BRYCE ON POLITICS
– Are we willing pawns of the media?
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Last week, shortly after the Florida primary election, I happened to sit down with some friends over a friendly libation or two. We discussed many things, but the conversation inevitably turned to politics due to the outcome of the election. Aside from myself, the others leaned to the Democrats and do not like President Trump, claiming he acts “unpresidential.” His record of accomplishments is meaningless to them, just his “unpresidential” character. Frankly, I do not understand this mentality. Thank God for his unorthodox behavior. Other presidents may have acted “presidential,” but look at the mess they left us. As Trump says at his rallies, “It is a lot easier to act presidential than to do what I do.”
During the conversation, my friends contended President Trump is a racist. Naturally, I challenged their source. Nothing was forthcoming other than they believed he influenced GOP nominee for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ conduct whereby he used the word “monkey” in an on-air interview. The press lept on this and accused him of being a racist. At that moment, I was unfamiliar with the interview, but I looked it up on YouTube afterwards and found he had said, “The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases…” This was a reference to the Florida economy and the perceived problems should the Democrats get elected in November.
DeSantis’ use of the word “monkey” went viral overnight and voters were left with the impression the candidate was a racist (as well as President Trump). This was the media’s attempt to smear DeSantis by making something out of nothing. Interestingly, President Obama made use of the same expression in the same context (click for VIDEO). If Cong. DeSantis is a racist then, most definitely, former President Obama is one as well. Yet he was never accused as such by the news media.
In my response to my friends, I mentioned a recent meeting President Trump had with black pastors at the White House. During the session, one of the pastor’s said, “This is probably the most pro-active administration regarding urban America and the faith-based community, in my lifetime.” And continued by saying, “This is the most pro-black president in our lifetime.” The video is also available on YouTube (click HERE; and go to 17:10 in the meeting).
My friends were unaware of this video. I was only made aware of it a few days before by a friend on social media. As to the news media, they buried the story as it was complimentary to the president.
I do not suffer under the illusion our president is a saint, but then again, none of us are. What’s the old expression, “Let he who is without sin cast the first rock”? The problem is, the news media has been throwing a barrage of rocks at the president since his first day in office. This flies in the face of their August 16th newspaper editorials claiming their innocence in covering Mr. Trump. These two videos demonstrate the opposite.
The DeSantis video goes well beyond Fake News, it is malicious malignment at its worse. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a bald faced liar.
What disturbs me is my friends are willing pawns of the news media and do not contest the integrity of their reporting. In other words, they are perfectly willing to allow the media do the thinking for them.
Yes, I am angry, when I see an insignificant story like the DeSantis interview blown out of proportion based on a false supposition. I am angry when the public is not made aware of the accomplishments of Mr. Trump, not just his meeting with the black pastors, but events like the Consumer Price Index hitting an 18 year high or the re-development of the NAFTA treaty, all of which are either falsely maligned or deliberately hidden from public view. Yes, I am angry when I see such injustice.
It is no small wonder the public is gravitating to social media to get their news as they no longer trust the news media. Who would have ever thought YouTube would be more reliable in video coverage than the main stream media?
I guess it is time to start picketing the news media. No, they are most definitely not “fair and balanced.” Better yet, just turn them off and seek the truth on social media, you won’t find it in the main stream media.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at [email protected]
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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Copyright © 2018 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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