Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily managing editor David Kupelian kicks off his May 8 column fin his usual way -- spewing Obama-hate and lamenting that America is not the lily-white enclave he grew up in:
Right now, in 2016, tens of millions of American citizens feel exactly like the citizens of these terrorized ancient kingdoms in the classic stories. They see their once great nation ravaged by terrible forces. Their leaders seem to have gone mad – intentionally leaving the nation’s borders unguarded, allowing hordes of invaders to swarm into their country, plunder their wealth and commit heinous crimes. Their supreme ruler is widely seen as hating his own country, continually betraying longtime allies while aiding her mortal enemies. The nation’s youth are corralled into ivy-covered brainwashing centers and indoctrinated into bizarre beliefs and destructive behaviors. The land’s once-robust economy has been decimated, with onerous taxes and regulations strangling businesses, and the nation’s major industries – along with the millions of jobs they provide – leaving their homeland for foreign shores. On top of all this, a genocidal, worldwide mind-control cult has declared war on their troubled nation, murdering and maiming people at will, yet their leader won’t even utter the enemy’s name, let alone fight it. Millions suspect he sides with the enemy.
Americans, beholding their nation’s increasing woes, wistfully recall the happier land of their youth, one blessed above all other nations, where despite its flaws, unparalleled liberty, prosperity and opportunity were in abundance.
[...]
Reality check: Speaking as a 35-year journalism veteran, I can confirm that the “mainstream media” are, to use Trump’s strong language, indeed “disgusting.” Americans couldn’t possibly have twice elected such a catastrophically bad president as Barack Obama were it not for the disgraceful cheerleading and gross journalistic malpractice of the entire elite media.
Says the guy whose "news" organization he helps lead has its own lengthy history of journalistic malpractice.
Anyway, Kupelian's main point is to justify endorsing Donald Trump despite the fact that his personal history is as sordid, if not more, as he likes to believe Hillary Clinton's is. He admits Trump's faults -- then hand-waves them away because, in his fevered, hate-filled imagination, Hillary is infinitely worse:
Trump has obvious faults, as his detractors continually highlight. There are his sometimes vulgar and crude language and gratuitous attacks on critics (including his Twitter attack on Cruz’s wife). There are his former liberal positions on abortion and other issues, as well as his past campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats as a businessman. There are his three marriages and supposed past infidelities, and the various business controversies involving bankruptcies, eminent domain and Trump University. Trump is egotistical, rarely admits to mistakes or apologizes (at least not publicly), is not well informed on some issues, and has made at least a few outrageous statements – such as that George W. Bush launched the Iraq War knowing there were no weapons of mass destruction there (a statement Trump later walked back into a reasonable formulation). His always-on-offense modus operandi – “If someone punches me, I punch back twice as hard” – actually works admirably well in many cases, but not all cases, and sometimes causes significant problems.
[...]
Remember, if a Trump presidency poses reasonable questions and doubts as to what kind of president he’d actually be, a Hillary presidency poses none; she has a decades-long record as a breathtakingly dishonest, corrupt, dissembling, ambitious, soulless, left-wing political elitist who lies as easily as breathing and whose presidency would further debase the very soul of America, especially its youth. Moreover, as president, she would appoint several progressive-left, Constitution-despising Supreme Court justices, who would in turn determine America’s destiny for the next generation and inevitably result in the end of fundamental rights like that guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
Yet, to some “conservatives” in the “Never-Trump” movement, Donald is worse than all that.
I think it is reasonable to describe this better-Hillary-than-Trump attitude as insane, infantile and suicidal for the nation.
Donald Trump has serious flaws. But he also has remarkable talents and abilities that many miss, or misinterpret. After all, he didn’t become one of the planet’s most dazzlingly successful real-estate developers, entrepreneurs and best-selling authors by being a stupid, ignorant, racist buffoon, as his critics would have you believe.
One gets the feeling that Kupelian is talking himself into liking Trump as much as he is lecturing readers about it. After all, he must abandon his idea of an American leader as strongly moral -- as evidenced by his vicious hatred of all things Obama and Hillary -- to support Trump simply because he wants to be on the winning side for once.
Finally, he declares without evidence that he beleives Trump has a "good" heart and takes yet another shot at Hillary:
Trump, like all other candidates, is a strange brew of good and bad qualities. Despite those defects, he has a powerful leader-fighter personality that many believe is exactly what a decimated and demoralized America needs right now. He speaks from the heart and millions strongly resonate with him.
The real question is: Is Trump’s heart good? (Most everything else can be helped out by the right advisers.)
I think it is.
Besides, Trump may just turn out to be the bold outsider – the flawed but fearless knight – who surprises everyone and slays the dragon.
And that would certainly be better than electing a new dragon in Hillary Clinton.
And that, in a nutshell coming from the guy who runs WND's "news" operation, will be the overall tone of WND's "news" coverage for the rest of the presidential campaign -- playing down Trump's myriad faults while hurling buckets of venom at Hillary. And that imbalance is yet another reason why nobody believes WND.
