President Trump’s mastery over, and disintermediation of, the United States flagship media represents a seismic shift in the nation’s structure of counterbalanced powers.
His control over this once-powerful sector was again demonstrated by his retaining substantial suzerainty over the Federal legislation, notably over the Senate.
Republican control of the Senate is what matters because here lies control of United States foreign policy.
As noted by MSC Newswire immediately prior to the United States mid term elections, President Trump would “prevail” at this presidential “referendum” where presidents Clinton and Obama, for example, had lost control of the entire legislature.
President Trump’s contemptuous dismissal of a CNN reporter (pictured) at a post mid-term elections press conference, and the feeble responses to the presidential action only serve to weaken this media in the eyes of the rest of the word.
The theatrical and symbolic sanction against the hapless CNN reinforced the way in which President Trump by using Twitter to communicate directly with his public has dispensed with the middleman in this transaction which is the mainstream media itself.
Affecting, or genuinely unable to accept this disintermediation, the mainstream prior to the mid term elections gave the appearance of being convinced that several high profile events would condemn the president in the opinion of the voting public to the point at which both Mr Trump and his party would be swept out of any meaningful participation in power.
One of these beliefs centred on the assassination of Washington Post correspondent Jamal Khashoggi.
The contract on the life of the Washington Post “contributor” was it is now known taken out by Saudi Arabia’s ruling family. The only uncertainty remains at what level.
There was a time and not long ago when the life of anyone involved in the Washington Post would have been considered inviolate and also at any level.
Yet, and in spite of a relatively high profile, Mr Khashoggi was in the event regarded as a risk-manageable target.
Another thing. The Washington Post has long prided itself on the comprehensive nature of its contacts in the intelligence community, notably with the CIA.
Still another thing. The Washington Post was cheerleader in the outpouring just before all this of the visit to the United States of Saudi Arabia’s strongman, the crown prince.
To what degree was the wool pulled over its eyes concerning the danger posed to one of its correspondents, a disaffected member of the Saudi inner circle, wandering around the Middle East?
These and other such incidents contribute to the mainstreamers own accelerating state of disintermediation.
President Trump repeatedly runs rings around men half his age and he accomplishes this in an oriental martial arts sense by using his opponents’ strength in order to floor them.
