Division started before Trump – Hate started after

TIME Magazine’s, editor-in-chief, Nancy Gibbs, wrote a column in the May 22nd issue of TIME titled, “The danger of governing on social media“. In it she makes the following points after her latest meeting with President Trump.

• Why so much hate, so much obsession?
• Why use Twitter as a WMD?
• Nearly 2/3 of Americans think hate has increased since the election.
• A foreign power is intent on undermining our elections.
• Before the election, 75% of Americans supported the role of the press as a watchdog for the public.
• News organizations have delivered crucial revelations thus far.
• This is only just beginning.

Her answers all point to Trump – in the negative, and the media (which she represents) – in the positive. This is a consistent, left-leaning, out of touch, self-serving analysis which helps everyone understand why only 4 in 10 Republicans think the press holds politicians accountable – and almost none believe the press holds politicians ‘equally’ accountable.

First, lets test her stats.
Before the election, 75% of Americans supported the role of the press as a watchdog for the public.
She didn’t mention trust. Gallup in September 2016 reported an all time low in trust in the press and that it had been declining for years.

“Gallup began asking this question in 1972, and on a yearly basis since 1997. Over the history of the entire trend, Americans’ trust and confidence hit its highest point in 1976, at 72% … and … has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32%.” Thus, her stats/facts are self serving, limited or possibly wrong.

Increase in hate.
Liberals live in their own world. They don’t even know people have opposing views, and if they do, they ignore or demonize anyone and anything else. They were awakened on with Donald Trump’s election as President to the fact that there are a sizeable number of Americans who did not want to live in the liberal’s world. Prior to that, conservatives recognized the liberal world because they were forced, by Hollywood and the media, to live in the liberal’s world. Liberals were forced on November 9th to recognize that group that they pretend doesn’t exist or exist in large numbers and live in their world for a change.

As a result of this forced recognition, liberals and the liberal elite in the media and Hollywood cannot contain their shock, sadness and hate. What do they do with this frustration? They take to the streets and blame the shock and sadness on the other guy for winning. For example, a statement like this is often seen in the media, How did this Age of Stupid tribalism divide a nation and deliver disappointment?

Years of liberals ignoring and marginalizing other points of view is the other guys fault? When the other guy appears in large numbers you blame him for dividing the country when, in reality, it has been divided for a long time – the liberals just refused to recognize it. And because of that entrenched ideology and head in the sand intellect, the left continues to want to over power the other guys with ‘resistance’ noise and continued avoidance of issues.

Has hate increased since the election? Ask yourself, who is mad? Oh yeah, the liberals. Prior to that they were in their make believe world. They are now mad while the rest of the country is quite comfortable – except for the leftist revolutionaries rioting every week and calling it a protest. I’m nostalgic for the days when the country appeared united, or at the very least united in halves, a post election article in The Atlantic opined.

Twitter as WMD.
Trump’s use of twitter kept him ahead of the daily news cycle during the campaign and the early weeks of his Presidency. All of a sudden the news media could not dictate the conversation. They had to react. Now, however, they are ahead of Trump in the news cycle, Why?

Is social media any different from the mainstream media today? Not really. The mainstream media competes against social media every day and has to speed up its product to keep up. In order to keep up, the mainstream media has established the social media template.

A left wing article, Hail to the tweet, says this about social media:

• On social media, facts don’t matter.
• On social media, news is ephemeral.
• On social media, no news is bad news.
• On social media, the narrative is what you shape it to be.
• On social media, we are not looking for truth, just affirmation.

Sounds like what you see on TV and read everyday from the mainstream media. “Crucial revelations delivered thus far” are nothing more than un-researched ‘click bait’.

The media have done that, to the advantage of their left-leaning ideology and to the detriment of journalism and the country. To criticize Trump for using social media is at best hypocritical. At worst, an admission of journalistic failure.

By the way, when Obama was dubbed “the first social media President” the mainstream media decided participation in the new communications medium was a good, ‘progressive’ action.

Division in this country started long before Trump. This uncomfortable position of half the country was ignored by the media until Trump became President. The right was just mature enough to handle the disappointment. And trust in the media continually plummeted. Now there is a lot more hate, coming from the left, because the left cannot deal with their own frustration and discomfort – at living in the conservative world.

Hopefully, “this is only the beginning”.

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