# I pit the MSM commentators who are trying to normalize Trump's ascendancy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 10, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426 "2016-11-10T23:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/1 "2016-11-10T23:55:31Z")
[This is my new “must read”](http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-american-tragedy-donald-trump) in reaction to Trump’s election. I urge all of you to keep Resnick’s (and Orwell’s) words in mind when you hear journalists and pundits try to normalize Trump’s coming presidency, spout pablum about the “wisdom and decency” of the people and the stability of democratic institutions, or criticize Democrats for being “out of touch” (despite winning more votes!). > [@](#): > > Trump’s shocking victory, his ascension to the Presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the United States and liberal democracy. On January 20, 2017, we will bid farewell to the first African-American President—a man of integrity, dignity, and generous spirit—and witness the inauguration of a con who did little to spurn endorsement by forces of xenophobia and white supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less than revulsion and profound anxiety.[…] > > In the coming days, commentators will attempt to normalize this event. They will try to soothe their readers and viewers with thoughts about the “innate wisdom” and “essential decency” of the American people. They will downplay the virulence of the nationalism displayed, the cruel decision to elevate a man who rides in a gold-plated airliner but who has staked his claim with the populist rhetoric of blood and soil. George Orwell, the most fearless of commentators, was right to point out that public opinion is no more innately wise than humans are innately kind. People can behave foolishly, recklessly, self-destructively in the aggregate just as they can individually. Sometimes all they require is a leader of cunning, a demagogue who reads the waves of resentment and rides them to a popular victory. “The point is that the relative freedom which we enjoy depends of public opinion,” Orwell wrote in his essay “Freedom of the Park.” “The law is no protection. Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper in the country. If large numbers of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them.”[…] > > The commentators, in their attempt to normalize this tragedy, will also find ways to discount the bumbling and destructive behavior of the F.B.I., the malign interference of Russian intelligence, the free pass—the hours of uninterrupted, unmediated coverage of his rallies—provided to Trump by cable television, particularly in the early months of his campaign. We will be asked to count on the stability of American institutions, the tendency of even the most radical politicians to rein themselves in when admitted to office. Liberals will be admonished as smug, disconnected from suffering, as if so many Democratic voters were unacquainted with poverty, struggle, and misfortune. There is no reason to believe this palaver. There is no reason to believe that Trump and his band of associates—Chris Christie, Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Pence, and, yes, Paul Ryan—are in any mood to govern as Republicans within the traditional boundaries of decency. Trump was not elected on a platform of decency, fairness, moderation, compromise, and the rule of law; he was elected, in the main, on a platform of resentment. Fascism is not our future—it cannot be; we cannot allow it to be so—but this is surely the way fascism can begin. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/2 "2016-11-11T02:17:30Z")
I think this is worthwhile reading too: [Bug Hunt](http://www.stonekettle.com/2016/11/bug-hunt.html) > [@](#): > > … > We are now facing an unhinged uncouth unrepentant proto-fascist in the White House not only enabled by a willing Congress and a vulnerable Supreme Court, but aided and abetted by a newly emboldened mob made up of bigots and haters of every foul stripe. > > Nearly all the checks and balances on our government will shortly be disabled and we are soon to be the target of their vindictive madness. > > The situation is so dire in fact that I actually used the word “emboldened” as if the Bush years were now a source of gentle nostalgia and benign inspiration. > > But… > > Panic will only make things worse. > > And howling into the dark won’t frighten away the monsters. > > Rage and fear won’t help. Running away won’t save you; there’s nowhere on the planet that won’t feel the effects of what is about to come. > > As the man said, we’re in some real pretty shit now, aren’t we? > > ``` > Private Hudson: Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal! > > ``` > > We did. We got our asses kicked. > > We’re standing in the wreckage, the smell of charred meat and burning fuel in our nostrils, and night is coming. > > The White House. The Senate. The House of Representatives. And very shortly, the Supreme Court. All are lost. > > The conservative extremists who will soon control those bodies will not hesitate to force their ideology upon the country. And they will do so without restraint. They’re already gleefully crowing about it and they can’t wait to get their revenge for all the wrongs they believe they have suffered. > > It doesn’t take any great clairvoyance to see what’s coming. > … ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/3 "2016-11-11T03:48:06Z")
Oof. That’s an even more dire outlook, if that’s possible. Which is why starting tomorrow (Friday) at midnight, I am going to endeavor to completely disengage with following politics and current events. If things go as far south as some are predicting, I guess I’ll find out when the storm troopers kick in my door. Until then, I’m going to try not to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/4 "2016-11-11T05:04:24Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Oof. That’s an even more dire outlook, if that’s possible. Which is why starting tomorrow (Friday) at midnight, I am going to endeavor to completely disengage with following politics and current events. If things go as far south as some are predicting, I guess I’ll find out when the storm troopers kick in my door. Until then, I’m going to try not to think about it. I wouldn’t despair if I were you. Just recognize that pain and suffering due to global forces are driving people to align with one who is exploiting populism. Work to sell a message that includes solutions to help mitigate the effects global trade and migration have on those who are economically displaced. It won’t be that hard to get them back in the liberal side if the left would embrace big labor again instead of taking them for granted. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/5 "2016-11-11T05:47:36Z")
I’ll take a daily dose of Olbermann until he gets arrested. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/6 "2016-11-11T05:54:18Z")
Is he still doing stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-msm-commentators-who-are-trying-to-normalize-trumps-ascendancy/771426/7 "2016-11-11T06:05:48Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Is he still doing stuff? There’s been [one articulate megarant a day for more than a month](http://video.gq.com/series/the-closer-with-keith-olbermann) but… huh, it looks like his last show was the one just after the election, titled “The Terrorists Have Won.” Oh, well… I see these 40 videos are listed as “Season 1”, which encourages optimism of Olbermann’s return.