How The Media Work

By Ann Coulter If the media can strangle Trump by terrorizing people about everything he says then its already over. Im inclined to think Americans hate the media too much for that to work but even sensible people cant think straight in the middle of one of these hate campaigns. It can be very difficult for people to overcome whatever meaning the press superimposes on what someone has said no matter how psychotic. Throw in incessant repetition and uniform agreement among the pundits (Hillary cheerleaders versus Never Trumpers) and completely deranged interpretations become historical facts. Last August Trump said the following about the way he was treated at the first GOP debate: (Megyn Kelly) starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions and you know you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes blood coming out of her -- wherever but she was in my opinion -- she was off base. This was nearly identical to what Trump said about Chris Wallace a few sentences later: Theres a big difference between Mike Wallace and Chris Wallace because I watched them last night you know blood pouring out of his eyes too. Suddenly the words her wherever were being described as a clear-cut reference to Megyns menstrual blood! (I have it on good authority that Chris Wallace has never menstruated.) Trump expressed shock saying of his accusers They have all dirty minds -- I never even thought about it ... I was thinking of ears or nose. (Accused by the same forces of something revolting Whittaker Chambers gasped What kind of beasts am I dealing The day after Trump allegedly referred to Megyns period I happened to have a number of social engagements with people who hadnt heard about the scandale. So I gave them Trumps exact words told them the media were in hysterics about it and asked them to guess why. None of them -- an Obama-voter a conservative actor and a union organizer -- were able to guess the ludicrous interpretation being placed on Trumps words. At least one was visibly angry about the accusation (probably because he was on his period). But after a few weeks of media propaganda even he flipped and became totally convinced Trump was in fact referring to Megyns menstrual blood. Most people are highly suggestible. Thats why companies spend billions of dollars on advertising. The only way to see how media propaganda works is to remove yourself from the immediate panic. In the calm light of day -- without people hectoring you from every news outlet every moment of every day -- you can clearly see that two plus two does not equal five but four. My entire career has been a test-run for the hounds of hell theyre unleashing against Trump on a daily basis right now. These hate campaigns were waged against me every few months for about a decade until the media gave up and decided the better part of valor was to pretend I dont exist. It happened so often I cant even remember them all but a fan reminded me of a good one last week. On Good Morning America about 10 years ago I was asked about a (fantastic*) joke Id told about John Edwards four months earlier. (That joke was also lied about but thats not todays topic.) Heres the GMA transcript June 25 2007: CHRIS CUOMO (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) You say you were joking. ANN COULTER (POLITICAL COMMENTATOR)   Oh yeah. I wouldnt insult gays by comparing them to John Edwards. Now that would be mean. But about the same time you know Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So Ive learned my lesson. If Im gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future Ill just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot. Im not a rhetorician but I believe this would be called a syllogism or deductive reasoning: It is acceptable for a person to say X; I am a person; Therefore its acceptable for me to say X. Or maybe its just sarcasm about the medias rank hypocrisy. Whatever its called the screamingly obvious point was to illustrate how our constitutionally protected guardians of liberty in the press go mental over my every joke but dont make a peep about far more aggressive rhetoric from liberals. Among the possible responses to what I said on GMA are: -- Thats different! Maher was talking about Dick Cheney. -- We have a firm policy of pretending not to understand jokes about Democrats. -- OK OK youre right. We were just trying to make you cry so youd either come to our side or stop writing. In the realm of the sane however the possible responses do not include: ANN COULTER CALLED FOR JOHN EDWARDS TO BE KILLED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK! Guess which one the entire media went with? Mike Baker Associated Press Tuesday June 26 2007: Elizabeth Edwards pleaded Tuesday with Ann Coulter to stop the personal attacks a day after the conservative commentator said she wished Edwards husband Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had been killed by terrorists. Marc Ambinder Atlantic Online June 26 2007: Coulter herself said If Im going to say anything about John Edwards in the future Ill just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot. Tom Foreman CNN correspondent June 27 2007: Conservative commentator Ann Coulter jokes about Democratic contender John Edwards being killed by terrorists. CNNs Kiran Chetry American Morning June 27 2007: Elizabeth Edwards confronting conservative commentator Ann Coulter ... She was referring to Coulters comments the day before when Coulter said she wished Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had been killed by terrorists. Coulter responded to Edwards request with a laugh. Harry Smith CBS The Early Show June 28 2007: Welcome back to The Early Show. Conservative political commentator Ann Coulter is known for making outrageous comments. This week she said Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards should be killed in a terrorist assassination plot. Hundreds of news outlets repeated this lie without even mentioning Maher -- i.e. what we call the point -- although a few sportsmen included vague references to Mahers comment deep within their stories. This isnt taking something out of context -- its a lie. Try quoting the full sentence! Ironically the medias rewrite pretty forcefully proved my point about the gigantic double standard for liberals and conservatives: In order to prove I was a monster the media put a liberals words in my mouth -- the exact same words they hadnt minded when a liberal said them. I keep hearing abstract claims about Trump being out of control making mistakes saying outrageous things but whenever I ask for a specific example all I get are the medias apocryphal versions of what Trump has done -- never something he actually did. All campaign news coverage today is an adaptation of MSNBCs In Other Words game where a Republican saying I dont think Obama has been a good president becomes HE CALLED OBAMA THE N-WORD! The media may think their versions are logical extensions of what Republicans have said but this is a presidential election. I think voters deserve to hear the truth and not Rachel Maddows demented translations. (*Im not a professional comedian but when a room full of 7000 college Republicans laugh -- it was funny.)