Media Fail

I was listening this mourning to PBS News Hour as it discussed the 2016 election. Part of that discussion addressed media failings. The consensus was that the media didn't do a good job of examining the disaffection that lead to Mr Trump's election. In that regard I offer the following observations.

1. First, it's true. The main stream media did not understand or cover just how disaffected much of the country is with politics. For some time I have believed that Mr Sanders and Mr Trump are two sides of the common disaffection that the majority of citizens feel with government. Mr Trump harvested that disaffection with telling us who to blame. Mr Sanders addressed it with real proposals for what to do. It seems that it is far easier for most of us to decide who to blame than to actually engage real problems with real solutions. While entirely understandable, even predictable, it is a sad commentary of the state of America.
   
2. Second, while true, that failure is entirely irrelevant. The real important failures are entirely elsewhere. The media, political parties, and common thinking continue to promote the absurd notion that the President some how runs the country. That notion is not simply untrue in that it distracts us from the way government really works! Congress, not the President, is responsible for making laws! It's just that simple. If you want good government, if you want a real problem addressed, then it is Congress and law that matters far more than the President. Want to get big money out of politics? That requires Congress to act. Want to do something about skyrocketing medical cost? That requires Congress to act. Want to do something about global warming? It's Congress! Most of us do not understand this simple civics truth. To paraphrase that old saw, IT'S CONGRESS STUPID! The media has failed because it treated an election where all of the House and much of the Senate was up for reelection as though it was a contest between two people representing a red team and a blue team. It simply wasn't! 

One might argue that is is not the media's responsibility to educate us on how government works. While there is certainly some truth in that argument it fails to recognize that in a free society the media is not just responsible for reporting what happens, it is also responsible for helping us understand why it matters.

 So here's a thought; take a minute and read a bit about how Congress actually works. Here are some useful references:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress 
• https://www.votetocracy.com/blog/how-does-congress-work