# Please. Can Trump just go away? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 11, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526 "2021-09-11T22:44:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/1 "2021-09-11T22:44:07Z")
Please, news reporting agencies, just forget about this doofus. [Trump Spanked for Absence From 9/11 Memorial Services: ‘Ceremony Isn’t About Him, So Why Bother’ (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/trump-spanked-for-absence-from-9-11-memorial-services-ceremony-isn-t-about-him-so-why-bother/ar-AAOldFH?ocid=msnews) ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/2 "2021-09-11T22:51:12Z")
Moderating: > [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](#): > > Please, news reporting agencies, just forget about this doofus. I have no problem with your thread. However, the deliberate misspelling of Trump’s name is needlessly provocative in this forum, so I’m going to change it to the correct spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/3 "2021-09-11T23:04:24Z")
“He had the option to attend but decided to honor the day with different stops,” Trump’s spokeswoman, Liz Harrington, said. AKA, He did not get permission from Putin to attend. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/4 "2021-09-12T00:04:38Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](#): > > Please, news reporting agencies, just forget about this doofus. They just can’t help themselves. Any mention of “Trump” is guaranteed to bring clicks and advertising revenue even though “Former President Donald Trump acting like a self-absorbed narcissist” is so far from being anything even approximating news that they would do better to just re-air clips from the latest episode of TMZ. There is hope for them, though, if they’ll just take heed to a little good advice: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cmdFne7LnuA/hqdefault.jpg "Jon Stewart To The Media: It's Time To Get Your Groove Back") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmdFne7LnuA&t=426s) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/5 "2021-09-12T06:07:09Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > > [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](#): > > > > Please, news reporting agencies, just forget about this doofus. > > I have no problem with your thread. However, the deliberate misspelling of Trump’s name is needlessly provocative in this forum, so I’m going to change it to the correct spelling. I concur, thanks for the note. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/6 "2021-09-12T06:18:52Z")
Yes it is a ratings game with how many eyeballs can tune in. Please folks. These media just want your dollars and your attention. Vet your sources of information. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/7 "2021-09-12T08:09:28Z")
He can’t go away because more are becoming aware that the two political parties are more alike than most imagine, promoting a combination of neoconservatism and neoliberalism since the Reagan admin. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/8 "2021-09-12T08:30:11Z")
> [@ralfy](#): > > He can’t go away because more are becoming aware that the two political parties are more alike than most imagine That statement was absurd when I heard it used as a reason to vote for Ralph Nader in 2000. It’s even more absurd now. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/9 "2021-09-12T09:45:27Z")
Who? Oh, him. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/10 "2021-09-12T09:49:09Z")
The only thing NETWORK (1978) failed to predict is that the clown-show morons paraded before the drooling rabble and the shadowy power brokers pulling the clowns’ strings to distract the populace would eventually merge into a single hellish Brundleform. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/11 "2021-09-12T11:16:09Z")
Like it or not, Trump is newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/12 "2021-09-12T15:47:50Z")
Really? What has he done lately that is newsworthy? Because not attending a memorial because it isn’t focused on him is not only not surprising or informative in any way, it is entirely what is expected of him, and the only surprise would be if he showed up for made some kind of statement memorializing the victims and praising first responders. There persist this notion that whatever Trump does is “newsworthy” because he is Trump even if it gives him publicity, which is not only an absurd tautology but begs the question of why journalists didn’t report on Gerald Ford’s post-presidential doings or why they aren’t following Jimmy Carter around 24/7. Legitimate news outlets have a duty to not just report information, but filter though it for veracity and identify what information is important and provide a context for how to relate it to wider events; it’s called “journalism” and is why news reporting is a profession distinct from public relations and fabulism. Of course, this is nothing new; major media outlets have failed to do their journalistic duties of being disquisitive and skeptical going back to at least the George W. Bush campaign to invade Iraq based upon fabricated evidence of a non-existent nuclear weapon program. That [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) would not only present then-President Trump’s tweets (and then repeat them verbatim in text to further puff up their word count) is not evidence that the majority of tweets were in any way significant news, but rather that [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) is lazy and sensationalist, barely ranking above click-bait list sites for worthwhile information. And now they and other outlets are doing the same not because Trump is relevant outside of being an inept would-be demagogue with a failing business empire and former associates and family members distancing themselves from him, but because the Trump name gets clicks. And by chasing clicks, they are manufacturing “news” of Trump’s relevance to anything, putting him back int he spotlight because when has that ever gone wrong before? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/13 "2021-09-12T15:58:09Z")
_‘Stop obsessing, media. Take up a hobby. I recommend journalism.’_ Fucking brilliant. J.S. is a national treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/14 "2021-09-12T16:55:37Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Fucking brilliant. J.S. is a national treasure. > “Jon, you are aware we are on CBS right now, yes?” > “In my defense…THEY DO ANAL!” Stewart’s best opus is still his [in real time takedown of CNN’s Crossfire](https://youtu.be/aFQFB5YpDZE) where he literally takes over the show from the two hosts and turns into a fifteen minute roast which resulted in CNN cancelling the show and Tucker Carlson no longer wearing bow ties. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/15 "2021-09-12T17:11:07Z")
Yeah, it pisses me off. My new PC has MS Edge installed and the homepage clickbait-ey tiles are guaranteed to feature that mook’s mug with an equally clickbait-ey blurb as the headline. _Every_. _Day_. Gotta change that homepage at least. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/16 "2021-09-12T17:21:01Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Tucker Carlson no longer wearing bow ties. At least it accomplished something. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/17 "2021-09-12T17:23:00Z")
The media got fat on four or five years of Trump. Viewership figures increased: outraged liberals and besotted conservatives both wanted more. The media are effectively addicted to Trump. Viewership has gone down now that Trump is off Twitter and out of office. I guess the reporters just can’t go cold turkey. I also suspect that it’s unusual for a former president to skip attending such an event. I don’t think the media criticizing Trump will meet its goal: liberals won’t care (that’s just Trump being Trump) and his supporters won’t care (distrust of the mainstream media). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/18 "2021-09-12T17:39:44Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I guess the reporters just can’t go cold turkey. Just to be clear, the problem isn’t reporters (or at least the good ones, anyway); it is the senior editorial staff and financial backers who want views, clicks, and advertising revenue above all else. And one can scarcely blame them as news media has essentially become entertainment as far as most viewers are concerned. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/19 "2021-09-12T18:25:23Z")
If we were better-informed, perhaps we’d have input into reducing our affliction. But, so afflicted, we’d prefer to be amused. But I give Trump credit for not going to the Flight 93 memorial to brag how his team _did_ breach the Capitol. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526/20 "2021-09-12T18:37:52Z")
First thing I do with a new computer is change my browser from winshit based garbage to something like Opera, Chrome or Firefox, and my homepage to something particular to me. Back in the 90s early 2000s it tended to be ummmm, Yahoo? Whighever let me just have a whole page of links to my specific sites with a calendar and newsfeed that I could pick what I wanted to show up, and movie theaters offerings and times. When they killed that functionality, I went to google as a home page, I like the different things they do for google as the header, and just the search box. I now have my browser synched across my tablet, both laptops and the desktop we use as the TV/entertainment system. So all my bookmarks and passwords are proliferated across platforms. I also make an updated bookmark/password/important documents n files thumb drive and spare hard drive with my music and ebook collection. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-can-trump-just-go-away/950526.md?page=2)