Day 16, and the Dame slaps around the dangerous media 'leets ...

After lunch, the pond likes to kick back and relax, and what better way than with a weary Dame Slap's soothing words of comfort?

Yes, indeed, the media has played no part in the rise of Trump.

Their supine fascination with the man and his relentless self-promotion and endless vulgarity has absolutely nothing to do with the man as a media phenomenon, and is absolutely not a pale echo of their love for The Apprentice ...

Why the very fact that a 'leet reptile such as the Dame - basking at the view from her nicely upholstered hot rock - would spend an entire column on teh Donald shows why absolutely nobody in the media is interested in the man.

As for Dame Slap's asinine contrarian position, that's also easy enough to decipher. You see, it's Obama wot said it, and so it's wrong ...

Indeed, and consider mystification as the consummate art of the commentariat column spinner ...

But wait, we're now coming to the nub, the heart of the Dame Slap argument, which it turns out wasn't just some garbled misinterpretation of Obama's call for digging and criticism, conflated with the contrary notion that politicians don't like media criticism ...

You see, the media can wash its hand of Trumpism. Trump is all the fault of people. The media are elites catering to elites, Dame Slap excluded, and simple folk have spoken. 

The media is far from perfect, but the media is full of mere hapless and helpless entertainers, who must perforce respond to the audience, and share the audience's loss of faith in politicians such as Obama ... and so the reptiles must embrace the audience and their faith in consummate politicians such as Trump ...

They are mere straw dogs at the whim of a fickle audience ...

Now a pedant with a wider notion of the media than the narrow notion of a few reptiles might suggest that the media has long served Trump well ....

After all, he started on The Apprentice in 2003, and NBC was so keen to continue with it in 2015 they announced a fifteenth season, and along the way they also spun off The Celebrity Apprentice ...

But it seems that in Dame Slap's world the media isn't the media, and NBC isn't the media and it's not just all showbiz ...

If Mr. Trump does end up fading, as some analysts are beginning to predict, you could look at “The Apprentice” for a parallel. It was, as its host would say, huge in 2004; its first finale had over 28 million viewers. Then it declined. You could blame overscheduling, poor lead-ins, a 2005 spinoff starring Martha Stewart. But it also had a gimmick, Mr. Trump himself, that lost its novelty. In reality TV, successful formats (“Survivor,” “Dancing With the Stars”) can last a long time, but individual personalities — Paris Hilton, Simon Cowell — wear thin. Mr. Trump was not just the host but the game, and the game got old. 
But if you’re looking at “The Apprentice” for signs of the future of the celebrity-political complex, it’s also worth noting that the show never went away. It’s lasted 14 seasons, having switched over to a modestly rated “Celebrity Apprentice” format. And though NBC cut Mr. Trump from the show after his campaign controversies, it will return next year with another entertainer-turned-politician (turned entertainer again), Arnold Schwarzenegger. 
The star may come and go. The show will go on. (NY Times here).

Oh yes, the show does go on ... especially at NBC ...

NBC famously cut ties with Donald Trump last year, following the presidential candidate’s controversial comments about immigrants, ending his “Apprentice” run and letting go of the Trump-produced Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. 

“Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump. At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” the network’s statement read, at the time of Trump’s falling out. NBC will replace Trump with Arnold Schwarzenegger as host of “Celebrity Apprentice.” 

Since that statement was released, Trump has been very much back in business with NBC from hosting “Saturday Night Live” to having a guest spot on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show.” 

 “If we were in the business of never having anyone guest on the network that had views that were different than our views, we would be out of business,” NBC Entertainment Chair Bob Greenblatt said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif. 

Sitting next to Greenblatt on stage, NBC’s president of alternative and late-night programming, Paul Teledgy, said the network’s original statement still holds true. 

“Both statements are true. That doesn’t prevent you from booking someone on an entertainment show or a news show. Does that answer the Donald Trump question?” Telegdy sternly said to the room of press. “Because it’s clear to us and it’s clear to the people producing those shows.”

Greenblatt further explained that when NBC cut ties with Trump, they didn’t expect his political success. 

Now that he’s a viable candidate, as an entertainment and news broadcaster, NBC has a responsibility to bring on newsworthy guests and presidential candidates — especially during the election season when all other networks are doing the same. 

 “We had a couple businesses that we were doing with him — ‘Apprentice’ and the pageants — we got out of both of those businesses,” he said. “That was June or July when most of us thought he would be sort of waltzing into the background of the political arena, and lo and behold, he’s the frontrunner and the poll numbers are sort of astounding and he’s everywhere… every news show, morning show, night show, cable show… I think that reconciles quite easily with we’re not in business with him, but love it or not, he’s one of the most important political figures of our time and he’s on our shows.”

Asked if he had any regrets about Trump hosting “SNL,” given the backlash, Greenblatt said, “He was on the show and the Earth didn’t fall on its axis. It was a highly rated show and that’s always a good thing. At the end of the day, he’s the frontrunner of the Republican nomination.” Telegdy chimed in: “And he’s good fodder for comedy, as well.”  

Following the executive session, Telegdy spoke to a smaller group of reporters, including Variety, when he was asked if he understood the barrage of press questions during the heated conversation on stage. “I do, and I’m sorry if I appeared defensive,” Telegdy said. “We severed our business ties with Donald Trump, which was that we had a joint venture with the Miss Universe Organization,” Telegdy said, noting that “it was done at a speed and an efficiency that is hard to do in the corporate world when you’ve been in business with someone for that long. 

As far as his hosting on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ which made him an employee of this company… that relationship finished. Does that mean Donald Trump is banned from NBC Universal? No — not when he’s a public figure who is running for president and by polls that [show] he can be considered the presidential frontrunner. Do you suggest that a company that operates the largest news division of any of these companies turns a blind eye and ignores that?” (yes, it's all showbiz and you can ankle off to Variety here).

And while we're on credentialled performers, it would be remiss not to mention Mr Goldberg's valuable role in the media ... credit where credit is due, because the lad is always ready with a Hitler comparison ...

Written like a Trump.

And the lad understands that you're only as good as your last gig ... and so you must spread your seed widely in the media ... just look at this wiki list of media performances ...

He has appeared on various television programs including Special Report with Bret Baier, Good Morning America, Nightline, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Real Time with Bill Maher, Larry King Live, Your World with Neil Cavuto, the Glenn Beck Program and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is a frequent guest on a number of Fox News shows including The Five, The Greg Gutfeld Show, and Outnumbered. From 2006 to 2010 he was a frequent participant on bloggingheads.tv. (here)

Oh yes, it's all showbiz ...

But it seems that the pond has got lost in the maze of American media, where everything's showbiz.

Back to the staid, solemn Dame Slap explaining how she's in touch with the masses...

And so to Dame Slap joining in the chorus of contempt:

So what's the takeaway?

Well there's the learned ignorance of Obama.

And then there's the enormous contradictions of Dame Slap. She sees the Donald as a way to punish the uppity 'leets, and never mind the cost and the price to pay.

And in perfecting that art of distraction, she both celebrates the Donald, and clears a path for the real rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem and Washington ...

Ted Cruz ... a perfect combination of rabid fundamentalist and McCarthy-ist ideologue.

Now there's a jim dandy result.

Given this form, no doubt - since someone mentioned Adolf - Dame Slap would have been just as happy at the way Hitler and Mussolini taught those damned pathetic liberals and wet lettuce leaf 'leets a lesson way back when ...