A Metaphor?
In what some are taking as a metaphor for our times…. the former Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, in Atlantic City, was demolished on February 17 by a controlled implosion.
The vacant, derelict building has been closed since 2014 and was the final symbol of Trumps bankruptcies and failures on the Boardwalk…that is that affected his investors. He walked away whole and flush and even during the Presidential Campaign bragged about how much money he took out even as they were all going belly up.
Yet, the truth is it’s not a good metaphor. Trump is not imploding. While the building has disappeared and there is no longer any Trump name connection to Atlantic City…beyond the historic. Trump is very much front and center in the news…in politics…in popular culture.
We Can’t Seem To Let Go
We just can’t seem to let him go….and that is true of left and right and middle…media…Republicans and Democrats and I guess me…as I write this.
Take the New York Times for one. Trump still dominates the main news and in my view, sadly, a large percentage of their Op-Eds….a forum he “ruled for the past 5 years or so.
And while it's not fair to pick on the NYT…I do so because one would hope that the beacon (in their minds at least) of open and trusted news would have had the sense to move on.
Fox, interestingly enough, has done a little better…maybe because they see an enemy to report on while before they were a support provider to Trump.
The Trial fizzled…as many predicted….and it's given Trump a platform of response and attack…yet again.
The good news is that his family has faded into the background so we are not inundated with useless distractions.
Rubbernecking
Yet, we all still can’t let go. It reminds me off the traffic slowdown on a highway as rubberneckers brake to see if they can catch any gore….but in this case the gore is on both sides…Republicans and Democrats…one would imagine would be happy to move on….and yet they seem tied at the waist…pulling and tugging each other in opposite directions but with a rolling gait forward…slowly.
Truth is it’s us. Media knows what sells. Social Platforms know what shares. News organizations know what makes people listen.
But maybe not.
Where’s The TV guide?
Do you remember the end of the Truman Show when the security guards who have been crying and seemed so emotionally connected just moved on?
“Want another slice? What else is on? Where’s the TV Guide”
My final question…
“Want another slice? What else is on? Where’s the TV Guide”
Why can’t we let go?