Wilbur's Suburbo

                                                                  You fake right, I'll fake Patriotism.

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​                                          There’s No Such Thing
                                                 as Bad Publicity
 
                                                        (While Wilbur’s Suburbo is still “in production” here’s a little more writing)
 
              While running errands in the car this morning I heard Norman Julius (“Boomer”) Esiason remind us that today (June 6th) was the 74th anniversary of the WWII Normandy Beach Invasion (D-Day).  The short-bus riding Esiason then conflated memorializing the day with the NFL dust-up about standing for the National Anthem, clearly siding with our dimwit President on the issue.  While Esiason harped on how our noble soldiers died on D-Day for “our freedoms” he apparently doesn’t believe freedom of speech and freedom to protest for a redress of grievances are somehow included in the sacrifice.  The belief in standing for the National Anthem --- one of the most bogus, artificial, and shallow acts of “patriotism” one might display --- apparently trumps all other freedoms, according to Norman Julius.  That Trump persists in roiling this empty kettle to keep his base aroused (as more and more shit hits the Special Prosecutor fan each day!), it certainly keeps the yapping pundits at MSNBC busy all day (while those at FoxNews defend “the President”, of course).   And here’s the rub: the media is playing more and more into Trump’s hands as the days go by.

              There’s an old adage in show business: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”  Case in point, Donald Trump.  As long as his name (and bizarre actions) are front and center, he knows a huge swath of the American public won’t “sweat the details” (like facts) and will simply hear his name.  Good publicity, good advertising for his brand.  Last week (or was it the week before?  It’s hard to keep track in this media shit show) we were so distracted by the whole “Roseanne” (and then Samantha Bee) tumult that the story about the horrific loss of life in Puerto Rico was relegated to a minor crawl along the bottom of the newscasts! 

(As an aside: while I don’t necessarily believe there is moral equivalency between what Roseanne said and what Samantha Bee said, I do think they should have gotten equal cancellation treatment --- and don’t quibble w/me about S.Bee attacking a “White House official” who “happens” to be the President’s daughter.  It was degrading and offensive language --- if not on par with Roseanne’s --- still foul.  And, to use the Fox News saw: what if she said that about one of Obama’s daughters, would we be fine with her keeping the show?)

            Michelle Wolf summed it up well at the White House Correspondents Dinner:
 
 "You guys (the media) are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? You act like you hate him, but I think you really love him.  You helped create this monster, and now you're profiting off of him."
 
While obsessing over every detail of Trumpaphenalia,  the media is not doing a very good job of simply reporting the news.  Hawaii and Guatemala are blowing up,  Europe is experiencing enormous political upheaval and turmoil, the Middle East is, well, the Middle East, and, yes, Trump is going to meet with Kim Jong Un but has anyone any idea of what the big issues and deep concerns are (or should be) beyond the U.S. demanding “denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula?  It's a huge political blunder by Trump (granting Un status far beyond his pay grade) but he only sees it as a  great photo op --- and our press plays along!

            Trump has so disrupted our national applecart that professional athletes’ reactions to him and the National Anthem are major stories on cable and broadcast news.  Since most of America seems to be like Trump --- in that they simply don’t read and rely only on their “devices” and social media to get their information --- his ability to monopolize the stories is magnified.  While I know he can’t be stopped, I also know that I don’t have to pay attention to him and can try to get as much information as I can about issues I find important from sources I believe are reliable.  While I hope that would be the case for my fellow citizens (and for many more media outlets) I know the reality is that WFAN’s morning broadcast, featuring the mouth-breathing Esiason, is #1 in ratings in the NYC metro area for men ages 25-54.  Such is the world we inhabit.

            There’s no such thing as bad publicity!