Trump plays media like a symphony
President Trump, the media maestro and magician-in-chief, has taken to the podium. He hopes, once again, to play the media like a symphony and to deflect and distract the American people with "the circus." Specifically, he is trying to shift attention from his alleged unconstitutional behavior to a crisis of his own making.
This tried-and-true approach is laid out succinctly by longtime Republican staffer and consultant Amanda Carpenter in her book Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us.
She outlines his technique as follows: Stake a claim by finding a political issue or action that competitors are unwilling to adopt that will ensure a media frenzy. Advance and deny by casting the issue into the public realm without taking direct responsibility. Create suspense by asserting evidence will be forthcoming. Discredit any opponent by attacking their motives and personal character. Win by declaring victory no matter the real outcome.
This time he needed to increase the significance of the distraction ("the circus") in order to successfully move the national discussion away from his impeachment and forthcoming Senate trial. A crisis potentially leading to armed conflict just fills the bill.
Are we really going to let this narcissistic sociopath put his personal and political self-interest above the country's security interests, even to the point of taking us into another needless war? Are we really going to let the pathological liar, who has publicly told more than 13,000 lies in his thousand days in the White House, persuade us that the US needed to initiate armed conflict with Iran now, of all times? The Magician-in-Chief is making every effort to redirect public discourse, minimize the electorate's concern about his alleged unconstitutional misdeeds and remain in office for another term, all done with media symphonic accompaniment lead by the Maestro. Perhaps this will be the tipping point for a call to remedy - through the ballot box in November, if not through impeachment and removal - this egregious and dangerous abuse of the public trust.
Lynn Jensen
Arlington Heights