Yesterday, I wrote to PBS and NPR asking them to not broadcast Trump's speech. That is because one could reasonably expect his speech to be mostly anti-democratic, authoritarian demagoguery heavily larded with lies, slanders, crackpot reasoning and deranged blither. Why bother broadcasting malicious evil? After all, PBS and NPR could easily just summarize the speech after it was over instead of giving Trump and his evil millions of dollars worth of free advertising.
When I checked this morning, both apparently broadcast it live. No surprise there. Willing or not, PBS and NPR are complicit in MAGA demagoguery, authoritarianism and corruption. Those two sources betrayed us and our democracy. Along with the rest of the MSM (mainstream media), they get a well-deserved grade of F-.
What was the speech?
One can ask, was the speech mostly authoritarian demagoguery, mostly democratic honest speech, or mostly something else? Was it larded with lies, slanders and crackpot reasoning as usual? The answers are no surprise. It was mostly authoritarian demagoguery and larded with lies, slanders and crackpot reasoning.
PolitiFact pointed out numerous lies and misleading assertions. Some of the lies, e.g., drug prices have dropped by 100% or more, are not just blatant lies, but insulting lies. Trump claimed
he worked to "slash prices on drugs and pharmaceuticals by as much as 400, 500, and even 600%". However, none of that sleaze fazes most Trump supporters. They rationalize Trump's lies into nothingburgers like this:
he worked to "slash prices on drugs and pharmaceuticals by as much as 400, 500, and even 600%". However, none of that sleaze fazes most Trump supporters. They rationalize Trump's lies into nothingburgers like this:
Why did everyone broadcast it?
Given that everyone knew in advance that Trump would spew toxic lies, slanders and crackpottery, why broadcast it? Why did the MSM broadcast Trump's filth, insults and lies? Was it a mostly matter of complicity due to sympathetic corporate and investor ownership? Was it mostly due to incompetence and/or stupidity? Something else?
Available evidence leads to a reasonable belief that the MSM's decision to broadcast Trump's malicious speech reflects primarily corporate profit-seeking combined with intimidation. It was not primarily a matter of good-faith news judgment or shocking incompetence/stupidity. Everyone knew in advance exactly what Trump would deliver. He delivered as expected.
What about PBS and NPR?: PBS and NPR probably broadcast the speech primarily out of fear of Trump's threats, not profit motive. They don't operate on an advertising-based profit model like commercial networks. PBS and NPR were still fighting lawsuits against Trump's defunding order as of yesterday. They very likely calculated that refusing to air a presidential address, despite it being pure propaganda, wouldprovide evidence supporting Trump's "biased media" claims in pending court cases. In turn, that would give him additional justification for further attacks and revocation of their broadcast licenses. In essence, Trump now has the power to coerce collaboration by institutions Trump is in the process of actively destroying.
Given that everyone knew in advance that Trump would spew toxic lies, slanders and crackpottery, why broadcast it? Why did the MSM broadcast Trump's filth, insults and lies? Was it a mostly matter of complicity due to sympathetic corporate and investor ownership? Was it mostly due to incompetence and/or stupidity? Something else?
Networks deliberately broke precedent by airing this overtly partisan address. Now, contrast that with how the MSM treated Biden. In 2022, the major broadcast networks refused Biden primetime access for a democracy speech, dismissing it as too political. Instead they aired reruns of Law & Order and Young Sheldon. But those same networks preempted season finales of major shows, e.g., Survivor on CBS and The Floor on Fox, to carry Trump's transparently partisan attack speech that the White House itself billed as touting "historic accomplishments" rather than announcing policy or addressing any crisis.
Does anyone see any hypocrisy here?
We're screwed. So is our democracy, rule of law, civil liberties, and transparency and honesty in government.
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