I’ve never been a fan of outrage. People who respond to every news item with righteous indignation at high decibels tend to have their arguments dismissed–they are viewed (correctly in my opinion) as predictable and (eventually) tiresome. (Remember the old story about the boy who cried wolf?)
Instead, I have always believed that “pick your battles” is sound advice, as is “don’t sweat the small stuff, and most stuff is small stuff.”
The incoming Trump Administration is going to test that thesis. Severely. Virtually everything Trump is doing is genuinely outrageous, and in saner times would be so far beyond the pale that we wouldn’t be discussing a Trump Administration.
Case in point (just one of literally hundreds, and far from the worst): This week, “Celebrity Apprentice” returned to NBC with Donald Trump as an executive producer of the show.
Ignore, for now, this addition to the daily evidence that Trump is far more concerned with celebrity than governance of the most powerful nation on earth. As one activist organization put it, “one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, Comcast/NBCUniversal, has, for all intents and purposes, a contractual arrangement with the president-elect of the United States.”
Can we spell conflict of interest?
Trust in all media is at rock-bottom levels, and this simply increases public disdain for and skepticism about so-called “mainstream news.” What credibility can NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC retain, when they have a business agreement with a sitting President–a man they have an obligation to objectively monitor and investigate. How are Americans supposed to trust that their reporting on Trump is not compromised by the fact that they are doing business with him?
The problem is, this obviously improper behavior of both Trump and NBC comes in the midst of an absolute avalanche of corruption and incompetence. Several of Trump’s cabinet nominees are disasters-in-waiting. His collusion with Russia is now too obvious to ignore. He proposes policies likely to have dramatically horrible consequences that he quite clearly doesn’t begin to understand (Complexity-R-Not Us). He continues to pander to the white supremacists whose votes elected him. And I try not to think about the fact that this childish, mentally-ill narcissist will shortly be handed the nuclear codes…
Checks and balances? The ideologues, lapdogs and looters in Congress–many, if not most of whom were elected thanks to gerrymandering– show every sign of facilitating the Orange disaster.
If our national version of democracy is majority rule that respects minority rights, America is no longer a democracy.
At this point, the only way to retrieve government “by the people” is for “the people” to engage in a level of activism we haven’t seen in a very long time.
If outrage fuels such an uprising, I may modify my distaste for it.
AND, in other well timed irony, the law firm advising CJ on his conflicts, by pure coincidink, is Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, which has been named “Russia Law Firm of the Year” for 2016 by law profession directory Chambers & Partners for its “high-profile” work in Russia.
In case yer wondering who CJ is-Cheeto Jeesus is Drumpf.
Jeff Sessions doesn’t believe a secular person knows what truth is. Only kristians can know the truth.
JoAnn,
I just received an email notificatio that one of your favorite (not) Indy mayors has interviewed for a position in trump’s admin. Looks like pence is quite successful at bringing his cronies on board.
Nancy; thank you, just a few days ago I wondered if there was a way I could learn if Pence still had connections to Goldsmith. He and Trump are soulmates; Pence is simply a follower. This is an issue to track. When Goldsmith was arrested for domestic abuse for knocking his wife around was when the truth of his home address in Washington D.C. became public and he was forced to resign as Deputy Mayor of New York City where he was required to have his primary residence. WISH TV Channel 8 anchor newscaster, Dave Barras, commented about the domestic abuse arrest, “Maybe THIS will end his political career.” I’m sure Trump can find a place for him; ratcheting up our reason to fear the incoming administration.
Checklist for Saving Democracy (final entry)
#7 Gender Unification. I’ve seen it work miracles at the deepest level. But it is very difficult to attain. However, from my vantage point, it is the only strategy that can halt our rapid descent back to the Dark Ages after the disastrous election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Trump is not only a threat to the future of America but also to the future of Planet Earth. The World must unite against this grave threat. Time is running out.
The reason for the deplorable state of affairs in America is the DECEPTION and DENIAL that has been used to cover up the real CONTEXT surrounding the events being played out within the BODY POLITIC. Both sides are guilty.
Hopefully, my Checklist for Saving Democracy will help move us toward a more CONTEXTUALINTELLIGENCE.
“So what is CONTEXTUAL INTELLIGENCE? It can be described, simply enough, as the ability to influence anybody, in any place, at any time. It requires recognizing the dynamic variables in a situation, what behaviors are deemed important in that situation, and adjusting your behavior to exert the right influence to achieve your desired goal.”
“[To quote Philipp Hensler] in a constantly changing world, the ability to challenge one’s mental models and explore new ways to adapt is a competitive advantage”
“Contextual Intelligence: Smart Leadership for a Constantly Changing World” by Matthew R. Kutz (Perrysburg, OH: rtg Publishing) pp. 6-7
From the party that campaigned on listening to poor white, beleaguered voters- two of their first actions have been to take away health care from millions and cut 23 billion from the SNAP (food stamp) program. With friends like these…..you deserve what you voted for. The rest of us don’t.
Goldsmith can be in charge of forcing religion down our throats.