SMDH. From Noah Rothman:
For its part, the press has given every indication that it’s ready and willing to participate in a “circus.” The three major cable-news outlets devoted wall-to-wall coverageon Monday to tracking Trump’s movements and airing what amounted to b-roll footage of the former president leaving Mar-a-Lago and driving to Palm Beach International Airport — a vigil through which nothing at all happened. The patent absurdity of the national news media’s conduct on Monday is hard to overstate:
New York statutorily bans courtroom photography in most proceedings. “Still,” Politico reported, “New York judges have some discretion to allow cameras in the courtroom,” and some portions of Trump’s case could theoretically be taped.
Rather commendably, some of those who argue that cameras should be allowed in the courtroom don’t deny that a spectacle is what they want. “As the media capital of the world — and the venue for the arraignment of Donald Trump — we must change this outdated law to allow the public to witness trials,” said Democratic state senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal who, among other prominent Democrats, wants New York’s camera laws amended. “America has a right to watch the trial of the century,” he added.
It’s hard to avoid the impression that Trump’s indictment has been a welcome development for broad swaths of the American political establishment. The figures in Trump’s orbit believe it will advance his political prospects. Democrats think it will advance theirs. And the press, which is ready and willing to give Trump the O. J. treatment, clearly believes this exhibition of national dysfunction will be great for its bottom line.
There is an unspoken conspiracy of aligned interests between these otherwise adversarial parties. The only interest that is not advanced by Trump’s indictment is that of the majority of voters who would love nothing more than to see the former president depart the American political scene.
