What Is Real?
The narrative created by journalists distracts, deludes, and divides.
As if the titles of news articles have hooks, how often is your morning coffee enlivened with some “What? Can this really be true?” moment? Sometimes, the hardest part of writing an article or “post,” which many call these musings on Medium — to me, this is an article — is to develop a title that respects the reader’s intelligence and the subject matter at hand.
I chose a simple one: “What Is Real?” Why did I choose this? For as much as I read newspapers, online news sites, opinion pieces, Medium articles, etc., I find that the truth gets so buried in the choice of the writer’s proclamations, assumptions, admonitions, and “Holy shit, can you believe this” exclamations that deciphering what the original grain of truth is and what is the style — or desperation — of the writer becomes an arduous chore. The narrative becomes all about the agenda of the writer and the publication and so much less about the profession of informing the reader.
Donald Trump won in South Carolina. My beloved New York Times shouts to the heavens: Trump trounces Haley in her home state. If I were a not-so-bright, Foxified American or some kid coming of political age, I would begin to get a sense that Trump’s brutalizing of so many other Republicans speaks to the fateful inevitability of his candidacy: Kapow! It’s Trump to the rescue. Where are the headlines blazing contrails across our subconscious about Biden’s fulfillment of campaign promises? Biden Forgives Another $2 Billion in Student Debt, Bringing the Total to $160 Billion! The media downplays Biden’s methodical and successful governance of our country because it’s boring. Student loan debt forgiveness does not create fear.
For weeks, the media had been obsessed with Biden’s “senility.” Without getting into how successful his presidency has been — one of the best since Roosevelt and Truman — he is not senile. He is older and may be physically and mentally tired at the end of the day. When younger presidents made such gaffes, no one was doubting them. Trump is nuts. If he had not been the ex-president, most people would cross the street rather than end up in a conversation with him. He is delusional and a sociopath. How does the media treat this? “Trump is Trump.” What the f*** does that mean?! That’s like saying, “Charles Manson is Charles Manson,” or, “Gee golly, Putin is gonna be Putin.”
Today, I am angry at the faux narrative being crafted and peddled at The New York Times, a friendly news source. I don’t even want to look and see what is going on at the dark side. Journalists, however, have a responsibility. Writers here on Medium, if they are serious, also have a responsibility. While I can’t be indifferent to Trump, fascists, or Russia’s genocide, I do try to be fair to as many issues as I can. I don’t write about Israel and Gaza because I feel that I will descend into rhetoric, gossip, and slogan-y truths. Nonetheless, I do have an article in the works on that topic.
The world recently saw a display of whorishness when Tucker Carlson let Vladimir Putin ramble on for two hours with his world truth. Carlson did and said nothing to challenge the obvious lies, some so bad that even Russia’s state media had to walk back Putin’s fantasies, but Carlson so pompously told the world — which is America in his eyes — “that I am doing this interview because the world needs to know the truth about Russia and why it’s waging this war.”
Here is a truth from Putin: Poland started World War II. How did Tucker React? “Yes, of course.” Putin was startled that he managed to get that line of bullshit past him so easily.
Tucker and many on the right create an anti-American narrative, which is then often echoed by the left and mainstream media as they work to disprove it. While disproving it, however, they often adopt similar language.
By the way, here is what Tucker Carlson said about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2022:
“Whatever you think of the war in Ukraine, it is pretty clear Zelensky has no interest in freedom and democracy,” he said, as Time magazine named Zelensky its Person of the Year. “In fact, Zelensky is far closer to Lenin than to George Washington. He is a dictator. He is a dangerous authoritarian who has used a hundred billion in US tax dollars to erect a one-party police state in Ukraine (Everything Tucker Has Said About Putin).”
Here is what Carlson said about Putin:
“We should probably take the side of Russia if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”
“Putin, for all his faults, does not hate America as much as many of these people (American liberals) do. They really dislike our country.”
“The Cold War ended a long time ago. The Soviet Union is gone. Russia is not our enemy. It’s just not (Everything Tucker Has Said About Putin).”
Both this right-wing lunacy and the stuff that set me off this morning in the Times earn a lot of money for a lot of people. As consumers of information and creators of information, we all need to be wary of what we read, write, share with others, and adopt as pillars for our own information.
More so now than maybe ever, purposeful disinformation has become a deadly game, and everyone needs to stop and think about everything they read: Why is this author pushing this narrative? Why did a “kapow” word get chosen as opposed to a “hey there” word?
Trump is treated with “kapow” and Biden with “um (clears throat), excuse me.”