I want to copy parts of a review
of the Trump “speech” at the CPAC
convention by Amanda Marcotte in Salon. I could not have said it
better so let me let Amanda say it. The title is: Trump appeared to be losing his mind in a delusional CPAC speech – Why didn’t
media cover it that way?
First let me excerpt some of
her comments on the speech:
“Trump unleashed a two-hour-plus rant that sounded at times, more
like the delusional ramblings of someone hopped up on drugs or suffering a mental
breakdown than anything resembling a
normal political speech.”
After actually hugging an
American flag with a weird smirk on this face, “Trump pinged wildly, from topic
to topic, ranting about how Democrats want to take away electricity and murder
newborns. He engaged in a lengthy rape fantasy about how female immigrants take
massive amounts of birth control because they supposedly get raped so much. …he
raved about now unfair it is that he is now under investigation for possible
criminal conspiracy with Russian intelligence to throw t he election, and wined
about it should be easier for him to obstruct justice. “
“There’s simply no way to
accurately describe Trump’s behavior without sounding hysterical or, heaven
forbid, “biased.” So most media outlets resort to euphemistic language or focus
on technically true observations — it’s accurate that Trump criticized special
counsel Robert Mueller — while sliding past the more relevant detail, such as
the fact that the president of the United States was babbling like a man who
hasn’t slept in days.”
”By far the most important
takeaway from Cohen’s hearing should have been the pathetic display by
Republican members of the House Oversight Committee. With the sole exception of
Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, every single Republican avoided asking
substantive or serious questions of Cohen. They simply impugned his character
(which isn’t difficult), lied in Trump’s defense and teed up excuses for their
voters to ignore the growing evidence of the president’s criminality.”
“To put it bluntly, Democrats
spent the Cohen hearing trying to expose crimes and Republicans spent it trying
to cover them up. To simply describe the difference as “partisan” is to fail
readers by drawing a false equivalence between moral and immoral behavior, and
to suggest that doing right and doing wrong are equally dirty, if there’s any
political gain to be had from either. This kind of coverage portrays political
grandstanding, a venal sin, as no better or no different from actively covering
up criminal activity.”
“The biggest takeaway from
Trump’s speech at CPAC was that the president of the United States is acting as
if he were losing his mind. That’s not all that surprising when you consider
that his former
right-hand man just accused him, under oath, of
committing numerous crimes. But someone who takes in the news the way most
Americans do — by checking out headlines and reading a few paragraphs of a
story, at most — would just assume that Trump was angry this weekend, rather
than monumentally unhinged”.
Some relevant Twitter postings by Amanda
Watching Trump rant incoherently for two hours
and reporting only that he appeared angry is a little like watching someone
swallow a whole kitten live and only wondering if it will make his throat
itchy. Okay, I’ll stop now, but seriously. The situation is bad.
Watching that bizarre debacle of a speech and
headlining it with “Trump criticizes Mueller” is like watching someone set
themselves on fire and focusing on what brand of lighter fluid they used.
AmandaMarcotte
AmandaMarcotte
Watching Trump rave like a madman for two hours
and reporting only that it was “blistering” is a lot like seeing someone
running down the street naked and observing only that his junk is probably
cold. Technically accurate, but perhaps not the most relevant issue at hand.
