Catch 22

Catch 22:  a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.


The logic going into the Trump presidency is clear and documented by a number of recent actions.

1. Donald Trump makes a statement that is factually false.
2. The mainstream media researches and documents the falsehood.
3. Trump supporters, who believe Trump's ongoing characterizations of the media as biased and dishonest, either don't follow mainstream coverage -print, TV, or cable- or take their refutation as an example of their dishonesty and biased coverage.
4. Republican leaders, including those who are not in the Trump camp, do not acknowledge what they know to be falsehoods.  To do so would be to acknowledge that the Emperor has no clothes.
5. Right wing media either perpetuate the falsehood or ignore it.
6. Those on the right assume he is telling the truth or approximately so: those on the right see him as ill informed or deceptive: the two grow further apart.

On a number of issues this discordance doesn't matter.  It does matter however when Trump's statements go to the heart of our democratic norms.  A good example is his Tweet stating that three million undocumented immigrants voted for Hillary Clinton.

• The mainstream media conclusively documented that this claim was totally without merit.
• Mitch McConnell refused to directly address the issue of voter fraud:  "So, it's an interesting discussion but it strikes me as totally irrelevant. Time to move on." 
• Fox News coverage pointed out that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
• On 60 Minutes Paul Ryan refused to repudiate Donald Trump's claims. When asked he said he didn't know and that he wasn't really focused on these things. 
•  Reince Priebus, currently the chairman of the Republican National Committee and Mr. Trump’s pick for chief of staff, told CBS’s John Dickerson that “no one really knows” if millions of people voted illegally. “It’s possible.”

The bottom line seems to be a nation where some 50% of the people talking past the other 50% percent with no means of even reaching agreement on what is true, never mind the role of government.