Everything that Mr. Trump is and isn’t capable of doing makes him great for the business of media, and bad for America.
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I’m f*cking tired of reading and writing about Mr. Donald Trump, who, when as a the star of ‘The Apprentice,’ was once one of my favorite entertainers but who is now just an annoying, lying, cocky, braggadocios and racially insensitive prick that has mastered both the art of acquiring earned media and saying a mouthful without actually saying anything substantive at all. But since I’m in the business of media, which has undoubtedly contributed to the rise of Mr. Trump, I must oblige the audiences, who, too, are disheveled by the Republican front-runner and the things he utters, but, like a tragic car wreck on the highway, can’t look away from the action.
The entertainment value of Mr. Trump, who’s expected to win big on this #SuperTuesday, can’t be denied and it is a large part of why he’s succeeding, given he’s mute, more often that not, on policy details. Mr. Trump is not a traditional politician, and some would argue he’s not a politician at all, but rather a dictator, a demagogue and a devilish racist. Regardless, though, of what anyone thinks about the real-estate mogul who has lent his name to several failed businesses, most notably Trump University and Trump Mortgage, he is a ratings machine; people love to gawk at his damnation. His presence on the campaign trail and, moreover, the potential that he’ll be crowned the Republican nominee, hasn’t been great for America’s moral, given the many claims of people who plan to seek citizenship elsewhere if he’s elected, but it has, according to the CEO of CBS, been fantastic for the media business, who’s golden rule is controversy creates cash.
“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS,” Mr. Les Moonves said yesterday at a conference in San Francisco referring to the candidacy of the New York City billionaire.
Mr. Moonves, who hasn’t yet said whether he supports Mr. Trump’s avant-garde candidacy, is ecstatic because ad revenue, which is what many media companies rely on to continue publishing and producing, has increased due to escalating viewership, though Mr. Moonves concedes that voters aren’t tuning in to see policy discussed or analyzed but rather the insults that are being slung by the candidates. This 2016 election, particular on the republican side, has been nothing short of a sh*t-show, cluster-f*ck and a juvenile pissing contest, and all of those descriptions make for great headlines, which media-makers are all too ready to write.
But Mr. Trump, despite being the proverbial Golden Goose for the media industry, would be a disaster for the country. Though his supporters portray him as someone capable of uniting the states, he is quite the polarizing figure, and he, in the role of President, would be more divisive than anything anyone could imagine. He wants to ban Muslims temporarily from entering America, which could alienate current and future allies in Muslim countries. He’s been raucous as it relates to immigration, which caused a former Mexican President to say his nation is not paying for the “f*cking wall” that Mr. Trump wants built to keep the borders secure. He’s advocated killing the family members of terrorists, who themselves aren’t proven to be engaged in terrorism, thus constituting a war crime. He has, simply with his presence on the campaign trail, diminished the dignity of campaigning for the presidency.
If the aforementioned wasn’t enough to communicate the awfulness of Mr. Trump and his potential presidency, here’s a snippet of what Mr. Larry Summers, the Charles W. Eliot university professor at Harvard, wrote in the Washington Post:
“Even the possibility of Trump becoming president is dangerous. The economy is already growing at a sub-two percent rate in substantial part because of a lack of confidence in a weak world economy. A growing sense that a protectionist demagogue could soon become president of the United States would surely introduce great uncertainty at home and abroad. The resulting increase in risk premiums might well be enough to tip a fragile U.S. economy into recession. And a concern that the U.S. was becoming protectionists and isolationist could easily undermine confidence in many emerging markets and set off a financial crisis. The geopolitical consequences of Donald Trump’s rise may be even more serious. The rest of the world is incredulous and appalled by the possibility of a Trump presidency and has started quietly rethinking its approach to the United States accordingly. The U.S. and China are struggling over influence in Asia. It is hard to imagine something better for China than the U.S moving to adopt a policy of “truculent isolationism.” The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a central element in our rebalancing toward Asia, could collapse. Japan would have to take self-defense, rather than reliance on American security guarantees, more seriously. And others in Asia would inevitably tilt from a more erratic America towards a relatively steady China.”
Mr. Trump, who appears to lack diplomacy and a succinct grasp of foreign policy, can entertain, but he can’t lead a nation. Though Mr. Trump can inspire, he’s unable to emit humility. And while it’s true Mr. Trump is comfortable speaking publicly; he’s not at ease being politically correct. Everything that Mr. Trump isn’t and is incapable of doing, makes him great for the media business and bad for America.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
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