike!”
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah.
