Dump Trump
I get a lot of my news from the web nowadays. Fine, some of the sites I go to may not necessarily host just news. But no worries. I generally don't end up in satirical sites or clickbaits with sensationalist headlines. Also, the stuff I read may not be news, per se, but I think they qualify as political commentary hosting insightful, well-written pieces that sometimes leave me green with envy at the effortless, adroit use of the English tongue.
One such site I often land in is the Huffington Post. Well, the Washington Post too (a lot!) but thankfully, not the New York Post. Anyway, Huff is where plenty of biting commentaries and liberal-leaning opinions can be found, as well as ironic and humorous pieces, and pretty darn good world views.
So I sort of think of Huff as a news source, albeit skewed towards providing a platform for opinionated minds, so I would have thought that at least, it would strive for neutrality or something looking like it. But over the past weeks, as I have been keeping myself abreast on the U.S. elections, I caught this surprising message at the end of what seems to be every darn article the site carries on Donald Trump:
Editor's Note: "Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims - 1.6 billion members of an entire religion - from entering the U.S."
Wait a minute. Is Huff allowed to do that? Doesn't this constitute a blatant form of campaigning against Trump? Aren't they opening themselves up to a major lawsuit from the Donald? Just calling a person ugly to his face can trigger a fist fight-what about calling him a liar, racist, and misogynist? Whoa! Or rather, should it be, "wow!"?
Of course, it might help that each adjective comes accompanied by an automatic link to another article where Trump is called out for his sins, where each and every transgression and accusation is detailed. So Huff must be protecting itself from libel charges by pointing to the truth. But, how courageous! And to think Trump is a vindictive man who doesn't like the capital L stamped on his forehead. Look at how he threatens to prosecute Hillary Clinton once (more like "if") he wins the election.
What is even more strange, come to think of it, is that each of these descriptors would have been enough to disqualify any other person's candidacy for political office, what more the presidency for the "greatest country" in the world.
Yes, do think of it. In ordinary times, any such label like "liar" or "racist" would have been a political death sentence for a candidate. Yet in Trump's case, despite this wealth of labels he has steadily (and validly) earned over the ongoing electoral campaign, he seems to have barreled onwards to the top of the stinking Republican heap and gotten himself the party nomination, and is still cheerily stomping away on the great American countryside as the face of the Republicans.
I guess we really live in strange times nowadays. The political landscape has changed so dramatically. Even in our country, I am horrified at the jagged divide that has split our society into such disparate quarters.
If it's any relief, the bookmakers are predicting that, given his rhetoric, meltdowns, debate performances, and whining, Trump is slated to lose (with a capital L!). There are reports, even, that some bookies have began paying out on bets that he would lose, and Hillary would win. What a satisfying end to a potentially disastrous historic turning point. And for this, credit should be given to outfits like the Huffington Post, for their unforgiving focus, the harsh spotlight, the unrelenting insistence on the truth, to ensure that their readers don't forget or overlook the very real baggage that this candidate carried.
How i wish we had the same in our country, where apologists, spin doctors and trolls have now seemed to corner the market on "truth." A fact checking and fact reminding site. Fact blasting, even, so the truth can be drummed into our senses and drilled into our consciousness.
But one thing at a time. Meanwhile, the future of the free world is at stake, and the goal is to stop Trump.
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