Our Post-Literate Presidency

[peggysue2]

Last edited Fri Jan 5, 2018, 01:10 PM - Edit history (1)

The stunning reveals of Michael Wolff’s expose’ is the center point of nearly every article I’ve read this morning. But none was quite as shocking to me than Wolff’s statement here:

Trump didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. If it was print, it might as well not exist. Some believed that for all practical purposes he was no more than semiliterate  .?.?. . Some thought him dyslexic; certainly his comprehension was limited. Others concluded that he didn’t read because he didn’t have to, and that in fact this was one of his key attributes as a populist. He was postliterate—total television.

Let that sink in—The Donald is ‘postliterate—total television.

Of course, that factoid begs the question: exactly what is the Trumpster, Tweeter extraordinaire, watching on television? Where is he getting his ‘facts’ and slant?

Matthew Gertz over at Politico asked the same question. All these tweet storms, the rat-a-tat-tat nature of the Trumpsters’ concerns, rages, perpetual attacks appear erratic and all over the board. Unless you check Fox News programming, which Gertz did over a 3-month period, only to find that tweet after tweet could be lined up with the networks ‘beef-of-the-moment.’

I’m sure a lot of people would say, Duh. We knew that already. Where’s the surprise?

Here’s Gertz explaining:

Everyone has a theory about Trump’s hyper-aggressive early morning tweetstorms. Some think they are a deliberate ploy the president uses to distract the press from his administration’s potential weaknesses, or to frame the public debate to his liking. Others warn his rapid shifts from one topic to another indicate mental instability.

But my many hours following the president’s tweets for Media Matters for America, the progressive media watchdog organization, have convinced me the truth is often much simpler: The president is just live-tweeting Fox, particularly the network’s Trump-loving morning show, Fox & Friends.

So, here we have a man installed in the WH, handed the extraordinary powers of the Executive Branch of the United States and his working knowledge comes from a propaganda-driven network blasting out ideological nonsense 24/7. The man sits in front of the TV—he has three in his bedroom. He consumes Fox-laden news—probably has ‘fake news’ CNN and MSNBC running in the background—while wolfing down cheeseburgers. Then he makes decisions that ultimately affect the entire world. As Gertz describes it: "we’ve been experiencing a continuous Trump/Fox feedback loop for months."

But certainly the Trumpster has advisors to tap, experts to outline, analyze and discuss the weighty issues of the world, you might ask?

Michael Wolff speaks to that:

But not only didn’t he read, he didn’t listen. He preferred to be the person talking. And he trusted his own expertise—no matter how paltry or irrelevant—more than anyone else’s. What’s more, he had an extremely short attention span, even when he thought you were worthy of attention.

This Know-Nothing, the post-literate Trump, trusts his own take/opinion over anyone else’s. And this is one of his key attributes as a populist because according to the spin, educated men or women are not to be admired or emulated. Their very education, their intellectual natures mark them as members of the dreaded ‘elite.’

Instead what we have squatting in the White House is someone arrogantly ignorant, an entitled asshole and flimflam artist all rolled into the shape of a human being.

Hooray for us!!!

Is there any doubt this creature needs to be ejected from the WH, sooner rather than later, or that the Republican Party never be permitted to pretend they were hoodwinked, hijacked, taken for a ride?

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

Excerpts for Wolff and Gertz here:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/michael-wolffs-withering-portrait-of-president-donald-trump

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/05/trump-media-feedback-loop-216248

[dalton99a]

1. He's literally a useless piece of shit

Well, he is actually worse than shit. Shit stinks but doesn't do damage.

[peggysue2]

2. Sadly true

I also read the other day that Trump has bragged how he never went to class while in school, never did assignments. Yet, he heralds the fact he graduated from Wharton.

Here's a man who has had every advantage--born into a wealthy family, sent to expensive schools, etc. And he's basically pissed it away for money and fame. And now, he's pissing away the Office of the Presidency and the country at large. Because . . . he's a fraud and has always skated when faced with his own mistakes and inadequacies.

The really weird thing? You could not write this as a piece of fiction and get away with it. No one would be able to suspend disbelief and accept this con-man wheedling his way into the WH and/or behaving the way he has behaved without consequences.

Yet here we are, living it out in blazing, painful color. Incredible!

[dalton99a]

3. Yep. The Onion is having a hard time competing with the horror show we're living in