OPINION: It’s Toxic Media That Hurts America, Not Toxic Masculinity, by John Dempsey

By John Dempsey, Townhall, Jan 23, 2019

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com.

Gillette shaving company started last week with a bang. Their “toxic masculinity” commercial attacked all men as rapists, bullies, and brutes. According to the company, masculine men have these issues, and we are the downfall of our society and culture. The media and left-wing pundits agreed and widely praised the ad. But then the weekend came, and the press proved something – they are toxic to America, not masculine men.

BuzzFeed published a report alleging Trump told his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a potential business deal in Moscow during 2016. For approximately ten or so hours, the media had a frenzy. This was the smoking gun, and Trump is over. He would have to resign. However, Mueller’s spokesperson released a statement and informed the public that the allegations were false. BuzzFeed refused to admit they were wrong. Instead, they doubled down and peddled the report.

BuzzFeed’s failure to admit they were wrong is dangerous to the country. The political climate already feels like a tinderbox at times. Pushing political lies places lives at risk – just ask House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) who was shot by a progressive Democrat at a Congressional baseball game practice.

Some people believe Trump-Russia collusion. At this point, many years down the road now, they expect something. However, last week, ABC’s Jonathan Carl said that Mueller’s report is almost certain to be anticlimactic. For years, the media has pushed the Russia collusion narrative down the throats of those who listen. Now they are backing off, creating a recipe for danger. If the report has no substance, there will be anger and where will it be directed?

The BuzzFeed story became quickly overshadowed by another media race crisis over the weekend. A group of young, white males wearing recognizable MAGA hats were at the March for Life at the Lincoln Memorial. They were called racists and homophobic names by an activist group the Hebrew Israelites. Eventually, fake veteran Native American activist Nathan Phillips approached the group beating his drum.

He and others who were with him worked their way through the crowd until Phillips was face-to-face with Nick Sandmann. He stood there with a smile on his face and did not say anything while Phillips chanted and beat his drum in the kid’s face.

The media took this opportunity to get all eyes off of BuzzFeed. They successfully flooded online outlets and cable news with this confrontation. Many journalists and public figures attacked Sandmann. He was deemed a racist with an arrogant smirk and demonized because he attends a Catholic High School, which is “racist” as well. It seemed as if Sandmann was a martyr to cover the BuzzFeed fiasco. In the end, the media took a second punch to the throat and were wrong again.

The truth came out, but it was too late.

In an attempt to spread fear into the teenager, a left-wing mob attempted to doxx him – a method used by activists to release personal information such as an address or phone number. But the crowd doxxed the wrong kid who suffered the repercussions.

The truth came to light later in the day. Tweets were deleted, and cable news hosts made some retractions, but the damage had already been done. The leftist mob does not care that the media pulled back the story. Now they have an excuse to harm someone who supports President Trump. That is all they need, and the media created this dangerous mob.

Left-wing cable news is toxic to society and our culture. The furor this weekend on news outlets and social media did nothing productive. They demonized a kid who stood and did nothing in the face of taunting, pushed a false narrative, and ruined a wedding for the wrongly doxxed individual.

Covington Catholic High School had to be shut down citing security concerns on Tuesday, which affects all of the students and staff. The closure was due to leftist threats of violence that the media started by pushing a false narrative and not waiting until all facts came out.

A media that cannot wait for facts is irresponsible and toxic. They bear the responsibility of honest, truthful reporting. Instead, they are so bent on shutting down anyone who supports Trump and painting the president as a racist that they have caused a decline to our society.

Cable news and mainstream media are responsible for the troubles of Nick Sandmann. Left-wing media does not benefit the country. They have been caught in many different lies, especially since the nomination of Trump.

Any animosity towards the media is self-inflicted. They created the hatred that many have for them. Generally, if you want people to like you then do not lie or be disingenuous. The same rule applies to the news.

It is not hard to be honest. The media created our deep political split today, not Trump. There should not be any spin in the news, but the legacy media has failed to the detriment of the United States.

Toxic masculinity does not exist. It is a leftist farce made up to break down another element of American culture and the male portion of society. But toxic media does exist. Ironically, it does break down America the way that alleged toxic masculinity does.

John Dempsey is a graduate of American Military University and has a deep understanding of law enforcement issues and how they relate to the Constitution, society and our culture. He has also been published in BearingArms.com and AmericanThinker.com. He can be followed on Twitter @John_Demp83.

.https://townhall.com/columnists/johndempsey/2019/01/23/its-toxic-media-that-hurts-america-not-toxic-masculinity-n2539917