OPINION:
In the stunning confusion of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby as we tried to comprehend why Maximum Security’s jockey had been disqualified after appearing to win the race, my first thought — naturally — was: “I cannot wait to see what President Trump tweets about this!”
As usual, President Trump did not disappoint.
“The Kentucky Derby decision was not a good one,” his thumbs opined the next morning. “It was a rough & tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch.”
This alone, while highly Trumpian, might have been an actual disappointment for its lack of fullness and context. So he continued.
“Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby — not even close!”
Ahhh. He scratched the itch. Nailed it!
Somebody got robbed. It was a miscarriage of justice. The whole thing was rigged. Somebody really needs to knock the hell out of them.
Time to Make America Great Again!
Aside from reminding me yet again that I never want Donald Trump to stop being president, the episode reveals a larger, more troubling conundrum for the regular American citizen seeking truth these days.
When Maximum Security clearly crossed the finish line first and then was disqualified, I was completely perplexed. I was incensed. I wanted to know exactly what happened. Had, in fact, a great injustice occurred?
These questions are, after all, the very lifeblood of self-governance.
I certainly wasn’t going to trust the announcers on television. After hours and hours of their non-stop boosterism of the Kentucky Derby, I did not trust them to give it to me straight. They would say whatever Derby officials told them to say.
There was a time when I might toddle on over to The New York Times or pick up The Washington Post. But after years of constant lies about a story that never happened, I no longer trust a word either paper prints. If I read anything in either paper, these days, it is only as a spy behind enemy lines, trying to pick up local propaganda that is clearly untrue.
But horse racing?
Both papers, after all, have been breathlessly spinning so many elaborate lies about really important things, such as: Did America elect as president a Russian double agent?
If they will lie about such important things, then they will lie about anything.
There is no topic they will not infuse with insidious agenda.
I know a lot about politics and follow politics pretty closely. I can spot their lies a mile away.
About horse racing, however, I know very little. I could easily be bamboozled by them.
The stunning loss of credibility has been a grievous blow to many reporting outfits that were once widely respected. Once your credibility is shot, it is very hard to get it back. Without credibility, you have no power.
You can hear these death wheezes everywhere these days. The once much-vaunted Poynter Institute that preaches the religion of “journalism” came out last week with a list of “fake news” publications. The list included several publications that produce very good reporting, including a few that have been on the cutting edge of exposing what a hoax this whole Russia fairy tale has been these last two years.
By week’s end, the pointy-headed poobahs at the Poynter Institute had withdrawn their list of “fake news” outlets, admitting that they themselves were peddling the very same such fake news.
The really great thing about President Trump’s pronouncement about the Kentucky Derby is that I didn’t have to go to The New York Times or The Washington Post or any other fake news outlet to sift through all the nonsense to find Mr. Trump’s comments.
No, Mr. Trump sent me his comments directly — unfiltered — over Twitter.
Thank God for Twitter. And thank God for President Trump.
• Contact Charles Hurt at churt@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @charleshurt.
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