The media wasn’t prepared to handle sarcasm from a candidate

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Jazz Shaw:

By now you’ve no doubt seen the international crisis which was spawned when Donald Trump answered a question about the DNC email hack, saying he hoped that the Russians found the rest of her 30,000 erased emails. Flipping through the cable news networks this morning you’d think that he just offered to sell the nuclear codes to the highest bidder. The reactions have been swift and ominous from all corners. The editorial board of the Washington Post issued a dire warning, telling voters to beware that, “Donald Trump just invited a Russian cyberattack of his opponent.”

Ed Rogers, writing for the same paper, asked, “[I]f Trump is willing to use Putin’s resources for his political gain today, what would stop him from reaching out to Putin once he comes to terms with the fact that as president, he can’t take many of those actions himself?

These are symptoms of something which has been going on for quite a while now, but I believe it took a long time to sink in for me because I’m “guilty” of the same thing so often myself. You see, this is something the media isn’t equipped to handle. Trump has already told Fox and Friends that he was being sarcastic when he said that. This answer was replayed on CNN this morning and the response seemed to strike the anchors there as if the GOP nominee had suddenly begun speaking Klingon. And yet, the idea that someone running for office could regularly engage in sarcasm or even some off color language or jokes is so foreign to the political media that they feel obligated to treat obvious sarcasm as if it was a serious policy proposal. And in reality, it’s not much of an “obligation” to deal with because it helps them continue the narrative and paint Trump as some sort of out of control monster.

As I said, I think I had a hard time recognizing this pattern at first because I engage in the same mannerisms myself on a daily basis. In fact, it probably infects at least three quarters of my writing. But here’s a clue for the reporters covering this election: I’m not the one in the minority here. Though there are still plenty of people left with more gentile sensibilities, most of the people watching your broadcasts call on sarcasm on a regular basis. Beyond that, plenty of people use some “colorful” language on a regular basis as well, even though you don’t allow some of it on the air.

Trump has done his share of that as well, and his opponents have tried without success to make hay of it. Have you seen this ad from the Clinton campaign which warns America that “our kids are listening?”

Featured right up front is a quote from one of The Donald’s stump speeches where he supposedly says of businesses who move their jobs to Mexico, “… and you can tell them to go **** themselves.” The reality is that he didn’t actually say the F word there. He censored himself and just mouthed the offending expletive silently. (You can watch the uncensored clip here if you remain in doubt.) But still, everyone knew what he was saying anyway.

Guess what? I say that too… probably far more often than Trump. I don’t do it in an office setting or write things like that in my professional work because that’s not an accepted standard. But it is how many real Americans speak.

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I just talked to one of my neighbors who votes but doesn’t follow politics except for what she occasionally sees on the MSM. She told me today she heard Trump is working for Russia so she will have to vote for Clinton. That’s the mentality of a typical American voter.

The MSM are going to do to Trump what they did to Palin but it will be one hundred times worse. It has begun.

Hillary told America that those 33,000 emails she deleted were just:
Sympathy notes after her mom’s death,
Yoga routines,
Wedding plans for Chelsea.
So, what’s the big problem?
If we see them or never see them, they are NOT national security issues, just personal stuff.

Now, as to sarcasm:
We have become so entangled by the PC police that humor is almost impossible.
Well, get over it.
Some things are inherently funny.
Puckishness is the sign of a quick mind.
Laughter is the best medicine.
I saw Trump live during that news conference and could see he was joking.
Our media is looking for anything to catch him on.
Wasn’t there a political cartoon about ignoring Hillary’s mountain of scandals while looking under the rug for the dust of a Trump scandal?

He got what he wanted. Took attention away from the DNC; forced them to talk about Hillary’s emails which they are trying to avoid like the plague; got them to admit that they were susceptible to being hacked, something they’ve denied, and got them to admit that if leaked it would damage national security something else they’ve denied. Plenty of ammo. How it plays out remains to be seen.

Trump is an entirely genuine jackass, and the “When Donald Trump opens his mouth” ad is genuinely on target. I have come to this conclusion by listening to him.

about two weeks ago the eastern air corridor was closed for 10 min. wonder why? the wp is at best one of the worse rag papers in the country. rogers is just another journalistic side walker attendant- hooker. remember Heraclitus, probably not since he wrote around 505 B.C. Heraclitus wrote “Η Δικαιοσύνη θα καλύψει τη διαφορά με αυτούς που εφευρίσκουν τα ψέματα και εκείνοι που ορκίζονται για να τους”. Translating is simple, “Justice will catch up with those who invent lies and those who swear to them”.
it is too bad that a classical education is lost to protesting, drinking, orgies, parties, flunking out and living off the parents. recently students protested that school and class work got in the way of their protesting.
the only thing that anyone was ever entailed to was their first berth of air, after that your are on your own.
in clinton’s children ad, why does she not show the cartoon propaganda from Hezbollah, demonstration the killing of an Israeli child . wonder when America will see the video of her welcoming radicalized islamic terrorist into this county?

@Greg: When I read the first headline, something like, “Trump Encourages Russians to Hack Hillary’s Email” and I thought, “Oh, damn.” Then I did what, apparently, no one is supposed to do… I read the story. Then I thought, goddamn liberals and goddamn liberal media.

It was a joke, but one anchored firmly in the truth. Maybe the Russians can find Hillary’s missing emails. Two jokes in one. First, Trump pokes fun at the baseless accusation that the Russians hacked the DNC to help Trump and the joke of Hillary’s explanation about her emails.

Hillary “jokes” along with a supporter about Fiorina being punched in the face. Martin Bashir “jokes” about taking a dump in Palin’s mouth. Hillary and DeBlasio “joke” about “colored people time”. Ha ha. Funny. Even funnier is how the left, who obviously (now) take offense and certain jokes about certain things, forgot to be offended then.

But then again, those were REAL offenses… not pretend, made up offenses solely for the purpose of propping up a corrupt, incompetent, lying First Woman Nominated for President.

I guess this is why Hillary will not speak to the press. She knows how it works.