In my most recent novel, The Unlikely Advisor, I describe how the media narrative around a particular cultural or political controversy often follows a pattern that will be familiar to many of you.
Here's an excerpt from the novel describing this pattern:
Step 1: The Right accuses the Left of taking certain actions or pushing certain beliefs.
Step 2: The Left scoffs at the accusation: “We’re not doing that! That would be horrible. How dare you suggest it?”
Step 3: Pseudo-confession: “Well, we actually are doing that, but not like you say we are.”
Step 4: So-what-ism: “We actually are doing what you accuse us of, but so what? It’s actually a good thing because progress and because the French do it this way and because other reasons that we’ll make up later if needed.”
Step 5: Shut up, bigot: “Things have been the way we want them on this issue for decades. This is old news and a manufactured controversy. If you complain about it now, you’re a [racist] [homophobe] [Christian fascist] [far-right extremist].”
One can see this pattern in issue after issue. Gay marriage, the war on Christmas, men in women's restrooms and playing women's sports, and importing thousands of illegal immigrants to serve as Democrat voters are some recent examples.
The recent revelations of FEMA spending billions of dollars to re-settle illegal immigrants in the U.S. and thus having very little money left for victims of Hurricane Helene (most of whom just happen to be Trump voters), is somewhere between steps 2 and 3. It will be interesting to see how quickly we reach step 5.
What other controversies/issues have followed this media pattern?
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