The news media will do anything to show how much smarter it is than the rest of us, and in late November, that means “teaching” us how to talk to people about politics during Thanksgiving dinner.
Press has spewed out several advice columns over the past few days, just in case you have no idea how to talk to your family, friends and neighbors.
Be careful, the press warns. Mixing food and politics is dangerous, and should only be left to the professionals.
Nevermind that it’s the full-time job of some in the press to pull people apart, and host endless shouting matches on cable TV that only get people angry and resolve nothing.
If done right, Thanksgiving can be a holiday from the press, leaving you to have whatever relationship with your family that you want, without any interference from the Washington-New York corridor.
Here are some ways the press is trying to manipulate you, and ways you can fight back this holiday season.
Some in the media want you to fight your family
Many in the elite media want you and your family to battle. Pure and simple, they want a brawl.
CNN even suggested a list of things to fight over, in a story titled, “11 things you’ll fight over this Thanksgiving (besides politics).”
The press doesn’t cover anything except fights — in other words, it doesn’t cover taxes or healthcare or defense or anything else, it covers fights about those topics. If there’s no fight, there’s no story, so if you don’t fight your family, the press has nothing to write about this Thanksgiving.
But you don’t owe the press a story this Thanksgiving. You can just sit and eat and watch the game, or maybe catch up on the latest list of reporters accused of sexual harassment.
Others in the media want control of your mind
Some in the press are so sure there will be fighting at your Thanksgiving table, they have set out rules for you to follow in order to minimize these battles.
The people at USA Today, who probably never met anyone from your family, put out a set of rules that include things like, “don’t be afraid to change the subject” if someone starts talking about politics. They also suggested, “don’t make it an issue if you don’t have to,” and “if you must respond, do it privately.”
Fox News put out helpful guidelines like “be civil,” and “make someone the mediator” before talking about politics. Others recommend limiting the alcohol intake of your guests, and politely changing the subject if someone starts talking politics.
All of these rules are well and good if you want to be the media’s slave. Don’t take the bait.
The science isn’t settled
The press would have you believe that 99 percent of the Earth’s scientists believe that fights at Thanksgiving are inevitable.
But a cursory look at the evidence shows the press is twisting this so-called “science” in order to advance their own narrative that your family simply must bicker with each other. The Spokesman-Review this week, for example, trotted out a story saying scientists can prove you are fighting more at the table. It cited a study saying Thanksgiving dinner is 20 to 30 minutes shorter at families made up of people with different political views, backed up by all sorts of so-called evidence, including data that purports to track people to and from their Thanksgiving feast.
But in typical media fashion, the Spokesman-Review buried at the bottom of its story the fact that all of this evidence came from a study that hasn’t even been finalized.
“The paper has not yet been published and is currently undergoing review,” the story admitted, even though the headline was, “Science backs it up: Political divisions are impacting Thanksgiving.”
Just another example of media over-reach. Don’t fall for it.
The national press is lonely and wants your pity
The national press has nothing to write about for the next several days. All that equipment, all that capacity to deliver news, and nothing to say.
Some are responding by asking you to invite the press right into your house, and to help the press write a story based on the dirt you dig up on your own family. Mother Jones is one of those news outlets asking people to “share your story.”
“Did politics come up at the dinner table this week? Did you try something new to encourage a more civil or productive conversation?” Mother Jones asked. “Tell us what happened.”
The press wants you to think of it as a lovable John Candy-type from “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” with nowhere else to go on Thanksgiving. Aw, look at that sad, lonely little face. Maybe you should invite the press into your home.
But reporting to the press on your family and friends is a straight-up Orwellian nightmare.
Lock your doors. Lock them up tight. And give yourself four days to see if you can handle yourself with any advice from the know-it-alls in the national press.
