Congress, the Media, and Twitter

I'm wondering if there is an institution today in our society that is more disliked than Congress.  If you think about it, this is a pretty interesting phenomenon.  Nobody like Congress.  That much is clear.  In poll after poll, the results are the same.  Nobody likes them.  And yet, there are Congressmen and women who get reelected year after year after year.  The power of incumbency is undeniable.  So I guess it's that we just really don't like the other guy's Congressman, but our person  is okay.  It's really sorta perplexing.  

I think of this because I've been watching some of the Senatorial confirmation hearings for Trump's cabinet picks.  If you didn't know better, you'd really think some of these nominees are just most horrible people imaginable.  The Democrats take delight in casting these people as wanting to take us back to the dark ages.  They either want to take away basic rights, or take away health care, or pillage the environment, or get us into a war, or have taken hideous advantage of unfair economic benefits, or have knowingly engaged in egregious conflicts of interest, or hate children and pets and the elderly, or want to kick every dog they see.  I mean, it's just really, really unbelievable.  I guess that the other side does that, but I certainly don't remember it.  It seems to me that the Republicans have been more milquetoasts than anything else when it comes to challenging the other side.  The Republicans have consistently stood down in the face of challenge.  But these Dems?  Whooeee!  They are a bunch of accusatory, mean spirited, ego maniacal, jackasses.  The worst one, by a very large margin, is Sen. Elizabeth Warren.  She is a mean piece of work.  Man, I'd hate to have her after me.  Because she is relentless in her hate.  Just relentless.  I thought our Senators from California were bad, but they aren't close her.  

And then there is the whole John Lewis thing.  Congressman Lewis, who has been in Congress for 30 years, has decided not to attend the inaugural because he doesn't think Trump is a "legitimate" President.  He did this also in 2000 for GW Bush's inaugural.  See a pattern?  That Lewis is a civil rights icon is undeniable.  That he is a hero to millions of people is true.  But he is acting shamefully in this case.  In this time when our leaders should be bringing the country together, he is actively driving a wedge between people.  And now many of the Democratic lemmings have followed suit.  Whatever.  I don't think they'll be missed.  

The second half of this duo is the media.  The distrust of the media has reached epic proportions.  I used to say that you needed to look at a lot of sources to get to the truth.  I'm not really sure about that anymore.  Now it seems to be that getting to the truth is very, very difficult.  Everyone has an agenda.  And they don't even hide it anymore.  Everyone is biased.  And they wear it like a badge of honor.  The whining and gnashing of teeth over Trump by the media is embarrassing.  And disappointing.  But I guess after 8 years of cow towing to Obama and letting him get away with murder followed by sycophantic fawning over Ma Clinton, it's to be expected.  

Which brings me to Twitter.  There are many who have called for Trump to cool it.  They say that using Twitter is beneath the President.  There are some who say they like that he uses it but that he should be more circumspect.  There are some who like it.  I have to admit at first I was taken aback.  But the more the media lies and distorts the message, the more I get why he feels like he needs to go direct.  And with Twitter, he can.  So no matter what people think, I think it's going to continue.  And if I were in his place, I can't say I'd think differently.