{"id":14278,"date":"2024-01-21T08:52:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T13:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=14278"},"modified":"2024-01-21T08:59:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T13:59:43","slug":"a-letter-to-the-national-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=14278","title":{"rendered":"a letter to the national media"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear National Media,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hello. You may not know me personally, but you know who I am. I am one of the unfeigned majority that does not want either of the two most recent presidents to be president again. As you know, I am not alone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me clear. As our blogging community will attest, I mean absolutely no disrespect. Truly. I realize it\u2019s become the all too convenient trend to ridicule or rage over Presidents Biden or Trump, but that\u2019s simply not my jam. No slights nor sneers here. My base belief is that one of them breeds chaos and the other incompetence \u2014 for different reasons. There is no question neither is the best our country has to offer. We can do better. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, no less, I have a concern that prompts today\u2019s writing. But since other persons may or may not also be reading this, let me again be clear: I am not a fan of either a Pres. Biden or a Pres. Trump. I have no desire to vote for either, and I am attracted to other options for 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, as I informally survey the increasing others wading in the same proverbial boat, I find multitudes who share a similar yearning, albeit they are resigned to voting for one of the two. Notably, however, the primary motivation is not a pro-Biden or pro-Trump vote; it\u2019s an <\/em>anti-<\/em><\/strong>Biden or <\/em>anti-<\/em><\/strong>Trump vote. Indeed, we can do better.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Biden or Trump are all that popular. You know that already, too. Biden\u2019s latest presidential numbers as surveyed by a recent ABC News\/Ipsos poll, give him a whopping 33% approval rating, a record low not just for him but for <\/em>any<\/em><\/strong> president in the last 15 years. Asking similar questions about Trump in retrospect, Trump\u2019s approval numbers land at a mere 41%. Neither candidate, therefore, reflects the ability or credibility that should unquestionably accompany the occupier of the highest office in the land. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are not popular. For solid reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herein lies my concern. Remember: with no popular candidate, as noted, there are seemingly more voting vehemently <\/em>against<\/em><\/strong> a candidate rather than enthusiastically <\/em>for<\/em><\/strong> a candidate. And yet, many of you are covering the candidates in such a way that is aiding and abetting Donald Trump.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow me a bit of political pondering indulgence\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your portrayal of Biden is fairly plain to see. When he doesn\u2019t make sense, says he won\u2019t debate, changes his verbiage again (and again) on Hunter, contradicts himself on Taiwan, or wanders off to shake the Easter Bunny\u2019s hand, be honest; we can handle it. But when excuses are made to make him look more lucid than he actually is, we notice. And I\u2019ll speak only for me, but if you\u2019re dishonest about the obvious, it is logical to question where else dishonesty exists. Where are you manipulating his portrayal?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve also taken a seemingly specific tack with Trump\u2026 We can\u2019t show him on TV. We can\u2019t let his words be heard. We can\u2019t even air his primary victory speech. Why? Because he lies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll remind you once more that I am not a fan. But it is clear that there are lies told by far more than Trump\u2026 even by some of each network\u2019s chosen pundits. As a watching public, we notice the inconsistency.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some would even aver that Trump\u2019s such a bad guy, we must ban him from the ballot.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUgh,\u201d said the non-fan.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, I am not alone. It is zero rocket science that the clear majority of this country is not a fan of either president. But there seems an increased wondering as to whether those who are anti-Trump are going too far and thereby unintentionally creating a sympathy (or something) where it doesn\u2019t exist. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note the observations of former Obama advisor David Axelrod or current California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who even as supporters of Biden (or in Newsom\u2019s case, a purported supporter of self), agree with said sentiment. The blatant effort to silence, shun or remove Trump is creating the appearance \u2014 rightly or wrongly \u2014 of an attempt to rig the election. It is creating the appearance of unfairness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if there\u2019s one thing people rally around in this country, it\u2019s a sense of unfairness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, as a fan of neither, it\u2019s my desire that your partisanship would take a backseat to your reporting \u2014 and that you would aid and abet none of the above.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear National Media, Hello. You may not know me personally, but you know who I am. I am one of the unfeigned majority that does not want either of the two most recent presidents to be president again. As you know, I am not alone. Let me clear. As our blogging community will attest, I … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “a letter to the national media”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14278"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14282,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14278\/revisions\/14282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}