Sunday, January 01, 2017

Who Gives A Shit?

Every now and then I come across a statement like, "The Washington Post has an important editorial about..." and I think, important? Why? It's an echo from an age when anyone (for better or for worse) gave a shit about what the Washington Post had to say about anything. The most you can say is such things reflect the thinking of one group of people (those that have the ear of the Washington Post editorial board) who think they run the country but don't, though they have more power and influence than they should. Pretty sure most of what they write is about as ephemeral and influential as anything on this baby blue blog, even when it's (occasionally) smart and correct. And the funny thing is an editorial is deemed to be "important" when it's deemed to be somewhat rebellious, some 3 degrees to the left or right of the prevailing conventional wisdom that is the norm.

I expect to read a lot of "important Washington Post editorials" about how Trump is doing bad things, interspersed with a lot of Washington Post editorials about how Trump Might Not Be That Bad, and Also, Too, Liberals. Probably we'll get The Best Way To Fight The Man Is To Nod Knowingly Along With The Washington Post Editorial Board (While Punching Hippies), by The Washington Post Editorial Board.

Of course, the best way to maintain the illusion that you're important is to just go along with the actions of the powerful and pretend they listened to your sage advice. Mostly, that's what we're going to get.