I sat last night and watched ZDF (public-run Channel Two) and their late-night news. They had a four-minute 'hit' piece on Donald Trump.
They had practice this type of behavior back during the Bush years and simply dusted off their gimmicks....although in today's atmosphere.....it's the stuff that you'd expect from first-year university students and not some mature news organization.
At some point, they pulled out Trump's quote from last month where he talked of the possible exit of the US from NATO because it might not have value anymore. Then ZDF found some foundation expert who claimed this would put Europe at a terrible risk of conflict and it was the wrong thing to say or do.
It's an interesting slant for ZDF, because for two decades....they've been pushing signals and commentary that NATO wasn't necessary and the US could not be trusted as a partner, so here along comes Trump to deliver what they advocated to the German public and they quickly run back to the 1970s position of a need for NATO.
The reality of the NATO question is if the US leaves.....some type of major effort by the EU will have to occur.....rebuilding what they've allowed to occur since the 1990s. Frankly, the money isn't there and no one in the EU really has extra cash to pay for things like this.
As for the slam against Trump? I expect it to continue for the rest of the campaign, and IF he does win, they will swing around their media circus here in Germany and portray America as a risky friend. Their slant is that you need mature leadership like you have in Berlin today, with the grand coalition....to which you explain this in some German pub and all the old guys start laughing.
So, if you are an American....no matter if you are pro or anti Trump.....it's best to prepare now for the next round of anti-American slant updates on public-run TV in Germany. Unlike Bush who never said a word and just let things go on.....I suspect Trump already has a word or two (Goebbels-like, failed mental midget giants, or hyped-up Brown Shirts) that he'll dump to the NY Post when he wants to say something about the German news media.
Entertainment? Yeah.....it's taking the whole form of news, incitement, and slanted angles and turning it into a wrestling-show type reality show, that it really has become.
No comments:
Post a Comment