What If It REALLY Were Obama?

Not long ago I did a piece on the fake scandals surrounding the Trump Administration, none of which -- well, certainly the Russian collusion non-story -- has a shred of evidence to justify its existence.  I made the comparison with the Obama Administration, and how differently the press seemed to be acting against a president that it wants out of office, i.e., vs. one that it wants deified.

Well, yesterday we had an interesting comparison of the two presidents again, except this was not a presidential scandal but possibly the last straw, even for the media.

I refer to the horrific picture released by the comedienne Kathy Griffin, in which she holds a bloody mask of President Trump as if she were an ISIS terrorist or something.  We've all seen it, unfortunately including the president's children, and including his ten-year-old son.  That was not a pretty thing.

I don't really need to discuss why it is awful, or how bad it was, or how stupid Kathy Griffin was to have done it in the first place -- and videos of her with the photographer readily show how intentional it was.  Everyone had to think that.  Even the clown in Congress from Texas who "[rose] to call for the impeachment of the President of the United States", despite no charges, no evidence and no logic, even he had to think it was not a good idea.

But it got done, and it got done intentionally.  And we can hope that ridiculous stunt will finally end the insane chapter of this Administration that has been the press treatment of the president in his first four months in office.

So ... why do I say that?  Because I think we have finally gotten to the point where some on the left -- not all, of course, but those with a modicum of reason -- will say that the bloody image has pushed things to a breaking point.  Certainly CNN thought so, firing Miss Griffin from some New Year's gig she had on the network (sorry, don't know, or care, what it was).  That's noteworthy, since New Year's is seven months off, and one could figure that the luster of her act might have worn out at that point, and CNN could have laid low and brought her back, if what she did was a tad less vile.

And so I would like to think that not just CNN, but the rest of the media will look itself in the mirror now.  The face reflected back is going to say, loudly, that the abject hatred of President Trump, and the mourning they feel for not having Hillary Clinton as president, have hit a point where even the media cannot control those who watch it.  Certainly enough to stop otherwise rational people from feeling like they can, well, pose for ISIS-video-level images.

We want to pray that l'affaire Griffin has taken us to a point where disgusting might be no longer tolerable, where highly offensive is actually, well, highly offensive.  Where people can possibly say, "Maybe I was a bit too worked up about it.  Maybe I don't want to be associated with mock violence."

Perhaps we can now have civil discussions about things like tax policy, foreign policy, health-insurance policy, that sort of thing, and actually talk.  I would like to hope that if CNN can decide that, well, there is hope for at least some on the left.

I don't, though, hold out hope for those backing the violence, like George Soros.  They are moneyed ideologues who just see the Griffin think as a momentary problem for their global vision.  I hold no hope for the college crowd who let insular professors inculcate far-left notions in their formative but nascent brains, and who already  grew up on violent video games and movies.  I hold no hope for the paid rioters, for obvious reasons.

I have to hope that the political leaders on the left look in that mirror, and one of them -- just one -- stops to rise above it and call for their side of the aisle to lead the path to civil discussion.  Maybe Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi, if anyone actually listens to them.  Or Tom Perez, although he couldn't be believed even if he weren't profane.  Maybe Hillary, but that ain't happening.

Or Barack Obama, in whose defense riots would have covered the land had Kathy Griffin held up a bloody mask of him.  We can hope that one of them would speak out.  Except I checked the Twitter feed of all the above.  Crickets.

Hope, of course, though, is not a strategy.  But civility is.

Copyright 2017 by Robert Sutton
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