The media has been running after Trump like the bright, shiny object that he is. But like a meteor of Sisyphus, burning bright and streaking towards the sun, Trump seems to be flaming out of control at the moment. As he is imploding, my one thought is of the tearful Vladimir Putin lamenting the downfall of his favorite and oh so useful idiot, one Donald J. Trump. The problem may be that no one is shocked, really shocked!, to discover the true nature of Trump.
But the lack of focus on his very real flaws, his character and the shady nature of his business dealings and how he built his empire, are the most telling and perhaps shocking aspects of this whole weird Trump phenomenon. For weeks, one of the few journalists showing some spine in uncovering the details of Trump's flawed character has been Joy Reid, of late the host of the Saturday AM show on MSNBC. She first brought in the Newsweek correspondent digging deeper into his business dealings, and has also featured prominently the lawyers asking questions surrounding Trump's past dealings with women. The lawsuits are reminiscent of the ones Bill Cosby fielded for years. And perhaps most troubling is the unapologetic nature of his defense, as if having money and power are such boons to anyone that the mere mortals who dare question his steamroller behavior are simply spineless wimps and "losers", not indictments by ordinary people who are trying to get ahead in their own lives.
The media has long been known to simply follow lemming-like the shiny objects and bright and glittering stars that betray their fervor for low-hanging fruit. We, as writers, journalists and bloggers alike, all tend to be lazy when it comes to the long hours of research and thankless long nights spent digging up minuscule footnotes and corroborating support for intricate stories that are timely and at times, confusing to the general public. But there is no excuse for this long, drawn out national nightmare that is Trump. We all are guilty of wanting to view this slow motion train wreck of a campaign that has been before us, and yet even as we witness the implosion of the thing, engulfed in flames and screaming vitriol as he falls to Earth, we must embrace the fact that there's a bit of him in all of us. It's the darker sides of our nature, and not the better ones that we need to confront as we reflect upon his downfall. Here's hoping that we can survive the aftermath of Trump.
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