Highlights from Trump’s briefing today included the President-elect chiding a reporter for being rude, which is a little like Ted Cruz calling the kettle smug, and his suggestion to the assembled journalists that they develop a “moral compass.” I don’t have a joke here…beyond the idea of DJT lecturing anyone on morality. The fumbling autocrat stopped just shy of plugging his forefingers in his ears and babbling gibberish anytime CNN reporter Jim Acosta attempted a question, which is indicative of two things:
- Trump’s engagement with and treatment of individual media outlets will be dependent on how favorably he deems their coverage of him, and
- I will be replacing many household items throughout his tenure if I continue to watch his pressers.
The donkey dust continued apace as the President-elect sponged the credit for all domestic job retention, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. How does this bollocks endure, you ask? When you take away all the race-baiting and immigrant-bashing of his campaign, you realize he essentially ran on the Chevy Chase platform (I’m Donald Trump, and You’re Not). If he was able to bring home 60 some million votes with that swill, why would we expect him to suddenly feel restricted by the boundaries of reality? The last honest statement he made on the trail was that he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters. He’s got marks in the streets and enablers in the seats.
The risk now is that the political press takes its eye off the pea while a Trump-friendly congress works to deregulate business, disassemble your healthcare, and re-write tax policy. The press should not be forgiven for allowing his refusal to release his tax returns to elude the front pages every…damn…day for the past eighteen months, and now we may have to endure a lingering focus on the more bawdy aspects of this mysterious dossier.
Perhaps the real tragedy is that most reasonable people would have dismissed the more salacious elements of the report outright if the subject had been Obama, or even Bush, but with Trump I’d wager most Americans at the very least will shrug their shoulders and think “…..sure, I could see that.” And as many people have pointed out elsewhere, the defensive and churlish tone of today’s press conference stood in stark contrast to the graceful farewell address delivered last night in Chicago, which exuded gratitude, inspiration and compassion. That we are ushering in an ill-tempered, opportunistic, and corporate presidency is wound enough. That it follows eight years of coolheaded civility is the salt.