I’m a professional liar; I make things up for a living. In
other words I’m an author, it’s what I do. In my
books I twist tales of lies, deceit and schemes. For the most part the
reader understands that, although I try to hold a few things back until the
end. For the most part though, they know who the bad guys and gals are and they
understand the underlying truth of their nefarious machinations.
Reality it seems is a bit different.
I woke up this morning and the world is coming unglued
because of a tweet by President Trump directed at MSNBC Host Mika Brzezinski
and her husband, Joe Scarborough.
I will be the first one to say that I wish that the
President refrained from tweeting some of the more inflammatory stuff that he
does, but that’s his decision not mine. What I find amusing is the meltdown
that usually ensues.
I hate to break the bad news to you, but you need to wake up
and smell the coffee, because civility is dead in America folks.
Much to the dismay of the folks on the left, it didn’t die on
January 20th, 2017, nor did it die on June 16th, 2015.
No, the truth is that civility died long before that. It’s
just that everybody was too busy to notice it.
Civility died when politicians realized that they could
openly castigate their opponents and perpetuate false talking points for their political
gain.
Civility died when news pundits realized that they could say
anything they wanted, including baseless lies, while hiding behind the mantra
of Freedom of the Press.
Civility died when we opened up our homes to the folly of
reality television; where the most extreme and reprehensible behavior became our
entertainment.
No, contrary to what many will tell you, civility didn’t die
when we elected Donald Trump; we just exposed the dirty little secret that we
had been hiding for decades.
The latest exchange shows that in all its ugly glory, but I
am truly having a hard time being upset by it and here is the reason why:
Because it’s fake outrage.
You see, for year’s politicians and pundits plied their
salacious trade with Immunity. In other words they fundamentally knew that
something wasn’t true, or was a well scripted interpretation, but no one was
going to call them on it. Tales were told for political gain and ratings glory.
There was a status quo and it was generally
adhered to.
Then along came Donald Trump who walked into the room with a
smile and flipped the damn table like some crazy chick on a reality TV show.
For the new viewers, who had just tuned in, it was an extraordinary
example of a bully, someone who was completely unhinged and out of control.
Oh, the inhumanity of it all!
But for other viewers, who’d been watching for a while, it
was simply the last straw that broke the camel’s back. You see we had all watched the little subplots
throughout the years; the goings-on behind the scenes. So by the time the table
had been flipped, we all knew it was a long time coming. You see, the truth is
that the last person to act out wasn’t the bully, but the victim who had simply
grown tired of being pushed around; which takes us back to today.
Whether you like it or not, the President is hitting back
and maybe it is about time. You see, I don’t ascribe to the belief that Donald
Trump is a bully and that civility died with his election. I believe that it
just exposed the incivility of the real bullies.
I have little empathy for the folks in politics and the
media. They’ve been acting the part of the bully for years and finally someone
hit back. Now they realize that they are not as tough as they believed they
were and have gone off crying to mommy and daddy. It’s like Kathy Griffin
posing with a bloody mock-up of the President’s head. She knew exactly what she
was doing and it was to further her celebrity. So when the backlash hit, her
tears, and claims of being a victim, were
not only hypocritical they were also hilarious.
There is something magical about watching a bully get what
they deserve.
 |
| I can't compete with this level of awesomeness !! |
You see, she claims to be a comic, but there was nothing
comedic in what she did. It was purely for political shock, designed to give
her ‘D-List’ career (her words, not mine) a bump, so she deserves to get called
out on it. She only compounded her screw-up
when she stood in front of a mic and claimed that ‘Trump broke me.’
It would be like me, putting down my keyboard
and grabbing my axe, then jumping on stage to steal the show from Zoltan Bathory of Five Finger Death Punch. I
would wholly deserve the ridicule that would ensue.
Then again, in the immortal words of P.T. Barnum, “There is
no such thing as bad publicity” and I could think of worse things than being
mentioned in the same sentence as Zo, but I digress.
Again, don’t get me wrong, I wish that the President didn’t
tweet some of the things he does, but I am not going to fault him without first
ID’ing who the instigator was. Many in
the media, and those up on Capitol Hill, are castigating the President, but
just like Mika Brzezinski, they don’t have a leg to stand on.
Consider this for a moment. Earlier this month the MSNBC
host went on a verbal tirade. During which she referred to the President as a “Narcissist”,
“Mentally Ill’, “Not Well”, “Ignorant”, “Stupid”, “says he can grab
women anywhere” and further insinuated that he might have homosexual
tendencies. Yet now I am supposed to have empathy for her? Yeah, that’s not
going to happen.
From day one Donald Trump said “I’m a counter puncher. You
hit me, I’ll hit back.” Now everyone seems shocked because that’s what he is
doing?
It’s time to pull up your big girl pants, Mika, and take the
lumps you deserve. If you want to criticize him for his policies, have at it.
If you want to investigate anything, go for it, but if you think you can make
it personal and not get any blowback, you are extremely naïve.
Here’s a news flash folks:
If you want civility you need to learn to act civil first.
How about talking about facts, instead of going on personal
attacks?
To be fair, this is not a left or right thing. In fact, it
is a truly bi-partisan issue. I didn’t
agree with President Obama on a great many things, but I could give you
articulate reasons for my positions. I didn’t yell or scream to get those points
across and I certainly didn’t resort to name calling. Yet, that seems to be the
norm these days.
I don’t like what we have become in this country and I fear
where we are going. When political discourse devolves into nothing more than baseless
rhetoric, screaming matches and finally violence, we have lost our way.
I have always wanted to believe that this truly is not who
we are as Americans, but maybe I’m the one who is naive. Perhaps what we are
seeing now is the shedding of the facade. Perhaps we are just now showing our
true colors.
As a wordsmith, I create stories in my mind, than I commit them
to paper, to entertain the reader. All authors strive to create a plausible story-line,
even when the plot might seem to be wildly exaggerated. I’m watching what is
happening in this country and I find myself being profoundly sad and yet jealous
at the way this is all unfolding.
I would be proud to spin this tale and yet this is not
fiction. We are not readers, we are
witnesses. Instead of watching the sordid goings-on of fictional characters, we
are watching other humans destroy this country for their political gain and
media ratings. If we wait for them to
change, this will end up being a tragedy on the scale of a Shakespearean play.
It has to start with us. We have to learn how to be civil
again with one another. We might not agree on the issues, but we have to treat
each other with respect. Only then can we claim to have the moral high ground
to demand the same from our elected officials and journalists.
I just pray it is not too late.
