The fall of the Fourth Estate.
Media now wetting its pants because Trump boarded Air Force One without waving to them
When we look back and try to identify the day the media's fall became irreversible . . . I always thought it would be difficult to top Wolf Blitzer asking debate participants to play "This or That," but CBS's Mark Knoller and several others may have made today the moment that could never be topped:
You know, I've been a reporter standing around, bored, waiting for something to happen. And then when something happens, it's not much of something and it doesn't leave you with much to say. And you feel like you need to report something after all the time you stood there.
I get all this.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't think twice before confirming that you've become a caricature of yourself, and the media wetting itself over this is sure pushing us right to the edge of that cliff.
First question: How many people were aware of the "tradition" that presidents turn and wave before getting on Air Force One. Were you? I wasn't. I guess I've seen photos of presidents waving but if I thought about it at all, I probably just figured they felt like waving, or maybe they were waving to someone in particular. It never occurred to me that presidents were duty-bound to wave lest the journalists present get their panties in a bunch.
Second question: If you were aware that this is expected behavior, do you consider it a big deal that a new president has come along who decided to discontinue it?
Because to tell you the truth, I can think of all kinds of other traditions it wouldn't break my heart to see fall by the wayside. One would be that stupid turkey pardon they do every Thanksgiving. The damn thing looks delicious. Forget about the pardon and someone get an axe.
Also, as much of a sports fan as I am, I've always found those events where championship teams come to the White House to be kind of forced and entirely unnecessary. You won it all? Great. I'm not sure why that obligates the president to make time on his schedule for you. Maybe the presidents like it because they get to meet star athletes without having to leave home, but I don't really see what the nation gets out of it. I'd kill that.
I used to hate the tradition that Helen Thomas got the first question at every press conference because Helen Thomas was an ignorant fool. But George W. Bush put an end to that so I don't need to complain about it now.
By the way, Knoller and his contemporaries might consider this: Trump loves defying convention and goading them into complaining about it. It's one of the ways he trolls them so effectively, knowing they'll take the bait every time and totally miss the real substance of what he's doing as president. If they're going to get this riled up over not getting a wave, just think how Trump could troll them by taking the axe to some of these other stupid traditions.
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