It's not important just because it's a news cycle
I'm curious about the United States seizing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's plane. That's some serious international affairs. (CNN did not report on the U.S.'s past efforts to interfere in foreign elections, but DID talk about the U.S. taking issue with Venezuela's latest election as maybe not being legit.)
I refuse to learn more about the story about Trump at Arlington Cemetery.
I read an overview of it from AllSides, so I understand a little bit about it.
There was a campaign photographer, the family says it was okay, an Arlington official said it wasn't, there was an argument, and there are conflicting narratives in the media about what happened that day.
I should know less than that. It matters because of politics, not because of any material impact.
No kid died because Trump had a photographer. He was probably a dick, but you already know he's a dick, even if you like his policies.
My filter bubble is part of the problem, my reaction to these unimportant stories is too (I gobble them up), but so are the biggest media companies in America.
We don't need 24/7 news. We don't need to know everything.
We need to know that which helps us act in our lives, and 24/7 news doesn't give us the richness and depth of understanding that is needed to make good and informed decisions about voting or groceries or how to raise kids.
The Arlington story just doesn't seem very important in that context, or when compared to the murder our country does abroad, or the anti-vax misinformation campaign the U.S. Pentagon did in India, or the attempt to install a provincial government in Cuba that would be controlled by the CIA (Bay of Pigs, ~60 years ago).
Why Arlington Feels Important (ranting)
I don't know what's true or what to believe about the Arlington story, and that's unsettling for me. It feels like this (& so many other news cycles) are important and could have a meaningful impact politically.
If I learn everything about it, I can engage with people in my life & set the record straight & (more importantly) be extremely well-supported in pointing out how much Trump sucks.
But it's not important. (Also, Biden-Harris is sending bombs to kill Palestinians.)
Democrats will use it (probably have used it & will spend millions on ads about it), liberal media will (has) made quite the stir about it (I've seen too many headlines, but maybe it's just my bubble).
It would be quite telling if this were the first time a candidate had done something distasteful; it might tell us something about their character.
Trump's character is plain-and-clear. He's never hid it & there's been tons of news about it.
Dude sucks. He's a dickhead who makes a big deal out of everything and won't take accountability. What's new?
So it feels like it matters because it feels like if I can win some arguments or make some people see how much of a hypocrite or jerk or whatever Trump is, then they won't support the bad guy.
But I don't think that's true, and it's a distraction from the much more important cause of teaching people about U.S. Imperialism, one issue on which the two parties are united.
Green Party Jill Stein for President!