Take them in detail:
Trump the wizard of celebrity
March 10, 2016
... journalism in our political coverage. TV hosts, pundits, and analysts are on air because of their celebrity, the ratings they draw. Each show follows the same formula, the same narrative, replays the same tired bumper sticker clip from the campaign. No one is informed of the policy implications; no one illustrates the budget impacts, or the reality of foreign policy proposals. Taking time for this type of reporting would dampen ratings, tarnish celebrities, distract from the horse race. At least that is the perception among the honchos at the networks. Our media culture views real journalism as boring, costly, and unnecessary. We have crafted a system ripe for the picking by a reality TV star who is media savvy and understands how to grab ratings. Trump brought ratings to cable news and just like cocaine it felt too good not to crave more. Many GOP toadies have tried to blame cable news or NBC for the phenomena of Trump, they did broadcast the Apprentice thing. All the finger pointers are trying to deny the reality of our media. It is a megaphone, but cannot create voting blocks of support. All are pretending it is serious journalism while ignoring the superficiality and celebrity culture it is. No one is to blame; our information and influence venues were ripe for some one like Trump.
Celebrity Apprentice reality TV at its finest
Trump is made possible by the GOP base, in this case the Tea. The GOP has morphed into what I abbreviate as the GOP/Tea. There is no traditional Republican Party left because any pretense at old-line Republican values is undercut by the inability to pass any bill or support any policy that is unacceptable to the Tea’er base. The Tea version of compromise is you do what I want; this attitude results in paralysis. The people who were in the old line Republican Party are more likely to be a part of the Third Way movement. (Writing this as Michigan and Mississippi primary results are being reported and Trump is again a winner) The elites of Republican politics seem as hated by the GOP base (the Reagan coalition) as are libruls, Dimocrats, and fureigners. How are so many, over 50% in Mississippi, jumping on the Trump train with such enthusiasm? The Donald, as skilled a camera magnet as he is, did not create these supporters. The Trump base was created by decades of conservative politics. Republicans embraced conservatism, but then left for more extreme right wing politics. The extremists now own the party. Extreme politics have moved beyond rational discourse, rational politics are condemned and rejected outright. The Republican coalition was viewed as being unified in core values, but in reality it was only unified in support for Republicans up for election. Fox News did create a shared worldview to mask divisions, but it couldn't change reality just perceptions.
Compromise is how legislatures legislate - but not Tea Caucus
Fox and the party strategists attempted to manipulate the news, and the issues, to gain partisan advantage. The elites and the think tanks forgot their supporters are not stupid. Governor Jindal appealed to his party not to be the stupid party. An ironic appeal anyone would have been stupid to promote him after the disaster he helped create in Louisiana. In between ginned up outrage over mosques, guns, gays, abortions, and as always those fureigners the Reagan coalition does observe the real world. The real world continues to exist. Even if reality holds no interest to the pundits spinning out the peddled theme of the day it didn’t go away. No matter what Rush or Fox News said – base GOP voters all knew the W Bush administration sucked. They quietly growled into their beers and attacked the Bush detractors as America haters, but they knew things ain’t right.
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