Using the Media For President Trump's Alternative Facts

THE ALARMING THING ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LIES is how obvious they are, how easy to expose, and how little he seems to care, or even be aware how bad it all makes him look. He seems to live in a narcissistic bubble. He is at the height of his popularity right now, having his honeymoon period with the public and the media. And yet, his popularity is about forty percent, and he's already deeply involved in what he calls his "running war" with the news media. Once again he is making the incredible claim that three to five million illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton, which is the only reason she won the popular vote. The election was rigged, in favor of Hillary, and he really won the popular vote, fair and square, but got cheated. Does he realize that everybody in the country, as well as the rest of the world, is rolling eyes, dropping jaw, or laughing out loud? Trump also claims that his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama's, and that the media invented the conflict between Trump and the CIA, both of which are plainly false. His approval rating will keep gong down, as every action he takes to reverse Obama's legacy will make new enemies for him, and his constant lies alienate his former supporters. If the President thinks he's going to circumvent and totally ignore traditional media such as television and newspapers, and go straight to the people on social media, he needs to remember that Social media is a double edged sword. Social media is a game we can all play. You can attract followers and increase your popularity, or you can make enemies, and rally your opposition. Trump might rue the day he alienated the traditional media, which is easily accessible for him and hard to access for his opponents. Twitter and Facebook and all other internet social media are perfect vehicles for Trump's opposition to communicate, organize, protest, and resist. It might behoove the president to remember that tens of millions of his opponents are doing exactly that.