Trump Is In Their Brains

So, this gets retweeted or liked into my twitter stream:

He gave a very reasonable answer, that he was a little busy to be bothered with Twitter in light of the bombing.

My response was this:

That's the thing, isn't it? The media is obsessed with Trump and has been for some time. As they say, he's living in their head, rent-free. It's why he won the primaries against better conservatives and Republicans.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know they had no choice but to cover him and his, uhm, antics during the campaign, because they had to as he was running for President. See how smart he was? Free coverage because the media had no choice but to cover him. They couldn't ignore him, as critics wished they would (which would work with, say, Westboro Baptist, to make them go away), because that would be negligent as he already was news worthy. Brilliant manipulation on his part.

BTW, if you aren't aware of Scott Adams' ongoing dissection of the rhetorical and persuasion tools that the Trump Team has been using, you're missing an education on what's been going on. I don't even agree with him on all his points, but he isn't a Trump fan or defender (as the folks who hate Trump are painting him), and he is seeing the manipulation for what it is. (of course, this could be me in a moment of confirmation bias because I also thing Trump is playing the media like a fiddle).

Back to the point (and there is one).

I have long held the belief that when we've experienced something, we tend to adopt that (or those, if it's plural) experience into our lens, our perspective through which we interact with the world. A simple example of this bias I think about is the old red car metaphor. It's not just red cars, per se, it's the familiarity bias and observational selection bias working in tandem to make you think that "now that I have a red car, I see them every where. There must be more red cars being made then before." Nope, you're just paying attention to them. Indeed, what we attend to creates our reality.

Another version is the sudden appearance of pregnant women everywhere when your wife becomes pregnant. (hint: they were already there). A more serious example I think about is racism. If you are black in America, you have experienced it, and that makes you see it everywhere, even in situations where it isn't present.

All of this is to say that Trump as so successfully implanted himself into the minds of his detractors that they can't refrain from checking his Twitter feed, because, well, they have to because he's already newsworthy because he's the US President. Note: I don't follow him on twitter. I don't have to (or want to), mostly because he gets retweeted into my timeline so much. Argh.

So, we have "Trump-Glasses" wearing idiots like the reporter that thought that (because the lens/perspective through which he or she sees everything is smeared with Trump) asking the London Mayor his thoughts on a Trump tweet was a reasonable, worthy, or necessary question.

I have written and talked about my Trump thoughts, feelings, and impressions. I don't like the guy, but I have enjoyed how he has played the press, driven the leftists insane (literally, in some cases), and shone a light on our electoral processes like the primary system and electoral college. I think he's a progressive and crony capitalist at heart and that scares me. But what really scares me is the way his detractors and enemies (which includes the majority of our media types) have become so consumed by their hatred/fear/disgust that they are literally blind to their own obsession with him and things like his tweets that it's literally all they appear to think about.

I think he should keep tweeting, seriously. It's how he talks to his base without the media filter, and I guess that's why they can't help report on it, to try to control it, to shape his message like they would if they were the quote-conduit. If would serve them better to ignore the tweets and not make them into news stories, frankly, but I'm not giving them that good piece of advice. It's too much fun watching them lose their minds.

New Year, New Job, New Post

Sorry that it's been so long since I've posted on here, what with the election and all, and another new job (that seems to be an issue in my life, a lack of job satisfaction (not a lack of security, I tend to leave of my own volition mostly)), but it's time to talk about a few things that are on my mind.

Firstly, let's talk about an avocation of mine, acting. I don't perform very frequently, although I have representation, but I have gotten the odd job here and there, including some barely-noticeable-paid-extra work on actual movies shot here locally (but not as many as I would like). I've seen a couple of "Urgent casting for volunteer extras" posts on Facebook from a local casting agent and shared them, but I personally won't do those. Why? I value what I do. I gladly volunteer at church and school, but if they are going to make money on the movie (it is a capital project, no?), why should it expect my labor to be free? I understand it's not a big deal, and there are many that will happily volunteer to be a part of a film, but if I'm doing this work for pay (thanks, agency), it devalues me to do it for free.

Trump derangement continues unabated all over. I've been clear about my feelings about the guy, but, boy am I enjoying the derangement. Seriously, to see him poke the hive successfully over and over again is pretty amusing. Maybe, just maybe, some of his opponents will see the merit of advocating for a smaller government. Ok, just kidding, they won't.

There have been openings in the freakouts, however. A Jewish H.S. classmate of mine actually posted a blog from a guy saying "my Dad was obsessed with Hitler and the Nazis, and he was a killer and maniac from day one. Trump isn't and isn't going to suddenly become one," which was perfectly timed for me to read, as I had been pondering that very line of logic. Did Hitler "grow" into Hitler-ness, or was he like that all along? Because, to say that Trump is a modern Hitler leading us down the same path ("I have studied Nazi Germany and this is how it started" say so many idiots), means that he actually wants to KILL A BUNCH OF PEOPLE RIGHT NOW, right? 

Scott Adams of Dilbert fame (among his many accomplishments) has been on fire explaining the persuasiveness and success of the Trump campaign, if you haven't read him, do it. He's all over Twitter, too.

I still say the best line about the new Prez is that progs and libs take him literally rather than seriously, when it should be the other way around. He also continues to play the press like a fiddle, which is hilarious. One NBC person has it right (I can't find the tweets), that covering his rantings (specifically, it was the "under reported terror attacks story) only brings attention to the issue (and she was totally correct), but the media can't not cover him, just like it couldn't during the campaign. It's worse for them now that he's POTUS! That's how he won, right? Well, that, and his opponent was the worst Dem prez candidate since Mondale.

I am amazed at the cognitive dissonance on both (all) sides of the aisle. Most recently, this Nordstrom Dropping Ivanka's Clothing Line Flap has me chuckling at the lefties that actually believe that it was a business decision. Seriously. It was political, as is TJMaxx's, and my wife is pissed off about it because she actually like the quality of some of the clothes in her line! 

Everyone thinks they are thoughtful, everyone thinks they have formed their opinions based on reflection and education, but, as has been described well by others, that's just not true. I give people the benefit of the doubt, but there's just so much stupid out there, and the Internet makes it inescapable. Alas.

Photography continues to amuse me, so if you aren't already, follow me on instagram. I get the honor of an episode of the Hashtagged Daily Podcast here in a week or so, look for episode 77. If you like instagram and photography, it's an interesting podcast!