Fear and Loathing In The Mind Of A Narcissist

We've been hearing a lot of accusations directed at the media, most notably from the Trump administration, but from the public as well. According to the narrative, the media is acting irresponsibly, fomenting fear and hysteria regarding convid-19 in the populace. While some media outlets are genetically predisposed to hyperbole, I find such accusations to be ill-advised for the most part.

IMO, the greatest source of panic is the administration itself. Trump is clearly obsessed with painting a rosy picture of all aspects of his presidency, evidenced by his constant efforts to downplay the seriousness of the threat while simultaneously making false claims about the level of response and control over the growing pandemic and deriding scientists and particularly the media for issuing statements that are in marked contrast to his own. It is only natural for the populace to be confused by such diverging reports and the associated recommendations regarding the public's behavior in response to the outbreak.

Many if not most Americans look to the country's leadership for rational information and advice, but such advice has only begun to appear - and in small instances rather than a cohesive dialog - in the last week or so, as the administration's previous conclusions advice, and admonitions could no longer be reasonably accepted in the face of reports describing the actual progression of the disease.

In keeping with Trump's preferred narrative, the spiraling increase in infections and deaths in Italy, the bad news had been downplayed by the Trump administration, while the president's finger-pointing has continued unabated. Perhaps this New York Times article can give people a better picture of what has happened in Italy and why. If we're smart, we might even find ourselves less inclined to dismiss the potential for similar tragic developments to occur here in the US due to our clinging to the notion of American exceptionalism. We can only hope...