When President Trump authorized US forces to launch a cruise missile strike on that Syrian airbase in response to the sarin gas attack, the mainstream media was caught flatfooted. There was no agreed response to the move, so many did not know what to say. After all, since before the election, there has been a script for criticizing Trump that has been used by the media. For example, we've been told that his campaign was in chaos, that his transition team was in chaos, and that his administration is in chaos and disarray. Somehow, that campaign won the election, the transition team put a first rate team in place, and President Trump has been carrying out his campaign promises one after another with success. The repeal/replace Obamacare process has not gone well, but that's about it. The point is that the media just had no idea what the appropriate response to the Syria attack was. They knew that they had to find a reason that it was a bad thing, but they just weren't sure what that bad thing was.
The media is now coming together with its new attack word. That word is that the attack showed that Trump and the USA are now "unpredictable". Oh, and being unpredictable is also a bad thing. I have this image of a moderator leaning over and whispering to the media, "The password is UNPREDICTABLE." I have now read three articles this morning in which the Syria move is condemned for its being unpredictable. By tomorrow, I predict that most media articles on the subject will discuss that America and the world are now at risk due to Trump's unpredictable nature.
It's a sad thing to watch this happen. First of all, it's not even accurate. Having other countries think that America is unpredictable sometimes is a good thing. If Assad knows that no matter what he does, the USA will not react (as was the case under Obama), he has no reason to fear an American response. If Putin knows that Russia and its allies are free to do whatever they want without a meaningful American response (again, the Obama predictable response), Putin need not consider the USA before acting. On the other hand, if they don't know what Washington will do, these despots have to rein in their actions lest they engender an American counter move.
Second, the media is trying to change what Trump did from being decisive to being unpredictable. Trump took a limited action to warn Assad, and to do so clearly and in a way that Assad will understand. The media, however, wants to read this as the entry but the USA as a combatant into the Syrian civil war. That hasn't happened, though. Our policy in that regard has not changed. Secretary Tillerson has already said so.
I was going to write more, but I've suddenly decided to stop here. I like to be unpredictable.
The media is now coming together with its new attack word. That word is that the attack showed that Trump and the USA are now "unpredictable". Oh, and being unpredictable is also a bad thing. I have this image of a moderator leaning over and whispering to the media, "The password is UNPREDICTABLE." I have now read three articles this morning in which the Syria move is condemned for its being unpredictable. By tomorrow, I predict that most media articles on the subject will discuss that America and the world are now at risk due to Trump's unpredictable nature.
It's a sad thing to watch this happen. First of all, it's not even accurate. Having other countries think that America is unpredictable sometimes is a good thing. If Assad knows that no matter what he does, the USA will not react (as was the case under Obama), he has no reason to fear an American response. If Putin knows that Russia and its allies are free to do whatever they want without a meaningful American response (again, the Obama predictable response), Putin need not consider the USA before acting. On the other hand, if they don't know what Washington will do, these despots have to rein in their actions lest they engender an American counter move.
Second, the media is trying to change what Trump did from being decisive to being unpredictable. Trump took a limited action to warn Assad, and to do so clearly and in a way that Assad will understand. The media, however, wants to read this as the entry but the USA as a combatant into the Syrian civil war. That hasn't happened, though. Our policy in that regard has not changed. Secretary Tillerson has already said so.
I was going to write more, but I've suddenly decided to stop here. I like to be unpredictable.
No comments:
Post a Comment