Photo by MattysFlicks | CC BY 2.0
If the popular news sites are to be believed, the United States citizenry is mesmerized by President Donald Trump’s efforts to shut down the Mueller investigation into possible collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. Add to that is the supposed fascination with a porn star known as Stormy Daniels, and that, we are all told, is what is keeping us up at night.
And perhaps it is. After all, isn’t ‘news’ what newscasters tell us it is? Don’t they, without any bias, inform the public of what is happening in the world, doing their best to sort the important (e.g. Israel violations of international law; world leaders’ threats of war) from the more mundane (e.g. some politician’s alleged extra-marital affair; a bus accident in the Alps)? Can’t the U.S. viewer tune into any news program and receive the same basic information? Certainly, the political pundits on each program may spin the information a bit differently; after reporting the facts, these ‘experts’ will provide their interpretation of the meaning of the action, what results it might bring, etc.
If one believes such a thing, allow this writer to tell you about an obese man dressed in red, who lands his reindeer-propelled sled on your roof in December, and enters your home through a chimney, bringing a sack full of toys.
MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski made it all clear for us a year ago, although few people seemed to be paying attention. In what…