In my new memoir, SAINT UNSHAMED: A GAY MORMON’S LIFE—Healing From the Shame of Religion, Rape, Conversion Therapy & Cancer To Find My True Self, which goes on sale on March 27, 2019 (though advance copies can be purchased now on my author’s website at www.KerryAshton.com), I talk about our unfortunate presidential election in 2016, saying in part:
“In November 2016, America chose an incompetent and racist bully, a pathological liar, and a self-confessed pussy-grabber as the next president of the United States. But this idiotic and dangerous new president had a huge amount of help in getting elected, first from the Kremlin, then from the former FBI Director’s unwise decision to make public statements about his opponent only days prior to the election, and lastly from our outdated Electoral College. Only with help like that, could such a buffoon and demagogue be elected president in the first place.
Since that fateful election two years ago, it has become harder to know what to believe in or in whom to believe. The current occupant in the White House lies about anything and everything, attacking the very institutions that uphold our democracy and the rule of law—solely to protect himself—even as his lies are presented as facts in the far-right media, while 40% of Americans believe every lie he utters. Indeed, a new Civil War is upon us, with each side claiming its own facts. But perhaps, given the nature of our current national politics, I should refer to it as our country’s first Uncivil War.
I still hope and want to believe that Americans can find a way to reunite as one country and one people, but that seems unlikely at present. Indeed, the only goal of the current White House seems to be to ‘Make America Hate Again’.”
Notice please that I never mention by name the current occupant in our White House. I prefer not to mention his name aloud, as that alone gives him a power and respect that I deeply believe he is unworthy of. If anything, He Who Must Not Be Named—who has given nasty nicknames to anyone and everyone who he sees as a personal enemy—has earned the distinction of going unnamed and unnoticed.
He Who Must Not Be Named, i.e. the Orange Monster in the White House, is not and never was worthy of the constant attention and billions of dollars worth of free publicity that America’s media outlets afforded him since he first descended the golden escalator in a certain unnamed tower on 5thAvenue in Manhattan.
Since the 2016 presidential election, attention had sustained and fed the Orange Monster’s ego, propelling toward increasingly reprehensible behavior. Indeed, the current occupant of the Oval Office behaves like a spoiled three-year-old, and throws a tantrum whenever he does not get his way or whenever he perceives even the smallest slight to his incredibly fragile ego. Since he behaves like the spoiled brat that he actually is, the American press should start covering him as such. Indeed, the OM needs a time-out. Like a tantrum child, he needs to be put in a corner and ignored until he can learn how to behave, it not presidential then at least like a grownup.
Despite all of the OM’s distressful remarks about Fake News and that our free press is “the enemy of the people,” it is press coverage and public attention that he has always lived for, and it is all that he cares about. Being a pathological narcissist, the OM cannot survive without attention; he craves it in the same way that a baby craves a mother’s breast. The OM feeds on attention. The press coverage that follows his every itch, twitch and tweet provides him with the very oxygen to continue unabated in his attempts to destroy every institution of our democracy, one disgusting tweet at a time.
As of today, the Washington Post estimates that He Who Must Not be Named has lied on average 10 times a day since he took the oath of office to faithfully execute the laws to defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies both foreign and domestic. And his lying has only gotten worse over time, with the Post Fact-Checkers reporting recently that he told an average of 30 lies per day during the last month leading up to our recent midterm election. Of one thing we can be certain: His truth—the one we all may one day be forced to accept under his endless authoritarian rule, if we are not careful—will always be one that glorifies him alone.
A pathological liar, the Orange Monster has filled the White House with sycophants who lie as much as he does, who happily and willingly acquiesce to his every lie, gesture and thought, like robotic twits. Indeed, the daily press briefing at the White House—once a place where news of our president’s actions were once disseminated with some measure of truth—has become an outlet for state propaganda, supporting this dictator-child’s worst whims and deceits. It features lie after lie after lie, in an effort to warp reality to support the OM with absolute loyalty while being as dishonest with the American public as possible. His constant lies are then amplified by the OM’s state-run, 24-Hour Propaganda Network, the aptly misnamed Fox News, and all of the other far-right propaganda outlets that support his agenda. And He Who Must Not Be Named benefits from all of this “fake news” coming from all of the far-right media outlets.
But bad as it is, the mainstream media outlets join in spreading these lies by covering all of them constantly. In my view, mainstream American journalists and the major mainstream media outlets and networks should stop covering the OM when he tells a lie. Period. The fact that the OM is a pathological liar and constantly telling whoppers is no longer news. Everyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows this.
