Political theater

Last Thursday night I watched MSNBC’s The Last Word, hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell. After the endless commercials, most of the reporting focused on Donald Trump.

O’Donnell laughed at Trump, ridiculed him and portrayed him as a fool. Clearly, this was another attempt to sabotage Trump’s bid for the White House. Such an effort by O’Donnell has relevance only if Trump is truly seeking the presidency.

Let’s take a closer look at The Donald’s background. Donald is a business man . . . how successful we truly do not know. He claims to be a multi-billionaire but some have questioned how much he is really worth. He has not hesitated to do business with people connected to organized crime. Donald is very persuasive and has always been able to convince prospective investors to contribute to his projects many of which have eventually gone bankrupt. Donald, despite his modesty, often boasts that he is king of the “deal.”

What about Donald’s campaign? Has anyone ever done more to alienate and frighten the voters, except for white men, than Donald has? He has been so outrageous that many members of his own party are abandoning him. There are those who feel that a Trump ascendency to the White House will mean the end of Western civilization.

The question is why, if Trump truly wants the presidency, would he engage in a campaign that ensures his loss to Killary? Why, when naming Mike Pence as his running mate say that he will leave the running of the country and foreign affairs to his vice president?

What Trump enjoys is the process of running for office, seeing his name and photos plastered throughout the MSM, not the governing of this country.

It is my contention that The Donald is playing his role and playing it well. Killary is not well liked by a majority of voters and Donald’s assignment is to alienate, insult, and frighten as many people as possible to ensure that they go running to vote not for Killary but against him. He has done an excellent job. Trump is not a fool or a stupid man and for him to run the campaign he has run brings into doubt his seriousness as a candidate.

The role the MSM must play is exactly what Lawrence O’Donnell is playing . . . demonize, ridicule Donald and show he is not fit to be president, which is exactly how Trump projects himself.

So, if you take this process seriously, you are missing the point. Even Trump and Sanders said the process is rigged. The country’s decision-makers decided this is Killary’s time and it will be Killary’s time no matter what the rest of us want. And, still, most people continue to believe we live in a democracy because our “masters” allow us to vote every couple of years.

Another brief part of The Last Word caught my attention. O’Donnell had 2 guests to discuss the emails revealing that the DNC and the Killary people conspired to make certain that Bernie did not win the nomination. This is important because not only is this a crime, but this is a clear example of how our voting rights are being compromised.

Predictably, the discussion completely ignored the content of these emails and focused on implicating Russia and Putin for being guilty of hacking into the U.S. computer system. This is another example of killing the messenger and a strategy used by the media to direct our attention away from the criminal acts perpetrated by members of “our” government.

The reality is all countries hack into each others’ computer systems . . . it’s standard operating procedure and the U.S. is a major party to this type of activity. Another factor is the all too easy accusation that Russia is responsible for gathering the emails and providing WikiLeaks with them. As far as I know, there is no data verifying this accusation.

Chelsea Manning revealed crimes being committed by the U.S. military and is now serving 35 years in prison. What happened to those who actually committed these crimes? As far as I know, nothing.

Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was illegally implementing surveillance of U.S. citizens. As a result, he had to find refuge in Russia. What happened to those committing these surveillances? As far as I know, nothing.

The point is, it is more important to kill the messenger than to confront those who have been responsible for deceiving the public.

Lawrence O’Donnell’s show is just a piece of what happens every day over and over again in the media. Their main function is to maintain the staus quo, protect the rulers and make certain that the messages from the ruling class dominate our news outlets.

There is no truth, merely theater with various segments of our society having their roles to play. Don’t accept anything at face value. The rulers have an agenda and they lie to us.

If it doesn’t make sense, don’t believe it.

Always ask when evaluating an event, who benefits?

Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.