As IF Times

Source: Harvard Study Reveals Huge Extent of Anti-Trump Media Bias | Heat Street

The cacophony of shrill voices baying at any and all alleged transgressions by Donald Trump appears to be reaching a final crescendo.  The frenzied media are like crows at a picnic as they caw and shriek over every speck of food that appears,  no matter how inconsequential.  As the linked story reveals, it’s not the imagination of those of us that try to consume news.  It should be abundantly clear that the offerings of news from the mainstream outlets are about as unbiased as doting parents at their children’s soccer games.

And speaking of children, the political and media voices that invoke Russia and impeachment like they are hyphenated words are reminiscent of children who have lost an argument but keep repeating their whine as if it will make a difference.  The political zeitgeist of the United States has moved strongly from comedy to farce, since now, the loudest and most publicized voices are those of ‘comics’ and entertainers.  Think about that. People who are paid to juggle, sing and tell jokes for a living are the go to voices for political opinion.  Stephen Colbert as a political savant.  Really? That this is the case is simultaneously comical and tragic.  Can we imagine the direction of any other nation state being influenced by cultural gadflies?

It’s bad enough that the western system of democracy allows for the election of representatives of truly dubious intellectual capacity but whom nevertheless have risen to the top of their particular constituency.  Al Franken’s election was supposedly an aberration, but now, I dunno. Maxine Waters aka Muddy Waters, Raging Waters or Shallow Waters, anything but Deep Waters, sets new low water marks every time she says anything. Barring any outrageously stupid remark from these people, the general public would never hear of them.  But because of today’s ubiquity of ‘news’ conduits, both online and mainstream,  not to mention airport TV screens, the obtuse and shrill views of a very small few are magnified many times beyond their deserved influence.

The linked article is definitive proof that any objective news reporting by most of the large media concerns has been jettisoned in favor of breathless mean girls style of tabloid coverage. The convergence of objective news and paid for entertainment comedy is on full display.   It’s not even news now.  It’s all performance art.

Source: Chelsea Clinton Gets Another Award, This Time for Handing Out Grapefruits to the Homeless

It may not be for me to cast aspersions on the recent honor conferred upon the former First Daughter, but it’s curious that she is such an award magnet.  For those not enlightened as to the activities of the modern day Mother Theresa, Chelsea has recently collected trophy hardware for her humanitarian work from, surprise,  the Clinton Foundation, who would obviously know of her efforts intimately.  At the moment, I can’t recall the previous year’s winner.  This follows on the heels of a Lifetime Impact award issued by Variety magazine last month.  Now she’s being recognized for helping in the cause of hunger issues in New York by handing out grapefruits.  We don’t know how many grapefruits she passed out, but obviously it was award worthy.

Come to think of it, the whole industry of awarding people for all kinds of spurious accomplishments seems to be in a continuous long term bull market. We recall the former President Obama receiving a Nobel Peace prize even before his hand had left the bible during his swearing in ceremony.

We know that during the year, the entertainment industry loves to hand out awards celebrating any and all permutations of entertainment to participants.  People have become trophy sluts.  Old time Oscars and Emmys are now joined by all manner of coveted awards, from People’s Choice to any of the MTV awards.  No doubt the winning of the top new young male artist in the rap/dance video game theme song genre for Saturday cartoons are coveted prizes for all of the 2 people in the running.

This peculiar fondness for participation trophies has trickled all the way down to the mundane masses and is now part of the school system.  We are all aware of the shunting of outright victory/achievement trophies to the more ubiquitous participation awards.  To paraphrase Oprah, I’m special, you’re special, everyone’s special…and they have awards to show it.  Somehow the advance of society has left in its wake, entire generations of people for whom a trophy or award is tangible manifestation of their self worth.  There is no more glaring example of this than having to witness the breathless, self important speeches of winners at entertainment award shows.

As the usual faux humble line goes, it’s an honor even to be nominated.  For the very small segment of society that didn’t get an award, well, maybe next year.