Yes, yes, I know. The OM happens to be our president (no matter how illegitimately appointed through the highly undemocratic Electoral College) and whatever he says and thinks is news. I’ve heard that line before. And it is total BS. When the OM tells the truth, of course the mainstream media should cover it. But when he knowingly tell a falsehood, mainstream reporters and media outlets should simply report that the president has lied yet again, for the 10th, 12thor 30thtime today, as the case may be. If people want to know the specifics of his latest falsehood, they have cellphones and they all know how to contact twitter to read his lies whenever they so choose.
In reporting and printing out his every vile comment and lie, the media only pollute the public airwaves and further spread his lie to everyone far and wide, thus making the mainstream press part of the machinery that affords the OM his ever growing power.
The OM’s lies should not be passed on to the public, commented on, repeated, or covered in any way. Covering the lies, reporting the lies, repeating the lies, makes the mainstream complicit in spreading his lies. Each reporter who does this is merely aiding and abetting the Orange Monster to disseminate and propagate his falsehoods, further spreading the OM’s crap. It becomes noise pollution. It wears all of us down, particularly those of us who give a damn about objective reality and objective truth.
I would suggest that the legitimate mainstream press and all of the mainstream networks who care about news and truth, stop attending White House briefings. Rather, they should give a public statement on air that it is their network’s position that they will no longer cover such events, as they only spread lies, misinformation and propaganda of the state. Until the White House press secretary and the president return to reality, and speak with the support of actual facts, they should no longer be reported on or covered. The talking heads on CNN and MSNBC and so forth should simply say that the president has lied yet again, and that they are not going to propagate the lie by even mentioning it, much less showing the printed tweet on the air.
Stop giving the Orange Monster oxygen. Stop covering his lies and his demented opinions. His good behavior should be rewarded with press coverage and attention. But, equally and importantly, his bad behavior should be ignored. Like any brat acting out a tantrum, the OM needs a time out. Indeed, the worst thing that any of us can do is give his bad behavior attention. As any parent raising an infant knows, giving attention to bad behavior only reinforces more bad behavior. A tantrum can soon turn ugly, when an infant starts throwing things. But our infant in the White House doesn’t just have toys he can throw from his crib. He also has nuclear warheads. The constant media attention focusing on his bad behavior must come to an end, and it must stop now!
That is why the OM should not even be named in public or referred to. Until he proves that he can act like a grownup president, we must ignore him. We need to starve his pathetic childish ego with a lack of attention. That is why I will always refer to him in my blog as He Who Must Not Be Named or simply as the Orange Monster. And he shall remain unnamed until a grownup returns to the White House, hopefully sooner rather than later for the sake of what remains of America’s institutions of democracy.
“In November 2016, America chose an incompetent and racist bully, a pathological liar, and a self-confessed pussy-grabber as the next president of the United States. But this idiotic and dangerous new president had a huge amount of help in getting elected, first from the Kremlin, then from the former FBI Director’s unwise decision to make public statements about his opponent only days prior to the election, and lastly from our outdated Electoral College. Only with help like that, could such a buffoon and demagogue be elected president in the first place.
Since that fateful election two years ago, it has become harder to know what to believe in or in whom to believe. The current occupant in the White House lies about anything and everything, attacking the very institutions that uphold our democracy and the rule of law—solely to protect himself—even as his lies are presented as facts in the far-right media, while 40% of Americans believe every lie he utters. Indeed, a new Civil War is upon us, with each side claiming its own facts. But perhaps, given the nature of our current national politics, I should refer to it as our country’s first Uncivil War.
I still hope and want to believe that Americans can find a way to reunite as one country and one people, but that seems unlikely at present. Indeed, the only goal of the current White House seems to be to ‘Make America Hate Again’.”
Notice please that I never mention by name the current occupant in our White House. I prefer not to mention his name aloud, as that alone gives him a power and respect that I deeply believe he is unworthy of. If anything, He Who Must Not Be Named—who has given nasty nicknames to anyone and everyone who he sees as a personal enemy—has earned the distinction of going unnamed and unnoticed.
He Who Must Not Be Named, i.e. the Orange Monster in the White House, is not and never was worthy of the constant attention and billions of dollars worth of free publicity that America’s media outlets afforded him since he first descended the golden escalator in a certain unnamed tower on 5thAvenue in Manhattan.
Since the 2016 presidential election, attention had sustained and fed the Orange Monster’s ego, propelling toward increasingly reprehensible behavior. Indeed, the current occupant of the Oval Office behaves like a spoiled three-year-old, and throws a tantrum whenever he does not get his way or whenever he perceives even the smallest slight to his incredibly fragile ego. Since he behaves like the spoiled brat that he actually is, the American press should start covering him as such. Indeed, the OM needs a time-out. Like a tantrum child, he needs to be put in a corner and ignored until he can learn how to behave, it not presidential then at least like a grownup.
