The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Trump? The media owes Americans for its creation
What does it mean to have a voice and to have a say in the decisions that affect your life?
And what happens when that voice is taken from you — when the things that you want and feel are important to you and your family are rendered meaningless because you don’t subscribe to mainstream thinking?
Perhaps, even more important, is what happens when your voice has come alive and is finally being heard?
While the media has blasted President Donald Trump over the last four years — and in most cases, deservedly so — it should be reminded that it is the media that created him.
Say what you want about Trump, he did something for 70 million people that mainstream media refused to do: give them a voice.
And now, that voice will not be silenced and for the second time in American history, a coup d’etat may be underway that will threaten 244 years of democracy.
And for that, I put a lot of blame on the media.
Without a doubt, the media created Trump by failing to live up to its responsibility to be a voice for all people.
Instead, the media has become the pawn of the liberals.
Somehow between headlines and news coverage, it has convinced people that Democrats descend from the heavens and Republicans rise from the depths of hell.
And that is why people continue to allow rhetoric to decide their fate rather than the reality of how they live.
Never is this more evident than here in Connecticut, a state ruled by Democrats who insist they are for the people and by the people.
Really? Not from where I sit.
Take a look around Connecticut as it exists today.
Now go back 25 years and show me the improvements to the lives of poor people, veterans and senior citizens.
And I am not talking about programs that Democrats magically pull out of a hat only to have them disappear like the fake magic it is.
Show me the neighborhoods that have benefited, the well-paying stable jobs that have been created, funding for education that has been equalized and housing that has been erected that all can afford.
Go ahead, take your time; look all you want.
But you will see not much has been done to improve and benefit the lives of most citizens in this Democrat stronghold.
I am not arguing that it would be any different under Republicans.
But I am arguing that despite little — if any — change, Democrats are revered and roar back after every election cycle while Republicans are scorned.
So the question becomes, why does the media damn Republicans but put Democrats on a pedestal when everything points to their incompetence at making the lives of people better?
Don’t get me wrong; I am not extolling the Republicans. I firmly believe the conservative agenda would not have pushed into the limelight such past achievements as Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, and current problems such as police brutality and systemic racism.
But neither am I highstepping for Democrats who curry the headlines but fail to put real substance in their representation.
Since Trump has come along with the destruction of a gale force wind, the media has seized on every incendiary comment he has made and has served it up as an accelerant of hate.
But that hasn’t stopped Trump supporters from popping up everywhere.
Nothing has swayed the allegiance of his followers, which include Black and brown people as well as a whole lot of poor people, seniors and veterans.
And they are willing to stand by a man who has made fun of the disabled, is obviously misogynist, has ignored the bravery and suffering of POWs, made disparaging comments about minority races and has an ego so high, even he can’t climb to the top of it?
Why? Because he has given them a voice.
As a columnist, I know how important it is to have my say, and I get that opportunity every Sunday even when there will be tons of disagreement with what I write.
But I remember a time when my voice didn’t matter and how insignificant I felt.
So, when I got my chance, I roared.
And that is exactly what 70 million people are doing across the United States — including right here in the state of Connecticut.
Trump is not going anywhere — and neither would you if you had 70 million people roaring their approval.
The rallying cry for the nation is for us to come together and begin to heal but you can’t come together when there is only one voice at the table being heard.
The media has failed spectacularly to live up to its responsibility to be a voice for all people, all races, all faiths and all ideas.
It has led to a loss of faith in hard-working journalists, put their lives at risk and cast a pall on the legitimate work they do.
Right now, stars are bursting in air for President-Elect Joseph Biden but rockets still glare red for Trump.
Those are two powerful forces.
And that makes me wonder if the generations living now are witnessing the actual fall of the “United” States and the solidification of two Americas.
If that happens, the media bears responsibility for its role in deciding one voice was more important than the other.
And it is time the media takes steps to make it right but it may already be too late as many believe Trump will launch his own news organization.
And that probably will mean that we, as American citizens, will never be one voice again.
Trump? The media owes Americans for its creation.