It sounds crass, I know, but I'm grateful for Hurricane
Florence. It has, for a day or three, knocked stories about
Trump/Cohen/Manafort/Stormy/Mueller down from the lead to the second story on
front pages and telecasts. Wildfires occasionally did the job earlier this
year, but that season is ending – thankfully, with hurricane season beginning.
God forbid the top stories should report the death tolls in
Iraq/Afghanistan/Yemen or the plight of the millions of refugees. No – never,
not America's mainstream media.
The press's mantra used to be "If it bleeds, it
leads." No more – the buckets of blood and trauma abroad are insufficient
to warrant our attention. Nowadays, under the current political climate, the
mantra has become, "If it stinks, it inks," or, likely the more apt,
"If it stinks, it links."