Despite all of the OM’s distressful remarks about Fake News and that our free press is “the enemy of the people,” it is press coverage and public attention that he has always lived for, and it is all that he cares about. Being a pathological narcissist, the OM cannot survive without attention; he craves it in the same way that a baby craves a mother’s breast. The OM feeds on attention. The press coverage that follows his every itch, twitch and tweet provides him with the very oxygen to continue unabated in his attempts to destroy every institution of our democracy, one disgusting tweet at a time.
As of today, the Washington Post estimates that He Who Must Not be Named has lied on average 10 times a day since he took the oath of office to faithfully execute the laws to defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies both foreign and domestic. And his lying has only gotten worse over time, with the Post Fact-Checkers reporting recently that he told an average of 30 lies per day during the last month leading up to our recent midterm election. Of one thing we can be certain: His truth—the one we all may one day be forced to accept under his endless authoritarian rule, if we are not careful—will always be one that glorifies him alone.
A pathological liar, the Orange Monster has filled the White House with sycophants who lie as much as he does, who happily and willingly acquiesce to his every lie, gesture and thought, like robotic twits. Indeed, the daily press briefing at the White House—once a place where news of our president’s actions were once disseminated with some measure of truth—has become an outlet for state propaganda, supporting this dictator-child’s worst whims and deceits. It features lie after lie after lie, in an effort to warp reality to support the OM with absolute loyalty while being as dishonest with the American public as possible. His constant lies are then amplified by the OM’s state-run, 24-Hour Propaganda Network, the aptly misnamed Fox News, and all of the other far-right propaganda outlets that support his agenda. And He Who Must Not Be Named benefits from all of this “fake news” coming from all of the far-right media outlets.
But bad as it is, the mainstream media outlets join in spreading these lies by covering all of them constantly. In my view, mainstream American journalists and the major mainstream media outlets and networks should stop covering the OM when he tells a lie. Period. The fact that the OM is a pathological liar and constantly telling whoppers is no longer news. Everyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows this.
Yes, yes, I know. The OM happens to be our president (no matter how illegitimately appointed through the highly undemocratic Electoral College) and whatever he says and thinks is news. I’ve heard that line before. And it is total BS. When the OM tells the truth, of course the mainstream media should cover it. But when he knowingly tell a falsehood, mainstream reporters and media outlets should simply report that the president has lied yet again, for the 10th, 12thor 30thtime today, as the case may be. If people want to know the specifics of his latest falsehood, they have cellphones and they all know how to contact twitter to read his lies whenever they so choose.
In reporting and printing out his every vile comment and lie, the media only pollute the public airwaves and further spread his lie to everyone far and wide, thus making the mainstream press part of the machinery that affords the OM his ever growing power.
The OM’s lies should not be passed on to the public, commented on, repeated, or covered in any way. Covering the lies, reporting the lies, repeating the lies, makes the mainstream complicit in spreading his lies. Each reporter who does this is merely aiding and abetting the Orange Monster to disseminate and propagate his falsehoods, further spreading the OM’s crap. It becomes noise pollution. It wears all of us down, particularly those of us who give a damn about objective reality and objective truth.
I would suggest that the legitimate mainstream press and all of the mainstream networks who care about news and truth, stop attending White House briefings. Rather, they should give a public statement on air that it is their network’s position that they will no longer cover such events, as they only spread lies, misinformation and propaganda of the state. Until the White House press secretary and the president return to reality, and speak with the support of actual facts, they should no longer be reported on or covered. The talking heads on CNN and MSNBC and so forth should simply say that the president has lied yet again, and that they are not going to propagate the lie by even mentioning it, much less showing the printed tweet on the air.
Stop giving the Orange Monster oxygen. Stop covering his lies and his demented opinions. His good behavior should be rewarded with press coverage and attention. But, equally and importantly, his bad behavior should be ignored. Like any brat acting out a tantrum, the OM needs a time out. Indeed, the worst thing that any of us can do is give his bad behavior attention. As any parent raising an infant knows, giving attention to bad behavior only reinforces more bad behavior. A tantrum can soon turn ugly, when an infant starts throwing things. But our infant in the White House doesn’t just have toys he can throw from his crib. He also has nuclear warheads. The constant media attention focusing on his bad behavior must come to an end, and it must stop now!
That is why the OM should not even be named in public or referred to. Until he proves that he can act like a grownup president, we must ignore him. We need to starve his pathetic childish ego with a lack of attention. That is why I will always refer to him in my blog as He Who Must Not Be Named or simply as the Orange Monster. And he shall remain unnamed until a grownup returns to the White House, hopefully sooner rather than later for the sake of what remains of America’s institutions of democracy.
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