Now Is NOT The Time To Tune Out!

It's astonishing. Ratings for CNN and MSNBC have tanked, while ratings for Fox News has stayed roughly the same, or ticked up slightly.

According to Forbes Magazine, MSNBC and CNN both had their ratings drop by half in the weeks post-election, a steep decline given that MSNBC was the #2 rated news service behind Fox News leading up to the election.

So what's going on?

I think for the most part, people who really know what's going on, namely those who follow balanced and legacy media, see the upcoming disaster, and can't watch. It's much the same as when someone sees a kid dash into the street before an oncoming car. One has to turn one's head and cover one's eyes so as to avoid seeing the bloody, tragic aftermath.

I'm certain there's also a fatigue factor. Those who hate Trump are just plain sick and damned tired of hearing about him. So it's easier to turn the television off and just peek at the headlines a little bit later.

I get it.

Or, there's this factor: people would just rather tune out. They know the situation is shit, they can't do anything about it, and so watching Wrongway-Peachfuzz-Trump select his clown-college Cabinet is simply too depressing.

Oh yeah, depression. That's certainly also a factor. I mean, Michael Moore (for example) hasn't done a single podcast since November 12th, when he did nothing for almost an hour except weep and play old-time records from his collection.

But now is NOT the time to tune out! Now is the time to be alert and at our best!

Hear me, Michael? Get up off your ass! Break time is over! Back to work! We need you!

We need to be alert and vigilant for the same reason one needs to be alert when one is trapped in a speeding bus that's out of control. Maybe the steering is broken, or some malevolent jackass has taken the wheel, but in that situation, the last thing you need to do is curl up into a fetal position and moan. You need to have eyes forward! Maybe you can't wrangle the steering wheel back in time, but you can sure as hell see when it's time to jump off, tuck & roll, and hopefully land safely!

Tuning out is not an option. Checking out might need to be, but we're nowhere near that point, yet!

In a previous blog post, I gave five reasons one could be hopeful. I've since thought of a sixth: As we can still see, Trump is in cognitive decline. There's a better-than-fair chance that he will be too bad-addled to do much damage to our nation's systems as he slowly loses his marbles. So long as he gets his little foibles, he won't bother with the big ones.

Let his Chief of Staff run things. That doesn't sound so bad. IF we pay attention, IF we are vigilant, we might just get through this only slightly singed.

So on your feet, people! Eyes front! The election was lost precisely because too few people knew what was going on.

No need to add yourself to that number!

Eric

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