Why Mainstream Media Normalized Trump

The theory that is most commonly propounded here is that the mainstream media is essentially amoral; they do whatever is required to make money, and that means not pushing back on the president, regardless of the gross damage that is being done to our nation in the process.

Yet, I’d like to think that, if you or I were reporters with the mainstream press with access to Trump at this point, we might ask questions like:

• Can you name a few of the seven wars you claim to have stopped as U.S. president?  If you can’t, what’s the purpose of the lie, and repeating it every few minutes?

• Please tell us about the real purpose for appointing obviously unqualified crackpots to important cabinet positions, e.g., Health and Human Services, the “War” Department, etc.

• Do you honestly believe that people who peacefully protest against your presidency “hate America” and are “domestic terrorists?”  The presidents who held the White House in times of other large protests understood that this was all part of democracy, an institution that all real Americans cherish.

• How do you justify pardoning convicted criminals purely because they support your presidency?

• You clearly profit from your office, often by accepting gifts illegally.  Let me give you a few dozen examples and ask you to comment.  OK?

Of course, this hypothetical interview would have lasted about six seconds, but isn’t that better than throwing up softball questions and rubber-stamping the crap coming out of the president’s mouth?