Split Personality

Peggy Noonan has chiseled another Op-Ed diamond in the Wall Street Journal. It is about the gulf that has arisen between the lofty ideals exhibited by those espousing virtually unlimited Middle-East immigration (Merkel, Obummer, Hellary, Kerry, etc.) and those who actually end up paying the price for those elites' charity -- the middle and lower-class communities who are required to foot the societal adjustments and monetary bills  ... two different and distinct groups ... and never the twain shall meet ... see:  WSJ Op-Ed.

But what struck me about this well-sharpened Occam's Razor was that Ms. Noonan did not see the disconnect between this spot-on observation and why Donald Trump is resonating with so many Americans. Yes, the same Donald Trump for whom her pen pal, Maureen Dowd, fashioned a new excretory organ just a few short days ago in one of her lesser Op-Ed zircons ... see: With Both Barrels.

Does Maureen Dowd's left brain not talk to Peggy Noonan's right brain? Can she not realize that plenty of middle-Americans see in Trump someone who will push back against these globalists, these trade-at-any-cost-ers, these government-knows-best-ers, these open-border-ites, these bleeding-heart progressives? It would have been nice if Ms. Noonan  suddenly had an epiphany contrasting these two opinion editorials ... but she seems too diplomatic to reference Dowd's Trump scatological reforming.

Or maybe her previous Trump hit piece was just because Dowd was off her meds?

With Both Barrels

There has been a dramatic change in the tenor of media coverage of this presidential race ... presumably because the "establishment" media now sees that Donald Trump has a shot at winning. Before, he was entertainment ... now things are for keeps.  I don't recall ever seeing a more evocative turn-around on television like has occurred on Morning Joe since the Republican convention. When Trump was fighting 16 other hopefuls for the Republican nomination, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were all sweetness and light toward Trump. They honey-talked him almost every morning ... mostly by phone  ... and clearly were playing him for higher ratings.

Now I almost can't watch these two harpies anymore ... who find the most trivial  things to excoriate Trump with. Of course Trump knows the game that they are playing and won't appear on their show anymore ... which causes white spittle to form on their lips as they continually try to let him have it with both barrels. Can't they see the change in their own behavior ... and how hypocritical they appear? I guess that this is of no concern to them as their ambition overtakes any comity.

And of course, these two media mavens are not alone in trying to take Trump down. Even such Op-Ed  stalwarts as Maureen Dowd has taken fingers to keyboard to paint a grotesque hypothetical word picture of Trump after the election ... see: NY Times Op Ed. I can understand Ms. Dowd's displeasure ... but I can't fathom her vitriol ... nor that of many others.

Why is there such a uprising against Trump ... which, of course, means support for an even more distasteful and dangerous Hellary Clinton? I can only surmise that it is because Hellary still, with all her warts, represents the status quo. She is not going to give, like Trump, a voice to the voiceless in America. Trump, even more than Bernie Sanders, has come to champion the downtrodden middle class in this country. And this is a clear and present danger to the Washington elites. Too much could and probably would change ... not good. So the establishment is fighting back ...

With both barrels ...

Shorthand

David Brooks has an opinion piece in this morning's New York Times contrasting two types of columnists ... "engaged" versus "detached" ... read it first at: New York Times.  I hope I am not being too "engaged" when I shorthand his op-ed into one simple sentence: "A detached columnists (such as me) is preferable to an engaged columnist (such as Maureen Dowd)."

Piranhas

As you who read this blog already know, I like Marco Rubio.  I think he is a decent, intelligent, hard-working Senator from Florida.  I would have loved to have seen Mitt Romney pick him as his running mate.  But the Democrats fear this man like the Black Plague … for they believe that he (being Cuban and speaking fluent Spanish) may begin to fracture their heretofore solid Hispanic voting bloc. This would be a disaster for the Blue-Staters and they know it.  So what to do?  Answer: marshall all your syncophants in the media and pull out all stops to destroy this man.  Use every trick in the left-wing media book, flattery followed by derision, mockery, relentless erudite criticism, snide asides, pained facial expressions, semantic twistings, and sophomoric slams.  This kind of feeding frenzy reminds me of piranhas attacking an innocent animal who might wander into the Amazon river.

And God help this man if he gives these craven media bullies any opening to attack … as Senator Rubio did after the President’s recent State of the Union message … when he stopped his rebuttal remarks to take a swig of water.  This naive gesture has become Rubio’s toe-dipping into the Amazon river and the gang of pathetic media piranhas are in full attack mode.  Maureen Dowd in the New York Times spun her flesh-noshing thusly: 

The ubiquitous 41-year-old [Rubio] — who’s on the cover of Time as “The Republican Savior” — looked as if he needed some saving himself Tuesday night as he delivered the party’s response to the State of the Union address in English (and Spanish). He seemed parched, shaky and sweaty, rubbing his face and at one point lunging off-camera to grab a bottle of water.

A little snarky, no?  But then … this is Maureen Dowd’s misandric style.  Read her whole column here: NY Times Op Ed

But this was just the opening media salvo.  MSNBC and CNN have gone well over the top to ridicule Rubio … including one of a most sickening rants by Al Sharpton I think I have ever seen on a “legimitate” new broadcast.  “Reverend” Al did his best to imitate Jon Stewart’s antics from the Daily Show, but, at best, he came off as a buffoon … see: Daily Caller Posting  Why this man is allowed on national television is beyond my ability to rationalize. (If any of you have not already seen this water-sipping gesture on Rubio’s part, it is at the end of the Daily Caller link.)

Will Senator Rubio recover?  Of course ... with time, particularly if he does not play into these piscine’s fins.  He needs to rise above such bullying and maintain his dignity.  This won’t be easy given his youth and inexperience.  But he should quickly realize that many media people are out to humble and humiliate him and, therefore, treat them accordingly.