Reality Bites

Too Few of America's "Elites" Accept the Real World

Reality Bites, 1994. Skipped school to see it. Smoked a bunch of cigarettes after. Let’s hear it for GenX.

News Flash: The internet and social media have created ‘filter bubbles’ - those safe spaces in which too in-tune, too on-line types spend their time talking to and trolling one another in what now passes for political discourse.

Yes, Donald Trump, MAGA Media, Rupert Murdoch and the dozens of right-wing streamers have convinced somewhere between a third and half the country of America’s fallen greatness, the need for just a little dictatorship, the caravans, the hordes, and the pulsing evil of George Soros.

This isn’t new, nor is it news. It’s downstream effects are de-constructive to our body politic, have destroyed the ability for far too many to discern (or even care about what we used to call ‘truth’) and provide a 24/7/364 IV of ‘alternative facts.’

Keep ‘em angry, keep ‘em tuned in, keep ‘em in line. That’s been their objective since the time of Father Coughlin, through Rush Limbaugh, all the way to “Cryin’” Dan Bongino. For decades people like me were happy to have our voters fed this toxic brew if it meant they were more likely to show up to the polls, scream about a convenient outrage, or send in another $15.

Decades of work are paying off as much of the country sits by and watches Trump and company throttle various opponents and individuals. Again, none of this is a novel observation.

Since Trump’s return to office, though, his opponents have created two different realities of their own, neither of which appeals to, nor connects the tens of millions of Americans who’ve given up on the idea, philosophy, and practice of liberal democracy.

As a founding member of the NeverTrump movement (such as it is) I’ve spent a decade kicking, screaming, punching, and writing about the threat he posed as it became clear he would be the GOP nominee in 2016.

A robust and financially rewarding ecosystem has exploded among the Online Left*. Many of them are well-represented, well-read, and well-watched on platforms such as this one, YouTube, live events, and your favorite podcast app.

*This is an admittedly clunky, unrepresentative, and unsatisfying descriptor. If you have a better one, message me.

Like their brothers and sisters on the right, these outlets spend all day, every day, talking about…Donald Trump. Whatever he’s done: from the most inane to the ugliest, is documents in realtime, smash-cut TikTok and Instagram videos. Given the mainstream media’s long march failure, there is a need for a recounting of the Administration’s actions.

What we must not do is delude ourselves into believing that 1) this represents ‘resistance’ and 2) the Trump administration isn’t anything but fine that all the hail and fury they create is duly reported. They warm themselves by the fires of all the hot takes and rage posts.

Trump is the eye of an information cyclone. The world spins around him; happily making one land fall after another, tearing up lives, counties, and communities as he goes. The Online Left, despite their belief, are not hurricane hunters. They’re the Jim Cantore of American politics. (No offense to Jim, of course.)

Jim Cantore holding on for dear life during Hurricane Ian.