Sides

     ‘Hoom, hm, I have not troubled about the Great Wars,’ said Treebeard; ‘they mostly concern Elves and Men. That is the business of Wizards: Wizards are always troubled about the future. I do not like worrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me.’ – You know where.

     Treebeard was quite candid about his “alignment.” Even the Elves had let him down somewhat. Thus he and the Ents found themselves to be alone in their chief interest: protecting the forests of Middle Earth. No one who fails to share your chief interest in its full intensity is entirely “on your side.”

     So it has always been and will always be.

     Several other commentators have recently opined that the media are unhappy with the Biden Administration because it deceived them about the gravity of Biden’s condition, which the June 27 “debate” made undeniable. If media spokesmen were saying that, it would be self-protective bullshit. The demonstration is above.

     The media’s highest interest, which will never change, is preserving their audience. That, after all, is the source of both their revenues and their influence over the public. Without those things, the media will fail. And yes: the media are failing now – but not because the Bidens have deceived them these past three years. They’ve known perfectly well that Biden is afflicted with dementia. It’s their business to know such things, and you may rest assured that they’ve known it since the 2020 campaign.

     What has the media upset is that their partisan duplicity has been revealed. The “debate” made plain to the general public that Biden’s brain is deteriorating. Some of us knew it, but that portion of the public that still trusted the major media preferred to believe that he was okay, functioning adequately as the president. The media, after all, told them so repeatedly, in terms of blithe assurance.

     Toto pulled back the curtain on June 27. (No, not that Toto.) The subsequent media backing and filling is entirely self-protective. Hardly any of the talking heads and “journalists” they promote were under any illusions that Biden was mentally sound. They didn’t believe the BS coming from the White House; they merely chose to promulgate it. It was in their partisan interest.

     Partisan interests are trumped by survival interests. Abraham Maslow would tell you.

     It’s worth our time to watch and study the techniques with which media figures attempt to deflect or dismiss the certainty that they knew all along. They’re a good indicator of a deceitful individual or institution. Unfortunately, there are a lot of those in the United States in this Year of Our Lord 2024. Just don’t let them deceive you about whose side they’re on. It’s their own and no one else’s.