Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Book Review: Don Surber Hits It Out Of The Park With "Trump The Press"

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When I first received my review copy of Don Surber's "Trump The Press" I was expecting something good, having read his stuff before. But this one, quite simply is off the charts.

"Trump The Press" is Surber's scintillating chronicle of the Trump phenomenon, and especially of the mainstream press and the elite punditocracy's frantic attempts to torpedo it. And in addition to that, he explains their abject failure to come close to doing so, as well as the reasons why they failed and why Trump won out against all the odds. "Trump The Press" is superb political commentary at its best.

Surber lays this out with the experienced eye of a journalist with thirty years experience, as well as a writer with a wonderful feeling for the absurd. Even I had forgotten some of this stuff and I couldn't help but laugh out loud in quite a few places.

Another thing "Trump The Press" reveals, almost by accident is why the mainstream press and the professional punditocracy have lost all credibility. As Michael Goodwin wrote yesterday in the New York Post, what we're experiencing here is American journalism collapsing before our eyes.

That is a dangerous place for the press of a free republic to be, and it usually signals a loss of that freedom when it happens.

And unfortunately, that isn't going to end with the campaign no matter who wins. Mrs. Clinton's serial dishonesty,incompetence and greed will be concealed to the degree it is possible if she becomes president. And a President Trump? well, he'll have to contend with something Haim Shine writes about in Israel Hayom about that country's Leftist press and their attempted demonization of Likud Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu...a journalist's revenge (emphasis mine):

Those who were convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they had control over public opinion and the popular agenda discovered they are simply part of a marginal movement that has been serving an outdated elite with no choice but to clear the way for the new forces rising and flourishing in Israeli society. These new forces, infused with the breath of youth, are pushing aside the entitled individuals who have grown tired prematurely.

There is no revenge like that of a reporter who made a mistake. It is a boundless vengeance that lacks even basic integrity -- it is pure fire. It is a bonfire of hatred, burning Netanyahu, his family, his party and his government; and everyone is welcome to add fuel to this leftist fire.


Aside from being a thoroughly entertaining read (I couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting) Don Surber's must read book raises a question he may or may not have intended...how can you have a free country without a free, objective press? And what can be done about it?

Five stars plus. Available though Create Space or here on Amazon.

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