Trifecta

How in the HELL did we get HERE?

I know, I know. What do I have to add in a sea of opinions and autopsies on the 2024 election? After all, my daily “Stack” is about boring reality, not opinion. But, I have occasionally strayed from my usual “Daily Joe” (As I like to call it, until January 20^th, that is, then..UGH!), so it’s not out of the ordinary for me to write something different. Fear not; the “Daily” will be up at regular early evening PST!

Believe it or not, I do have media experience. Not as a news director or anchor of some major market network or cable news outlet, but for a number of years, I was the morning drive-time DJ for a local radio station located in a bedroom community just north of the San Fernando Valley in beautiful Southern California. I was not topical in any way, but along with keeping commuters happy, giving live traffic and weather updates, and giving interviews to guests, I also reported breaking news events and, if the news department weren’t around yet (I started at 6 AM), I would be compelled by the station owner to write occasional articles with breaking stories for the station’s news website. For two of the four hours I was on the air, I was the go-to for local on-air information and took it seriously.

I learned very quickly that the clarity of my on-air content had to be precise. Otherwise, the listening audience could misinterpret my meaning, especially if I was attempting to be humorously anecdotal. Listeners had a way of occasionally only half-hearing what I said, which could lead to rumors flying around about a breaking story when I had to be serious about something unrelated to what I reported.

Which leads me to this (FINALLY!): If you sound official enough while broadcasting from a media outlet or dress up a set to appear like a news desk with well-dressed, well-spoken “anchors,” “analysts,” and “contributors,” the chances of your audience believing everything you say is pretty good. Combine that with a message constantly repeated and backed up by other professionals, perhaps a bevy of corporate leaders, and a slew of elected officials, and there’s no stopping you!

Since the election, I’ve been dallying with what I call the “Trump Trifecta Theory.” Here goes:

1.      Repeat your message over and over again, even in the face of fact-checking that proves your message is a lie. Ensure everyone on your team is on the same page with the same lies.

2.      Have a propaganda network in place to ensure your lie is oft repeated without pushback or fact checks. This includes convincing the world’s richest man, who just happens to own the most popular social media outlet in the world, to play along. Engage elected officials to repeat your lies for you, thus giving full credit to your message. (The “trifecta within a trifecta!”)

3.      Make sure you remain in EVERY SINGLE news cycle, no matter how ludicrous your actions are at any given time, thus depriving your opponent of any notable airtime.

And VOILA! Your power grab is now complete!

Nothing I wrote above should be a shocker. Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Timothy Snyder have been preparing us for just this moment for years, so we should have seen this coming. Despite our best efforts, we thrive on reading/seeing/hearing information that makes us comfortable within our confirmation bias cocoon (I include myself in this as well. I’m not immune!). “Team Trump” used that against us very effectively.

So now what? I can’t speak for anyone else, but in the past week, I’ve had to do my bit of soul-searching to try and reset my balance. I refuse to give in to despair, yet I can’t help thinking that my habits got the best of me this election. Like perhaps many of you, I thought Kamala Harris had this for sure. She ran a flawless, professional campaign while her opponent pushed xenophobic hate and a false apocalyptic vision of America under Joe Biden. I feel duped by the very people I trusted to keep me safe in my confirmation bias cocoon despite it not being their fault. They told me she would win, but after all, they earn their living as show hosts, pundits, contributors, and analysts, and I believed them due to the “legitimacy of the airwaves.” It turns out they knew nothing more than I did about how the election would ultimately turn out.

I haven’t watched cable news since election night, and I’m okay with that. I remember a time when I watched local news stations and the nightly half-hour network national news broadcasts. I remember a time when I actually subscribed to a newspaper with stories that were important and informative enough to be printed in what would be a limited news space. It was concise and (mostly) objective, with opinions being devoted to their own section OFF the front page. Do they still have those?