A long time ago I took a journalism class. One day, the lecture for the class delt with the purpose of the press in this country. I perked up a bit in my chair. The professor for the course said the role of the press was to prepare America for change. I thought about this, and I did not disagree, but this definition struck me as an oversimplification. It did not look at the full picture. However, I was very young at the time and had nothing straight in my head. Far be it for me to question the professor. Nevertheless, this idea of the role of the press stuck with me after that class and remained in the back of my mind.
Over the years I have ruminated about the role of the press. What function does it perform? And I must admit there have been many times when the press has performed precisely the role that my professor said so long ago -- especially when it comes to issues that many Americans find to be repugnant and unsavory and completely unacceptable. However, because the press is a powerful institution, seemingly impossible to oppose at times, pressure begins to build to embrace anything it says.
Recently, I was watching Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. I’m beginning to think I must have developed a masochistic element to my personality. I can’t explain why I watch this program since it feels like watching bed bugs climbing up my legs and sucking my blood for an hour -- especially when he implies his show is not biased. However, my squirming and clenched teeth relax when I remember the sagacious maxim by Sun Tzu: Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer. I stop fidgeting and listen up.
As a teaser just before the Data Download on this particular show, Chuck Todd said, “It is not uncommon for former leaders to be jailed or prosecuted after leaving office.” He went on to use banana republics like Guatemala and Panama as his first examples. The former president of Guatemala, Otto Molina and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, were both found guilty of corruption. In Panama, former president Ricardo Martinelli was called to stand trial for money laundering. Chuck Todd then used the former president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, as his example of a president who served jail time, five years in prison for corruption.
Although no American President has ever been jailed after leaving office, Chuck Todd’s point was clear: It’s not so bad that former President Trump, who has been charged with 37 felonies by Joe Biden, will go to jail for possibly 400 years. It happens all the time. No big deal. Get over it America.
Almost every issue the imperial press, the progressivist press, forces upon us requires heavy-handed prepping before it becomes established and accepted, leaving Americans with the sense we are powerless to oppose anything this institution demands, and so, we must submit.
Perhaps the capitol rioter, Audrey Southard-Rumsey, who recently was sentenced to six years in prison, said it best:
“I have grievances since they don’t listen to us at the polling place. They don’t listen to us little people in the regular world.”
Image: Public Domain Vectors