July 1: The media establishment is having a cardiac arrest.
The reason? Donald Trump has thrown his hat into the Republican presidential race.
The billionaire businessman is a straight shooter, known for his bluntness and tough talk. Unlike most politicians, he speaks plainly and directly. He doesn’t mince words or engage in the kind of double talk that pervades Washington. In short, he does not defer to the media elites, who cherish their role as the gatekeepers of our political class.
The ruling establishment’s dominance is based on the complicity of the mainstream media. It is an unspoken bargain: New York-Washington journalists depend upon having access to politicians in exchange for safe, almost sycophantic news coverage.
Instead of holding our leaders accountable, we have a lap dog press that acts more like mouthpieces for either the Republicans or Democrats.
The days of genuine media independence and hard-hitting investigative reporting are gone. Big Media is now in bed with Big Business and Big Government, forming an unholy alliance.
Hence, American politics has become venal and corrupt. No one is guarding the guardians; rather than serving as a check and watchdog on the abuse of power, too many media outlets are deliberately turning a blind eye.
The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, the Associated Press, NPR, the Huffington Post and Salon — they have degenerated into a sophisticated propaganda arm for President Obama and liberal Democrats.
Conversely, FOX News, The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Weekly Standard and many so-called “conservative” voices on talk radio have become shills for corporatist Republicans, beholden to the donor class and wealthy bundlers.
Their goal is not to tell the truth, but drum up support for the Mitch McConnell-John Boehner-Paul Ryan-Mitt Romney wing of the GOP. These are the “moderate,” “responsible” and “grown-up” leaders we are told America needs.
Related: Sheriff Joe Arpaio: It’s ‘amusing to see all the heat’ Trump’s statements generated, July 3, 2015
The result has been the creation of a two-headed monster: The Republicrats and the Democans, a political oligopoly in which both establishment parties form a ruling class. Like any governing elite, the goal is to maximize their power and wealth over the citizens they seek to control. Any individual who threatens the ruling class’ dominance must — and will be — destroyed.
This explains the media’s bizarre, almost hysterical reaction to Trump’s candidacy. CNN and MSNBC have openly mocked him; FOX News pundits Charles Krauthammer and George F. Will declared Trump’s run to be fundamentally “unserious”; Dana Perino, the former George W. Bush hack who is a co-host on FOX News’ “The Five,” had an emotional meltdown while railing against Trump’s trade policies; and National Review’s Kevin Williamson in a puerile, vicious hit piece even called Trump a “witless ape,” “an ass” and a “baboon” who should be “crucified.”
Glenn Beck also jumped on the anti-Trump bandwagon. Beck claims that Trump is “not a conservative, but a progressive” — someone the Tea Party right has no business backing. The reason: Trump supports protective tariffs. That’s right. Beck believes that the businessman’s opposition to NAFTA, GATT, the WTO, PNTR with China and other free-trade deals disqualifies Trump as a genuine conservative.
Beck, however, is wrong — dead wrong. Economic nationalism has been a cardinal principle of conservatism dating back to our Founding Fathers. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams — all supported protective tariffs and a trade policy that guaranteed America’s economic independence. By Beck’s standards, Washington and Hamilton were “progressives.”
In fact, the opposite is true. Trump is an anti-globalist conservative, a nationalist who seeks to put America first. This is why our media elites despise him. He does not care for the New World Order based on free trade, open borders and globalization. Instead, he champions patriotism and populism — the very things our transnational ruling class fears.
On Iraq, he was right: Americans did the fighting (and the dying) while Iran and ISIS — our mortal enemies — now control that fractured country’s vast oil supplies. He is an unabashed capitalist. Unlike Romney, Trump is proud of his immense personal wealth.
Moreover, he promises to unleash our shackled private sector and restore the American Dream. He vows to slash taxes, excessive government regulations and our crippling budget deficits. He is pro-life, pro-traditional marriage and anti-global warming. In short, he is a Reaganite Republican.
Yet, it is his flinty attacks on illegal aliens and our porous southern border that has made him public enemy number one. For stating the truth — that many illegal immigrants pouring in from Mexico are violent criminals, murderers, sex offenders, drug dealers and gang bangers — Trump is now being crucified. Univision has canceled the Miss America and Miss Universe pageants; NBC has severed all ties with him; and Macy’s has just announced it will no longer carry Trump brand merchandise — shirts, neckties and cologne. The reason: The billionaire’s comments were allegedly “racist” and “offensive.”
In other words, our elites are effectively embracing treason. They are siding with law-breaking foreigners and the government of Mexico over Americans.
The government-media-industrial complex has shown—beyond a shadow of a doubt—they no longer hold any allegiance to America or its citizens. Transnational progressives are determined to destroy our sovereignty, borders and culture.
Trump frightens them because he poses a direct threat to their power and influence. He is a Teddy Roosevelt-style nationalist, who seeks to break the stranglehold of Big Business, Big Media and Big Government. Moreover, his vast wealth means that he cannot be bought and paid for. Unlike Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden, Trump is not in the pocket of special interests and foreign governments. He is genuinely independent. Ironically, the more he is vilified, the more his popularity surges. Middle America is with him. He is the anti-politician in an age when politicians are rightly despised.
It is too early to say whether I will support him. And there are excellent conservative candidates — Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Scott Walker — in the race. But Trump is a serious force to be reckoned with.
Liberals and RINOs beware. If Trump wins, you are all fired.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at WorldTribune.com and the host of “The Kuhner Report” weekdays 12-3 pm EST on WRKO AM-680 in Boston.