Willfully ignoring
Trumpism insists you be solely focused on what the Left is doing
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Like any movement, as Trumpism has “developed,” strata of sophistication have appeared within its ranks. At the top are the intellectuals such as Victor Davis Hanson and Roger Kimball, who are able to impart a sheen of erudition to their defenses of MAGA. There are the think thanks that have fully gone over to yee-haw-ism: Heritage, Claremont. Hillsdale College still has faculty with integrity and a sense of standards, but slippage has been apparent, at least since president Larry Arnn signed that National Conservatism statement of purpose. Then there are the bottom-feeders: Gateway Pundit, Townhall, The Federalist.
The common thread running through all the layers is a ploy that so far has been a sure-fire way to fire up the base. Anyone else can see that it’s a classic oh-look-a-squirrel diversion from the MAGA dismantling of the nation’s institutional foundation. The whole infrastructure is committed to focusing solely on the machinations of the Left, as if Joe Biden or Barack Obama were still president and enjoyed a Democratic congressional majority.
American Greatness inhabits a layer above the fever swamp by publishing occasional pieces by formerly respectable thinkers, such as Hanson. But a look at article subjects currently featured there tells the story: American academe losing its way (which has been the case for several decades, and examined extensively), Democrats wanting to keep Virginia’s car tax, the CBS interview with Kamala Harris getting nominated for an Emmy.
As I said in the previous post, Townhall goes in for the inflamed description for Trumpist volleys in a polemical exchange: “JD Vance Absolutely Wrecked an Anti-Trump Commentator Over This Trump White House Post.” “Trump's Top Hatchet Man Once Again Obliterated the Liberal Media.” There are also currently stories up there such as “It's Been a Bad Time for the Democrats,” “Democrats Are Left Holding the Bag Again,” and “One of the Speakers at Bernie Sander’s Rally Screamed ‘F*ck ICE’ and Was Met With Applause.”
A lot of opinion outlets of all stripes these days are less than effective at avoiding insularity. Keen readers can detect confirmation bias even at outlets that do indeed try to work with some sense of responsibility.
But this is such a blatant attempt to steer readers’ thinking into a narrow tunnel that it would be laughable if it weren’t so fraught with catastrophic consequences.
In the parallel universe Trumpism seeks to portray, there’s nothing to see in
the Trump-as-Pope picture the White House released on social media
two Commonwealth nations that were heretofore among the closest of America’s allies - Canada and Australia - having elected center-left prime ministers in the last week. The conservative parties running against their parties had been in the lead until the Very Stable Genius started shooting off his mouth about tariffs and annexing Canada.
Mike Waltz’s removal as national security advisor. Yes, he’s in nomination to be UN ambassador, but one must ask, what in the hell did he do in three months’ time to get relieved of the national security post? And we know at least some of the answer. The dude was reckless as hell with top-secret group chats, holding them on Signal.
The beyond-cringe, North Korea-esque cabinet meeting at which several department heads lavished praise on the VSG for his first 100 days. The above-mentioned Waltz was there, mere hours before the axe fell. Pam Bondi’s leg-humping was the worst.
I have to wonder what drives someone to willfully take at best a dismissive tone to mention of the above, and more often, a complete avoidance of those subjects.
Having a well-calibrated gauge for what one is presented with is becoming more essential all the time.
It’s wild out there.