What can one say about Joel Katz’ letter published on Aug. 17?
To begin, he has used the phrases “disgrace and denigrate” and “Never Trump, Always Hillary” four times each.
I would not be concerned with such repetitive usage, if the content of his argument was persuasive. It is not!
He is annoyed with the media for not being sympathetic to Trump.
As with many Trump defenders, Katz looks at the response of the press to barbs hurled at it by Trump and then whines about its unfairness.
Does he not realize that Trump was the one who coined the phrase “fake news” and called the media “the enemy of the people”? (One can only wonder whether Trump ever read Ibsen’s great play.)
He is upset by the fact that reporters gave sparse coverage to Trump when in Singapore, focusing instead on Trump’s name-calling, e.g. Kim Jong Un was called “the little rocket man” and “that fat little killer of his own people.”
Surely Mr. Katz understands that if the president would stay off twitter his opponents would have no grist for their mill.
Trump loves nothing better than to stir up controversy. What he brings to the table is the schoolyard mentality of a bully.
Katz accuses CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR of slanting the news.
He forgets to mention the countervailing force of Fox News, Newsmax. Fox Business, One America News, and the predominance of right-wing radio broadcasters.
He also assumes that there is an equivalence between Fox News and CNN. One is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party and the other a reputable news-gathering agency.
Also overlooked is the hard evidence that in the ratings war, Fox News soundly beats MSNBC and CNN combined.
Mr. Katz puts on his prognosticator’s hat and states, “there will be no ‘Blue Wave’ in November.” He may be right, although most pollsters think there is a good chance that the Democrats will take the House.
In either case, all can agree that the upcoming mid-terms may be the most important election in decades.
It will foretell whether we will continue on our current path as a “Banana Republic” or restore long-standing democratic traditions such as the rule of law and checks and balances.
Dr. Hal Sobel
Great Neck
