For years, I have followed the news on my bedroom television each morning to get up to speed on the latest events. This morning, however, that flat-screen oracle turned into a time machine.
In the first manifestation, I was reliving the election of almost two years ago – and a riot on Capitol Hill about a year and a half ago. There were those oh so familiar scenes of rioters marching up the stairs of the building – and running through the halls and chambers, many vandalizing and purloining on the run.
At the time of the riot, I thought the nation – left and right, Democrat and Republican – agreed that those were dastardly acts, and the rioters should be punished. And many have been arrested.
When a story runs in the news for a period of time, it is said to have “legs.” Using that analogy, this story is a colossal centipede of the same species as the old mythical Russian collusion thousand-legger that ran for more than two years.
That Capitol Hill story is suffering from another journalism term, “story creep.” That is when a story grows larger and larger over time on the wings of hyperbole. In this case, those “wings” are the result of partisan political biases. The largely organic riot turned into an insurrection … and coup attempt … a massive seditious conspiracy. The event on Capitol Hill evolved into a nationwide ongoing coup that will bring down the American Republic – if voters empower Republican. That is what it is all about.
In this one, unhinged Democrats and unethical journalists are following the methods of arguably the most infamous propagandist of all time, Joseph Goebbels. They have created a preposterous narrative – a big lie – and are repeating it over … and over … and over … and over – expanding it as they go long. Story creep, by definition.
While my television appears to be stuck in the past regarding the Capitol Hill riot, it seems to have flipped forward to the 2024 presidential election. Entire news segments on MSNBC (where I usually start my morning) were devoted to evaluating the various potential presidential candidates. One report noted that 64 percent of Democrat voters do not want Joe Biden as their standard-bearer. Slightly less than 60 percent of Republican voters do not want Donald Trump to be the GOP candidate. That was the story on CNN, as well.
Regardless, the news did cover a poll that showed Biden beating Trump 44 to 41 respectively. (Is it only me, or does a match up between two people who are not considered likely to be the nominees of their respective parties seem … uninformative?)
Regardless, there were those among the panels of pundits who were speculating – some saying Trump will be the Republican candidate. Others disagreeing. Interestingly, most of the pundits tended to agree that Biden would not be the Democrat candidate. Of course, there were a few who believed Biden will be on the ballot, but they included White House officials and Vice President Kamala Harris.
There were stories about possible other contenders. The name most mentioned (and not favorably) on the GOP side was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Some Democrat pundit said that if it is not Biden, it is Harris. Others disagree. Interestingly, the pundits who picked Harris were black women. Those who disagreed were white men. Do Democrats have a racist issue?
As I watched, I wondered if I had become some political Rip Van Winkle and had slept through the 2022 midterm elections. But alas … CNN slipped into current events and FOX was covering a range of significant stories that CNN and especially MSNBC avoid like Covid. The obsessive MSNBC continued their time-warping coverage as I moved on to make breakfast. They were still at it when I went to bed.
So, there ‘tis.