Monday, April 3, 2023

Dog the Wag: Trump, Indictments, and the Corporate Media

 

            Wag the Dog was a 1997 film depicting a presidential candidate seeking to cover up a sex scandal by starting a fictitious war to distract the corporate media and the American public.


            Now we have the corporate media and the American public obsessed with a presidential sex scandal that diverts our attention from  war in Ukraine and other more pressing issues.  We are dogging the wag at the benefit of Donald Trump.

            The American media is obsessed with Donald Trump because he makes them money.  In 2016 he received $5 billion in free media time.   This earned media  contributed to his victory over Hilary Clinton who raised far more money than  Trump.  Throughout his presidency the corporate media, including CNN, MSNBC, and FOX,  earned billions off of Trump.  He started the morning off with one or two Tweets, driving the daily coverage for the press which slavishly reported on everything he did or said. The more outrageous the better.

            It did not matter if he lied or not. Or whether he made sexist or racist comments.  Trump and the media were in a symbiotic relationship.  He needed them as a politainer (politician + entertainer) to get the attention he needed, and they needed him for copy, clicks, and profits.  They could not stop covering him, no matter what.  This is, as I have argued. American politics in the age of Trump.

            Never mind that the Trump tax cuts  made wealthier people like  him richer and hurt his base.  Never mind that he sought to gut much of the regulatory state.  Never mind that he packed the Supreme and lower federal courts.  Covering these matters were sideshows for the media, and Trump know how to make them a sideshow by driving the media agenda.

            Nothing has changed in Trump’s post-presidency.  Every comment, every stop, everything that Trump does gets covered.  And now we have a replay of a sex scandal.

            Trump allegedly paid off a porn star seven years ago to silence  her during his first presidential run.  Now its back in the news as Trump has become the first (ex-)president  to be indicted for a crime.  Starting over  two weeks ago when Trump announced he was about to be arrested the media is apoplectic over this.  Pundits, politicos, and political analysts are having a field day attesting to the merits of the charges—even though we have no idea what they actually are yet.  It’s as bad as ESPN pre-game speculation.

            The 2024 presidential election cycle script is already written for Trump.  The media will cover this indictment and perhaps others too, but the juiciness of this one involving sex and payoffs will no doubt dominate.  Trump gets the media moment he wants, reinforcing his grip on the Republican base and generating millions of political donations he will use for his legal defense.  He gets the coverage he wants, the media gets the viewers they want.

This is dog the wag.

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