It is said that democracy dies in darkness. That's what the Washington Post has been telling us since MAGA took power in 2017: Without a free press that shines a light on wayward politicians, democracy is doomed. We are reminded every day that we will succumb to bad guys like Donald Trump and his supporters. President Vladimir Putin is an enabler of parliament.
I didn't like that slogan. Not because it's too melodramatic, but because it's wrong. Our democracy is at risk today because of free press, not because we lack it.
I'm talking about the easily recognizable form of yellow journalism, with its catch-and-kill methods and creepy feedback loops, that has been around since Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst invented it in the 1890s. I'm not talking about David Pecker Brand. (President Putin and Tucker Carlson, President Trump and Jesse Watters). I'm talking about a relatively new kind of journalism. Let's call it “Blue Sky Journalism.”
Blue sky journalism is more insidious and dangerous than yellow journalism. Just as subtle, subtle, and classy racism is more effective than a screaming mullet with a pointy white hood and a tiki torch. Sold at large retail stores. What makes blue sky journalism respectable is the fact that respectable journalists like Anderson Cooper, Chris Licht, Carrie Budhoff Brown, and Leslie Stahl probably don't shop there – people who operate comfortably in the bluest of blue-sky circles. This is because it is carried out by
Inevitably, in today's ratings-obsessed newsroom, instead of Jake Tapper, Margaret Brennan, and Abbey Phillippe, who have the backbone to say no, they say yes in the name of “fairness to both sides.” And then there's Caitlan Collins, who has ambitions of supporting demagogues. '' At least that's what she probably tells herself while getting her make-up done before going on air. I do this because I am a good, objective, nonpartisan journalist, and I am adamant that both sides deserve to be heard. ”
But is it? Is that really true? Does Russian disinformation deserve its rightful place in America's town hall conversations? Is that the hill on which you plant your fair and balanced flag? Liz Cheney, the daughter of a former Republican vice president, deserves to be heard. Her fellow former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger deserves to be heard. Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Mitt Romney's opinion is worth hearing. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is not.
And stop calling them “not Trumpers” and start calling them “decent conservatives” for what they are.
Trump supporters showed signs of violence
If out-of-the-blue journalism delivers the Electoral College to MAGA in November, a lot of people will be killed. And the violence doesn't start with SEAL Team 6 knocking on Rachel Maddow's door. Instead, Trump will follow his Russian master's playbook and give all the Proud Boys around the world what they need: a wink and a nod. These are the kind of people who drag a 14-month-old puppy into a gravel pit and blow their brains out. These are the kind of people who would murder 100,000 Ukrainians just to make Russian coin-operated grocery carts great again.
So don't underestimate MAGA's willingness to “make the necessary hard choices.” By the way, why hasn't SEAL Team 6 released a statement yet? If the Supreme Court has condemned my name as some kind of depraved murderous slave to Trump, I want to set the record straight. I strongly hope so. And why do we know that the composition of SEAL Team 6 will go from 90% MAGA to 100% MAGA in Trump's second term? If we put Trump back in the White House, will we need SEAL Team 7 to protect us from SEAL Team 6?
The important thing here is that we live on our own. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein won't be turning darkness into light and saving the day this time. The world doesn't work that way anymore. In fact, there is so much light that we are blinded to the danger we are in. Because news organizations have illuminated our politics like clear blue skies, not in the name of fair and objective journalism, but rather in the name of it. Arthur C. Nielsen, the mastermind behind television ratings.
And if you think our military will save us from MAGA gravel pits in the future, think again. Trump may not be a book guy, but he's a smart guy on the street. He will likely replace Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with conspiracy theorist Michael Flynn or someone associated with Flynn. Heck, we can't even rely on the better angels of the Supreme Court, the judicial centipede of textual hypocrisy, which is currently shamelessly trying to undermine Justice Tanya Chutkan's case. Trump's criticism of the January 6th insurrection helps him normalize what is not what it should be: American dictatorship. That's because it's bent backwards.
Our only hope is for us, our people, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
And if we fail that day, we don't know, but I'm going to jump in front of a bullet to protect Liz Chainy, and I have said almost everything I have ever said. i disagree.
Tom Heeler is the author of The Well-Spoken Thesaurus and Notes Ex Makina, a democracy yearbook debuting in 2025. However, this is provided that it is not banned by the incoming Trump administration. He lives in Lolo, Montana.
