Will the world’s leading economic countries, like the USA, try to govern “virtually?”
There’s no good reason, but people like Kamala Harris, who could be described as an out-of-the-box thinker, could also be described as lazy. We’ll see how much people in government podium-speaking positions avoid the actual podium, instead, having photographs of themselves standing at a podium accompany remarks they make in their pajamas or taking a tub.
AP — headline: Harris’ mostly virtual campaign to get Wisconsin road test
And they’re proud of it. And the Associated Press, who takes credit for this story, is, too. The first line, in a Jetsons-are-cool-why-don’t-you-laugh kind of way: “SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Kamala Harris told a friendly crowd of Hollywood donors on Thursday they’d be surprised by how many states she’s visiting daily, if only virtually.”
Well, I won’t laugh; this is clearly the wrong road if we want information; if we want politicians who care and make the effort; if we want to know the politicians haven’t died or changed their sex a long time ago …
“Harris hasn’t been on a plane in more than a month. Three weeks after joining Joe Biden as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, the California senator is still campaigning largely in front of a computer screen to relatively small audiences,” the article continues.
This well-balanced-as-it-gets AP article continues to do several things …
1) Says she’s actually going to a physical location soon, Milwaukee, her first jaunt into the public.
2) Explains her behavior, understandably, as coronavirus-related
3) Mentions Republicans more frequently meet with people face-to-face
This isn’t an article about Dems versus Republicans. It’s about what this feels like. Where are we going?
Below is a sentence that stands on its own later in the AP article:
“Attendees range from Hollywood powerhouses like TV director Chuck Lorre and actress Kate Hudson to friends and top Kaine donors.”
That’s fun. Sounds like a great kind of event (this story is not about how trustworthy “Hollywood powerhouses” are, nor about their sexual adventures). It sounds terrific!
All by itself. But in context, they’re not talking about an actual event beyond a (drum roll, please), warm, inviting, personable and revealing video call. That’s it. They talked on the telephone, a multi-user call with moving pictures of people. Not actual people.
I just wonder, is this a shelf someone will soon tell us is a better way to meet with people “face-to-face,” a better way for politicians to swoon us (forget about honest representation of complicated facts), a shelf the laziest son of a lazy person will see as a shining beacon for permanently depersonalizing relationships, all in the name of technology? I can feel it coming. We, as a nation, are being forgotten. We’re not important enough.
We’re not important enough to shake hands with. No, that’s because of coronavirus.
We’re not important enough to tell the truth to. No, that’s always Trump’s fault.
We’re not important enough to tell the whole story to. No, that’s CBS and ABC news, very busy organizations.
The American public used to have “access,” while often complaining if they didn’t.
Today, it’s neither. We neither have access, nor care.
I just wanted to remind everyone, we’re still here.
If the only person that visits me this year is a prankster or intimidator, I’ll have only one choice, to vote for the party that represents law and order. The guy who isn’t afraid to say so, Donald Trump.
I don’t think, as the article seems to, there are that many stupid housewives who will be indefinitely satisfied with a star-studded conference call, when they don’t know if the streets are safe to walk in.
The AP: “Donna Brazile, a former head of the Democratic National Committee, who was on the first call, where singer Bebe Winans serenaded Harris with his song “Born for This,” said of Harris, “We had a wonderful time just showering her with powerful energy for the battles ahead.”
Brazile acknowledges “non-virtual” events will also be important. But the article then quotes her saying (about Harris) “She’s also been invited by friends to join organizing groups of suburban women supporting Harris and marveled at the Harris-specific T-shirts and other merchandise people are creating and selling online. She (Harris) did something to make the VP seem like a rock star and people are just donating.”
That’s politics, but really, it’s like talking about Star Wars and how cool it was, while the world burns. It’s nifty, but my news feed doesn’t have room for this particular group of Hollywoods and housewives. Let’s get real. Oh yea, they do that on TV, sorry, forgot about that hard-hitting journalistic entity.
Right now, it’s the beginnings of Harris’s VP race; so she’s raising cash, cash, cash, via Kate Hudson and friends on fun shopping video calls with Hollywood’s most rich … for the cash, cash, cash. But she’s also been diligently posing as an important symbol (being black, jamaican, south asian, and often looking very white, sort of like Rashida Jones, or Barack Obama). This woman could do absolutely nothing and she’d be supported by anyone who thinks she somehow represents social justice. That’s a joke. A serious one.
She’s a US Senator. That’s respectable. But I know pretty much nothing else about her. Most of us have been learning, as the press teaches us, she’s black. That seems to be lesson one. I got that, and am ready for more.
This sounds like it’s about her, but it’s about knowledge.
Video conferencing. People’s faces. Touching people. Eliciting emotion without ever meeting someone. The power of the press, especially with regard to those who don’t have time or the gumption to read much news, and these days do more, dig a little deeper.
It’s about access and accessibility. There is none.
Will there ever be again? Why should there be? America is on the brink of becoming a communist nation, courtesy of us. All of us are complicit, if we don’t keep up.
They’re making it impossible to know the players.
On purpose.
As a lifelong journalist, I’d recommend these things:
1) Those people who appear not afraid to say what’s on their minds will be caught saying something non-correct by today’s grammar Nazis, but it’s those people who should be suspected of being honest. Sounds backwards, but true.
2) All communications should be tested backwards. Any accusations should be tested in the opposite direction, directed at the accuser. This often will result in at least a standoff. The concept is from the Alinsky handbook.
3) Understand that major news outlets are owned, all of them, by Democrats who are interested in politics. It does not underscore fair play when we see, day after day, almost nothing but accusations against Republicans which are designed to line up as a list of news headlines, intended to appear overwhelming. It’s on purpose.
4) Biased articles and videos don’t belong in lists of news stories. Neither do ads, when their text layout causes them to be mistaken for a (supposed) headline. This is easy to see in “Google News,” using the default settings and layouts (though the layout is mildly customizable, you’ll never get rid of these overwhelming multi-stories that consistently attempt to make Republicans look bad, because there are multiple news sources involved, in cahoots). It’s the opposite of news coverage. It’s unAmerican to say the least.
5) Get some fresh air. Spend time with people you love. Expect change to continue.
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Mark Urso
mark@markurso.com
Twitter: A_Candle_Lit
