America Still Hasn't Found Its Messiah
Three years ago, I mused on this site that one of our nation's biggest political problems is that voters refuse to accept allowing technocrats to lead the country and have instead been in a fruitless pursuit of a messiah. This is a bipartisan phenomenon, with Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders on the left and Ron Paul and Donald Trump on the right, all having an irrational cult of supporters dancing around their respective golden calves. In 2016, I lamented this trend and, sure enough, the Democrats' technocratic nominee Hillary Clinton managed to lose to her "messiah" alternative Donald Trump. Bill Maher reinforced my theory at some point in the last couple of years by pointing out that almost all of the most successful Hollywood films of the last few years have been "superhero" flicks, featuring an interchangeable selection of men and women afforded special powers who are able to make the world right again. The same audience looking for salvation from superheroes in America's movie theaters is also seeking a superhero fix from our political system....and they're always gonna be disappointed. The latest case in point of a disappointing false messiah.....Robert Mueller.
The bar for attaining prosecutable charges against a sitting President is high. Coupling that with my general cynicism, I was always very skeptical of the idea that Mueller was gonna save America from Donald Trump with a silver bullet indictment on collusion with the Russian government. And even if Mueller did end up recommending prosecution, it was unthinkable that in our fragmented political culture that a dozen and a half Republican Senators would cross party lines to convict. Their political fate is intractably linked to Trump whose own messiah-seeking base is unwavering and unconditional in its support for him. There was no imaginable scenario where Mueller's findings would lead to Trump's removal from office....and yet it was an article of faith among millions, particularly cable news viewers fed a steady diet of Russia hysteria, that it was the deus ex machina outcome.
Furthermore, the tea leaves have been coming in for months suggesting Mueller's report would be a disappointment. The first sign came when Mueller recommended a light sentence to disgraced, felonious former national security adviser Michael Flynn based on his cooperation with prosecution. The storyline at the time was Flynn must have sung like a bird and given Mueller a lot to work with to get this kind of recommendation....but in retrospect, apparently not. Second, Buzzfeed ran a bogus story a couple of months ago saying direct evidence of Russian collusion had been discovered by the Mueller team....but later that very day, Mueller spoke publicly to set the record straight. The article was wrong. And most recently, I knew the gig was up when Nancy Pelosi pre-emptively declared she had no intention of impeaching Trump. Why on Earth would she said that had she not known Mueller was gonna lay an egg and she wanted to get in front of the story by moving the goalposts set by so many in the media?
Obviously, we've only gotten the "cliff notes" translation of the Mueller report from a Trump administration flack, but even if the actual report does include some damning and embarrassing details, Mueller will have still underdelivered the superhero profile anointed to him by a press corps and a general population who'd been led to believe the election results of 2016 could be undone. And as skeptical as I've been about Mueller producing a devastating blow, even I'll confess to having expected more than what he got. Mueller was hired as a special prosecutor who could investigate the charges against Trump outside the orbit of partisan apparatchicks in Congress......and yet he refused to "break the tie" in his mind as to whether obstruction of justice should be prosecuted? And instead outsourced the decision to partisan apparatchick in William Barr to determine in less than 48 hours what Mueller didn't in 22 months? This superhero was really wearing a kryptonite necklace!
There's been a lot of talk in the past week how the media, particularly in cable news, is poised to get their comeuppance having sold their audiences on Trump being hauled out of the White House in leg shackles and then Mueller coming miles short of delivering....but I'm not so sure. Initially, there probably will be a ratings decline and reputational loss for those hyping the end of the Trump Presidency, but I think it's more likely than not that a new messiah will arise from the ashes to fill Mueller's shoes and excite the same people into believing there's a simple escape hatch from the current political reality. So when it comes to the media, who can blame them for shamelessly selling the notion of cape-wearing political superheroes in our midst poised to undo everything in society for which we don't like? After all, that's what the public craves, and it's been what they've craved for at least a decade now. Whether it's the film industry producing a bottomless pit of superhero movies or the media aiding and abetting the production of new cure-all figures in the world of politics, it's all about supply and demand. They're both just giving the people what they want. They want a messiah, and by golly, the NEXT one will really be the one we've been waiting for!
The bar for attaining prosecutable charges against a sitting President is high. Coupling that with my general cynicism, I was always very skeptical of the idea that Mueller was gonna save America from Donald Trump with a silver bullet indictment on collusion with the Russian government. And even if Mueller did end up recommending prosecution, it was unthinkable that in our fragmented political culture that a dozen and a half Republican Senators would cross party lines to convict. Their political fate is intractably linked to Trump whose own messiah-seeking base is unwavering and unconditional in its support for him. There was no imaginable scenario where Mueller's findings would lead to Trump's removal from office....and yet it was an article of faith among millions, particularly cable news viewers fed a steady diet of Russia hysteria, that it was the deus ex machina outcome.
Furthermore, the tea leaves have been coming in for months suggesting Mueller's report would be a disappointment. The first sign came when Mueller recommended a light sentence to disgraced, felonious former national security adviser Michael Flynn based on his cooperation with prosecution. The storyline at the time was Flynn must have sung like a bird and given Mueller a lot to work with to get this kind of recommendation....but in retrospect, apparently not. Second, Buzzfeed ran a bogus story a couple of months ago saying direct evidence of Russian collusion had been discovered by the Mueller team....but later that very day, Mueller spoke publicly to set the record straight. The article was wrong. And most recently, I knew the gig was up when Nancy Pelosi pre-emptively declared she had no intention of impeaching Trump. Why on Earth would she said that had she not known Mueller was gonna lay an egg and she wanted to get in front of the story by moving the goalposts set by so many in the media?
Obviously, we've only gotten the "cliff notes" translation of the Mueller report from a Trump administration flack, but even if the actual report does include some damning and embarrassing details, Mueller will have still underdelivered the superhero profile anointed to him by a press corps and a general population who'd been led to believe the election results of 2016 could be undone. And as skeptical as I've been about Mueller producing a devastating blow, even I'll confess to having expected more than what he got. Mueller was hired as a special prosecutor who could investigate the charges against Trump outside the orbit of partisan apparatchicks in Congress......and yet he refused to "break the tie" in his mind as to whether obstruction of justice should be prosecuted? And instead outsourced the decision to partisan apparatchick in William Barr to determine in less than 48 hours what Mueller didn't in 22 months? This superhero was really wearing a kryptonite necklace!
There's been a lot of talk in the past week how the media, particularly in cable news, is poised to get their comeuppance having sold their audiences on Trump being hauled out of the White House in leg shackles and then Mueller coming miles short of delivering....but I'm not so sure. Initially, there probably will be a ratings decline and reputational loss for those hyping the end of the Trump Presidency, but I think it's more likely than not that a new messiah will arise from the ashes to fill Mueller's shoes and excite the same people into believing there's a simple escape hatch from the current political reality. So when it comes to the media, who can blame them for shamelessly selling the notion of cape-wearing political superheroes in our midst poised to undo everything in society for which we don't like? After all, that's what the public craves, and it's been what they've craved for at least a decade now. Whether it's the film industry producing a bottomless pit of superhero movies or the media aiding and abetting the production of new cure-all figures in the world of politics, it's all about supply and demand. They're both just giving the people what they want. They want a messiah, and by golly, the NEXT one will really be the one we've been waiting for!
posted by Mark at 1:26 PM
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