Political theater is a means which our government, corporations, and sometimes even our workplaces use to distract us. When a false drama plays out on the world stage, or when the news reports on a Shakespearean turn of events within the government, you need to pay close attention to what's happening and what it might be distracting you from. With the advent 24 hour news cycle has come to an increase in political theater and dramatic machinations, as politicians and governments work tirelessly to control the narrative and capture your attention, we can see the various vignettes of tension and conflict play out directly from our screens, and our current president and his administration have become professional political thespians, effortlessly capturing the crowd and guiding us away from what we ought not to think and toward what they want us to see.
The most recent act in this ongoing play that occurred this past Monday, September 24th. As some of you may know, this was the date on which the confirmation vote for Brett Kavanaugh was originally scheduled, until it was delayed due to growing accusations of sexual assault by the nominee. This incredibly hastened confirmation process was forced to be delayed last week at the demand of Senate Democrats as an allegation of assault was made against the judge. Over the weekend, more allegations surfaced and Republicans sought desperately to regain control of public opinion. Cue an anonymous report from the White House to the New York Times.
The source claimed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had verbally tendered his resignation, sending the media into a frenzy to track down facts and testimony to corroborate the claim. For the better part of the day, the country was completely focused on the story since, if it were true, it would most likely spell the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling and collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
The key here is the timing. Last weekend we discovered that Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, had written a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee stating that he is representing a client with accusations against Brett Kavanaugh, that he has evidence and witnesses to back his claims, and that he has a list of questions which he would like the committee to ask Kavanaugh. This was a bombshell revelation but it has ultimately gained no traction in the news, why could that be? The Trump administration purposefully disseminated a false story of Rosenstein's resignation to distract the public from the real news story, that Kavanaugh's first accuser is not alone, and that there might be tangible evidence to prove it.
So the next time you're reading or hearing or watching the news and what's going on is confusing or doesn't make any sense, think about what's happening, think about when it's happening, and think about what it might be distracting you from, because odds are that there's something going on that the administration they would rather you not think about.