Stop Enabling Trump

The media were suckered again today when Donald Trump pulled off another publicity stunt today in Las Vegas to announce that he's endorsing Mitt Romney for president. What a surprise -- one very rich man who likes firing people supports another very rich man who likes firing people.

Meanwhile, no reporter has confronted Trump about the crap he spewed last year about Obama's birth certificate, claiming he had a crew of investigators pouring through records in Hawaii and elsewhere. At one point he pronounced that they'd found some amazing things and, when he revealed what they'd uncovered, we'd be shocked. Obama cut the legs out from under Trump and every other birther by releasing his actual birth certificate, but I haven't seen any member of the media stick it in The Donald's face and make him explain the lies.

Of course, Trump is awfully good at lying. The fact-checking organization Politifact has looked into 10 of Trump's pronouncements and found they bore little relationship to reality. The site rated four of his statements "false," three of them "pants on fire" (worse than false), two of them "half true," and only one "mostly true." That's an awful record -- and yet, news organizations keep covering this guy like he matters when, in fact, he's nothing more than the host of bad reality show. Why not ask Jeff Probst and Simon Cowell who they're endorsing?

The media also fall for his occasional teases about a possible third-party run, even though they know there's less chance of that than of Trump declaring that gold is bad for you. He's as relevant to presidential politics as Sarah Palin, who also will never be a candidate.

Trump is nothing more than a walking ego machine who would knock down anyone who stood between him and a TV camera. It's time for the news media to stop enabling him.

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