Why The Press Corps Shouldn’t Have Allowed The Demise of White House Briefings
By: Ezinne Ukoha
Tags: Media, Journalism, White House Press Corps, Politics, Donald Trump

President Obama and press secretary Josh Earnest at the once-dignified pulpit of law and order

It has been almost 100 days since the last White House press briefing, which is pretty much an abomination when you consider how and why this traditionalized formality is the mandated lifeline between current administrations, and the citizens who are entrusting their lives to elected leadership.

We hear a lot about the “uniqueness” of the Trump presidency, and why the unconventional approach to governing explains the recklessness on display. The media decided to do its utmost best to normalize the antagonistic demeanor of the guinea pigs who were unable to flawlessly deliver the itinerary of fabricated tales, that their thuggish boss required for job security.

Sean Spicer, the very first White House press secretary, barely lasted three months, and in that time, he managed to exploit his position with the combativeness that became a source of entertainment to observers, who couldn’t get enough of the silly lies that were easily disproven.

Who knew this would be the best of the time?

From the impossible feat of disputing the number of attendees at Trump’s inauguration with the pathetic inflation that was meant to secure the fragile ego of the newly-installed president, to the initiation of Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts” that ended up being the precursor to the detrimental messaging of a crooked White House, that had no choice but to relentlessly accuse mainstream media of publishing “fake news.”

Spicer’s horrendous tenure set the tone for what was to come, and so by the time Sarah Huckabee Sanders arrived at the podium, it was clear that she was on a mission to scandalize her office with the level of hostility that she expertly applied as a defense mechanism to weather the extreme heat from what Trump proudly referred to as “the enemy of the people.”

The Trump administration is hell-bent on assigning its soldiers the ungodly task of taking the bullets on behalf of a celebrated gangster, who needs to be surrounded by chosen loyalists, who are willing to sell their souls for the art of criminality.

And so Sanders began her two-year residency with the disposition of a pit bull, who surveys the landscape of ravenous reporters with the preparation of a seasoned instigator, who studiously spews out offensive responses to legit questions that are a matter of national security.

Suddenly, press briefings evolved into the extension of Trump’s nefariously warped reality, with the sole purpose of attacking the truth and delivering insults that were coated with the venomous support of Republicans and devilish evangelicals, including Mike Huckabee, the father of the “messenger of lies,” who praised his daughter’s inappropriate decorum.

There are too many recorded episodes of disgraceful warring to recall, and that’s because every single press briefing was much worse than the last.

But we can’t glaze over the traitorous moments when Sanders echoed the sentiments of her thuggish boss, by refusing to unequivocally emphasize the vital function of the press corps, by denouncing the threatening label of “enemy of the people.”

Even after the New York offices of CNN had been the direct target of a botched attempt at domestic terrorism last November, and Jim Acosta, the cable network’s White House reporter, had tried to pin down Sanders, in an effort to gauge her level of empathy and overall professionalism.

The press secretary was adamant about retaining her stance as the unshakable aggressor, who did believe the press was and is the “enemy,” based on the potency of the news cycle that presented the unfiltered facts, regarding the potency of the toxic administration, that she was shamelessly enabling with ammunition of lawlessness that was utilized as the preferred tools of disengagement.

She was unpatriotically ornery…

Another blotted stain during the volatile season of Sarah Sanders occurred right after the mid-term elections, hours after President Trump outed himself as a White nationalist, and decided to hold a mid-morning news conference in the East Room with the usual suspects civilly assembled for what predictably turned into utter chaos.

Trump not only had the audacity to verbally assault a Black woman reporter, Yamiche Alcindor, of the PBB NewsHour, by calling her a racist for daring to inquire about his self-professed adherence to White nationalism, but his behavior towards Jim Acosta resulted in a scuffle that included a White House intern who was charged with removing a grown adult from the premises.

The president was heated over Acosta’s line of questioning that challenged his claims of the frightening invasion of the “caravan of migrants” as well as the damning enforcement of the lethal phrase that’s meant to condemn the courageous pursuits of truth tellers who deserve to be treated with the dignity that endorses that status.

And when the subject of Russia was introduced, Trump lost his shit, which is understandable, when you consider the disastrous trip abroad that saw the Commander-in-Chief vigorously defending Vladimir Putin and demeaning the value of his own intelligence agency for the stunned gaze of the world.

A White House intern, a young woman was prompted by Trump to yank the mic away from Acosta, who tried in vain to stand his ground, as a reporter who was being bulldozed by a bullish oaf, who never wants to be held accountable for the deadly consequences of his actions.

The fact that the collection of reporters in that room, who witnessed the unfathomable, were unwilling to initiate a revolt against the president and his henchmen, by staging a walkout that would remain in effect until some sense of order was restored to briefings and conferences, was a demonstrated sign of weakness and defeat on the part of the press corps.

And of course the disgraceful situation escalated when the press secretary, decided it was a swell idea to tweet out a doctored video that falsely depicted Acosta as the aggressor, when it was clear the intern aggressively wrestled the mic out of his hands.

Not long after that awful incident, there were fewer announcements of press briefings, and when the “spokes-liar at the pleasure of the president” did make her stormy appearance, the sessions were over as soon as they began.

