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Americans are suffering from a self-inflicted disinformation campaign.
By Nida Khan Opinion ContributorMarch 9, 2018, at 6:00 a.m.
DID YOU HEAR WHAT President Donald Trump tweeted this morning? Chances are, you most definitely did. There's no escaping it; the tweets get liked and retweeted thousands of times, virtually every journalist, news outlet and public figure then responds or comments on Twitter as well, and TV networks begin segment after segment with the president's latest tweetstorm. What you likely missed was how anti-immigrant and far right parties prevailed in Italy's election, the arrival of a U.S. carrier in Vietnam for the first time since the end of the Vietnam war, Saudi Arabia and Egypt agreeing to a $10 billion deal to build a new mega-city, Trump nominating a Dow Chemicals lawyer to oversee the EPA toxic waste program, the attempt by 20 states to sue the federal government in an effort to end Obamacare and about a million other stories in between. The truth of the matter is that all of us are somehow swept up in a self-inflicted disinformation campaign and as a result we've turned into Trump's dream: a bad reality show.
There was a time when journalists like myself criticized networks for their lack of coverage of international news and certain topics, or their biased coverage of others. I've written pieces about the disconnect between Americans and much of the rest of the world, and the dangers of this isolation. Many have argued that the dumbing down of society and our obsession with entertainment is how someone like Donald Trump was able to rise so effortlessly to the highest office in the land. The fact is, things have gotten far worse than anyone could have ever imagined. While many journalists still do remarkable, vital work, the 'news cycle' per se has transformed into a 24/7 endless obsession with Trump's tweets, outbursts and the real or perceived infighting of this administration. It is all him, all day every single day.
While everyone was preoccupied, there were dozens of topics that didn't remotely receive enough attention. For starters, there has been a troubling steady rise in terror attacks in Afghanistan a place where we have now been at war for over 15 years. Things have gotten so bad in fact that the Taliban are now openly active in 70 percent of Afghanistan according to a study by the BBC. Meanwhile in Syria, death and destruction continue to the point where at least 600 civilians were recently killed in just 10 days from clashes and airstrikes, and a U.N. security council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire barely lasted a few hours. In China, President Xi Jinping is seeking to amass his power by eliminating term limits which means that he could conceivably stay in power indefinitely (I would say let's not give you know who any ideas, but he already joked about this which is of course when more of our press started paying attention to this major story). And across Europe, there is an ever-increasing rise in neo-Nazi groups and hate groups that have not only grown in numbers, but also attained significant power in government.
On the domestic front, just last week, the Supreme Court ruled that immigrants including lawful ones and those seeking asylum could now be detained indefinitely without receiving a bond hearing. There was a time when the indefinite detention of anyone would cause an uproar, and now when the highest court determines that any immigrant can be detained (even for years), there's hardly a peep. Such a story should have prompted 'breaking news' chyrons, but there wasn't even a mention on cable networks. Instead, there were multiple 'breaking news' banners for every Trump tweet or anyone he had beef with that day.
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https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2018-03-09/president-donald-trump-is-the-center-of-attention?emailed=1&src=usn_thereport
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)DV1
(34 posts)I hear what you're saying on different fronts. But the problem is that to deal with what you mentioned there needs to be an effective, operational government and someone to lead it. We still have something of the former but for the latter we have a narcissist and his gullible base of supporters. The question is, do we take him down or do we resign ourselves to choosing the most comfortable-looking boxcar?
kentuck
(110,950 posts)No doubt.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)He just has to go. ASAP.
FakeNoose
(32,356 posts)We need to put the phones down, and turn the drivel machine off.
Important stuff is happening every day but most of us never notice.
notdarkyet
(2,226 posts)Cant stand to look or listen to him. He is just a vulgar specimen that pollutes everything around him.
AwakeAtLast
(14,112 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)at LEAST since the 1970's and especially since reagan and his filthy mob put so much effort into destroying the American educational system.
I don;t watch TV, but at the gym, there are 6 TVs in the fitness center, three in the free weights area ALL on sports channels, and three in the.. for lack of a better term, machine center- aerobic machines, "modern' versions of the old Nautilus, bikes, etc... these have CNN, MSNBC and, once again FOX, which I got them to turn off once , but it's back on..
These three have ALL USA "News"-- and trumpfuck is on almost all the time.... . NEVER anything else, it seems, unless it is a tornado, plane crash or multiple dying for whatever reason.. That's it.
THIS is what Americans see is 'information' about the world.
But these stations have been this way forever. so, it is not just the last 3 years.......
Rhiannon12866
(203,041 posts)We miss what should be top news stories - that horrific oil spill, the rash of unprecedented deportations, civil rights violations, this extraordinary weather everywhere, what would normally be front page stories - because the latest Trump scandal or Tweet has hijacked the airwaves!