TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2024
Taboos decimate discourse: As you may have heard, Candidate Trump ended up staging an unusual event in Oaks, Pennsylvania last night.
It started out as a typical if somewhat ersatz "town hall," with citizens directing questions to Candidate Trump and Kristi Noem moderating.
Governor Noem was especially insulting toward Candidate Harris. This is part of the way our rapidly failing national culture works at the present time.
For starters, what made the event a bit ersatz as a "town hall?" Because the questions and questioners had been pre-selected by the Trump campaign, it was really just a standard Trump rally speech. All the usual presentations were offered amid a slight change in the staging.
You can watch the C-Span video here. C-Span has augmented the tape since we watched it early this morning, but we'll proceed as best we can.
As it started, the evening was normal. You can see Trump introduced by Noem eight minutes into the C-Span tape, and he does start taking questions. This produces the same old rambling answers, until medical emergencies halt the proceedings on two separate occasions.
(Apparently, it was very hot in the hall.)
Whether to his credit or not, the candidate struggled ahead for almost an hour in the face of these interruptions. At 1:05 on the C-Span tape, you can see Trump and Noem saying, "Thank you, everyone."
That's when the music seizes control of the night.
The musical part of the evening continues along from there. It continues for well more than half an hour, depending on when you want to say the unusual event reached its end.
We don't exactly agree with Kevin Drum's pair of posts about this event. Nor do we agree with the way this event is being played by the Washington Post.
In his second post, Kevin links to the report in the Washington Post. For Kevin's first post, click here.
Here's the dual headline which sits atop Aaron Blake's report:
How big a political problem is mental acuity for Trump?
Polls show it’s nowhere near as big as it was for Biden, but it has grown as a liability for Trump—amid increasingly strange scenes.
All in all, we see two problems here:
First, does this event raise a question of "mental acuity" in a way which parallels the earlier questions which still surround President Biden?
We aren't entirely sure that it does. More to the point, how about this:
Should Blake by focused on what "polls show" about this—on the "political problem?" Or should he be focused on the (potentially dangerous) medical reality, to the extent that the medical reality can be discerned?
In our view, the polls are important, but so is the truth. Kevin seems to like Blake's report. We think Blake's report is a continuation of the same old set of taboos.
In the case of CandkidateTrump, there has been a longstanding press corps taboo against discussing the possibility that he is clinically ' diagnostically disordered, perhaps in a dangerous way.
In the case of President Biden, a certain taboo seemed to keep Blue America's press corps from exploring the possibility that he had developed some sport of cognitive shortfall.
(That possibility was extensively examined within Red America's press. This is one of those areas where the Fox News Channel was arguably closer to journalistic relevance than was the New York Times.)
In each case, a joint taboo is or was in effect: For better or worse, journalists will not ask (carefully selected) medical specialists to offer their professional views of the apparent evidence. In the case of the Blake report, the Post has gone straight to issues of the polls, thereby sidestepping the more essential question of the medical reality.
Indeed, Blake goes straight to thumb-sucker ideation, quickly referring to Candidate Trump's alleged difficulty "pronouncing words." The larger question about Candidate Trump has always involved something else—his possible sociopathy.
For better or worse, journalists like Blake, and orgs like the Post, are never going to go there. They're going to run to a safer and sillier ground:
Can Candidate Trump pronounce words?
Whatever may or may not "be wrong with" Candidate Trump, the more dangerous parts of his affliction almost surely don't match the kinds of problems which may still be afflicting President Biden. For the record, from the June 27 debate right up to the present day, the Post and the Times have refused to engage in serious reporting about President Biden's possible condition.
In short, taboos have guided every part of this two-headed mess, right up to the present day.
To our eye and ear, there are major questions about Candidate Trump's medical / psychological / psychiatric state. These questions were laid out in detail in 2017:
For better or worse, Blue America's major orgs have taken a total pass, just as they later did with respect to President Bien.
The Post and the Times have taken a pass for years. This isn't about pronouncing words, and it almost surely isn't the same situation as obtained (as obtains?) with President Biden.
Finally, how strange was last night's town hall event?
In our view, it was unusual, but it wasn't gigantically strange, especially given the circumstances.
(In case we haven't noticed by now, Candidate Trump has gone a very long way doing a wide assortment of things which depart in some way from the norm.
In our view, last night's event was much less strange than the endless array of very strange, menace-laced things this candidate relentlessly says. That said, our orgs have steadfastly refused to establish that dangerous state of affairs—his endless array of very strange statements and claims—as a basic front-page news hook.
The New York Times finally published a thumb-sucker piece last week. In our view, Blake has largely followed suit.
The danger here is something different. For better or worse, these major orgs—including MSNBC—will just keep taking a pass.
Within the last two weeks, the Times has twice examined the Harris "word salad." Today, we have pronouncing of words.
For better or worse, these timid news orgs want to leave things right there.