The spotlight began to shift more towards the pungent direction of Kellyanne Conway, the president’s glorified “counselor” who was fast becoming a force to reckon with due to her uncanny ability to commandeer the messaging in ways that replicates Trump’s alarmingly questionable ideology, that pledges allegiance to a scrapbook resembling talking points of White nationalism on steroids.

Conway has been more than willing to bear the brunt of the growing frustration of reporters, who are resentful of the weaponized tactics that make it impossible for them to perform their job duties without the burden of vilification by an abusive White House staff.

Gross

Both Conway and Sanders are well-versed in the language of deflection, and why the only way to dodge the bullets of reason is to be unreasonably argumentative.

The glaring truth undergoes a disfiguring makeover that perpetually centers the outlandish answers to serious queries that are supposed to be treated with the respectfulness, that assures law-abiding Americans that their best interests are being duly considered.

The vileness of Kellyanne Conway has been tragically heightened by the ridiculousness of CNN anchors like Jake Tapper and Chris Cuomo, who invite her over for meaningless banter that seems to serve the needs of the engagers more than perplexed viewers, who are left grappling for anything that can help subside the dizzying aftershocks.

As the rumors of Sander’s imminent exit from her torturous post began to gather steam, there was also a marked revision in White House communications, that verified what the “Iron Lady” had previously hinted, when she was forced to explain why the president was more than capable of delivering his own purposed lies without the interference of press briefings, that were becoming the acute pain in the ass for all involved.

The breaking point was the contemptuous relationship that existed between the press and the spokesperson for an illegally anchored establishment, and how it was rapidly deteriorating beyond repair.

The primary root of the problem can be attributed to the lack of trust that began with the stages of a terminal disease that can only be traced back to the White nationalist, who stole the presidency as the extension of his villainous empire, that can’t operate in the majestic manner that replicates his worthier predecessors.

The secondary cause can be traced to the obsessive news cycle that has distorted the media’s basic objectives when it comes to cohesive coverage that doesn’t veer off track, by getting engulfed in the unhealthy fascination with a nationalized renegade.

Trump has successfully maneuvered and pulverized the journalistic integrity of reputable organizations, who have woefully failed to live up to the assignment that charges putting the welfare of the people — first and foremost.

This explains why press briefings are now a thing of the past, as Sanders has been relieved of the responsibilities that she shamefully mishandled, and Stephanie Grisham, who was the spokeswoman for Melania Trump, picked up the baton as the random replacement, who hasn’t bothered to make her formal introduction in the dusty old brief room that’s languishing from neglect.

Trump’s wish be unorthodox by manipulating the accessibility of the press corps, who are pathetically strung out enough to yield without issue, has been granted.

The White House Lawn is now the makeshift staging that gives our Liar-in-Chief absolute power when it comes to freely cursing out detractors and gregariously strutting the showmanship that proved appealing enough to get him elected.

This dangerous and maniacal system of engagement should never have been implemented because of the way it empowers Trump’s schematic tendencies, by giving him complete control to say whatever the fuck he wants, while helpless reporters are demoted to “begging mode” as they fight for scraps and fail to rise to the occasion of separating facts from fiction.

Trump can indulge in word-vomit without regulations

The coerced demise of White House briefings was meant to destabilize the relevance of the press corps, by eating away at the structure that was formulated to enhance the ability to act as our intermediary in the realm of keeping us abreast of the ongoing revisions to government administration and policies, and the president’s astute summation of global events.

This used to be a well-oiled machine that managed to survive previous administrations without any major hiccups that threatened the functional valves of a thriving partnership .

But the presence of a rogue administration that’s manned by an unrecognizable GOP that has readily accepted the brutish directives of a supreme leader, who is besties with renowned murderous dictators, has polluted the landscape of affability that existed between the White House and the press.

President Trump’s man-made disaster is exactly what the ousted British ambassador was caught admitting to his colleagues, when he savvily pointed out the sickly temperature of the White House, and why the administration is best described as “chaotic,” “diplomatically clumsy,” and “inept.”

And now that the press corps wearily permits Trump to dominate White House communications, it has become much more difficult for reporters to gain the upper-hand during the unscheduled rants of an out-of-control pirate, who always intended to steer the ship in the direction that would stay within the confines of his orchestrated turbulence.

Lies, lies lies!

It was a huge mistake for the media to lose its grasp on the only instrument of functionality that guaranteed access to the illustriousness of their duty as truth-tellers, who can’t be willfully regulated to badged props who are forced into note taking and weathering verbal assaults from the president and his foul-mouthed puppeteers.

The Trump administration can’t have daily briefings because of the unlawfulness of operations, and how the architect of our nationalized hysteria that’s never-ending is using his White privilege to exert his supremacy in ways that mirror the diabolical figures of our time, who are known to illustrate their disdain for hard-hitting journalists with extreme brutality.

History will not be kind to this current era of mass shootings, normalized incidences of hate crimes that the media refrains from accurately labeling accordingly, and the deep and widened divide that was perpetuated by the overt bigotry of a White supremacist, who unapologetically aligned his regime to reflect his erratic mood swings.

No matter what roadway is selected to get to the bottom of the mystery that kept the lights on at “The House of Horrors,” the detours will always lead back to the press corps, and how the dismantling of those briefings that were supposed to keep our democracy secure with journalistic coherency, became the punchline that kept Saturday Night Live — alive.

And in that darkness, the nation was buried in the betrayal of White supremacy and the treacherousness that was founded on the ceremony of lies, that never stop lying.