In 1973, Elton John titled his album, “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player.” I now understand the title.
Last night, I responded to a few posts about the story on the WWL Radio Facebook page that President Biden had removed the special button former President Trump had installed in the Oval Office to order his Diet Cokes throughout the day. It seems like the strong tendency to criticize is the manifestation of deep frustration over Trump losing the election.
All news, especially on social media sites, like Facebook, need not be serious. Light-hearted stories and topics are part of any medium that delivers the news. The harsh attack of posting the story assumes that everything on FB must be a substantive news story.
Here are a few of the comments posted on WWL Radio FB:
Jodie: Biden is a disgrace and his voters will pay the price as we all will.
Mike: He could use a shock collar to keep his demented a** awake.
Larry: What a petty story.
Travis: He’s [Trump] out of office. You can stop posting useless crap now.
Barbara: So glad I got this important bit of useless news. Really!
Disappointment following an election is as old as politics in America, but the double standard today is impossible to ignore. If the situation were reversed and President Trump removed a button President Obama had installed in the Oval Office to order his favorite beverage, I have no doubt the posting of the story would be celebrated by many and would lead to reasons to condemn Obama. Since the button is superficial, the messenger of the story is attacked rather than the content of the story.
After reading and responding to some of the posts on the WWL Radio FB page, I posted a video on the Scoot On The Air FB page about the criticism.
The SOTA video addressed the instinct to attack the messenger if the message cannot be justified or defended. A president installing a button to order a Diet Coke whenever he wants one seems rather petty, and the idea that there is someone who is paid to pay attention to the light or the buzz that the button activates seems excessive. But my video did not criticize Trump for installing the button - it was about the deflection from the content of the story to the messenger.
Here are a couple of the posts my video inspired:
Wayne: The messenger is a lunatic liberal that thinks he’s always correct - just remember for every topic you think is true, someone else can find an opposing story disputing it. You’re not always right. That’s why people criticize the messenger.
Mary Rose: Biden is done! He is being impeached by a senator with guts! Liberal lunacy is a disease you all are infected with! Biden is bought and paid for by China. FAKE NEWS is CBS!
Since the video I posted was not specifically about me - it seemed not everyone who posted comments took time to view the video and simply based their comments on the heading. This is a very common thing on FB. People react to the headline without consuming the content of the post. I have actually posted videos with content that was different from the title, and it was amazing how many people proved my premise correct.
It is understandable that many Americans are upset with the outcome of the election, but that is inspiring a tendency to lash out at any messenger delivering an uncomfortable message.
And to Wayne who posted about how there is always someone who can find an opposing view - what can’t be opposed are the facts. And yet, facts are often ignored when the facts challenge to confirm one’s bias.
And can we get over this idea that all news has to be serious news? Life is full of anecdotes that provide a break from the seriousness of the day. The idea that former President Trump had a button installed in the Oval Office for ordering a Diet Coke on demand is a legitimate anecdote. The messenger is not to blame for the message.
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