CNN Is Breeding a Post-Millennial Generation of MAGA-Loving Rebels

From National Review:

On the Fourth of July, CNN managed to out-petty the president, further corrode its credibility, and kick-start the Trump 2020 ground game in one fell swoop. 

After President Trump tweeted a modified GIF of himself at an old pro-wrestling match, in which he is seen clobbering a man with the CNN logo superimposed on his head, CNN chose the low road. Rather than denounce the president’s tweet as unpresidential and move on with actual journalism, the network instead had a public, 72-hour meltdown, which included an inane hunt to punish the creator of the meme that apparently originated on r/The_Donald, a pro-Trump Internet forum on Reddit. 

On Wednesday, CNN published an article by Andrew Kaczynski titled “How CNN found the Reddit user behind the Trump wrestling GIF,” describing in scrupulous detail how the “KFile” team unearthed the identity of the user “HanA**holeSolo,” who created the GIF. “Using identifying information that ‘HanA**holeSolo’ posted on Reddit,” Kaczynski wrote, “KFile was able to determine key biographical details, to find the man’s name using a Facebook search and ultimately corroborate details he had made available on Reddit.” 

In his article, Kaczynski explained that because the Reddit user gave a lengthy apology and seemed genuinely remorseful, he would not identify or dox him, i.e., Kaczynski would not release private or identifying information about the Reddit denizen. But, he warned, “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.” 

Addicted to asserting their diminishing control over public rhetoric, CNN single-handedly gave Trump a reason to moan about the network’s agenda to his heart’s content. 

As Kevin Williamson has so eloquently noted, in his constant need for media attention Trump resembles a junkie running dry. So, too, CNN, which is so hooked on drama that is has threatened to ruin a private citizen who criticizes or mocks the network.

 Ok, Pastorius stepping in here: Not only is Trump "addicted" to media attention (which I think is a somewhat dubious starting-point assumption for an analysis of a man who actually won the Presidency and is doing a good job at executing said office), Trump is also better than anyone I have ever seen at actually getting media attention AND USING IT FOR HIS OWN GAIN, WHICH THEN CORRESPONDS WITH GAIN FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

Kevin Williamson is just another snit-fit throwing GOPe-fag. He needs to learn to shut the fuck up.

But beyond the network’s feud with Trump, this approach is destined to backfire. There’s a generation of kids barely starting college, fluent in the language of the Internet since birth, that can smell any desperation for social control. 

They’re Generation Z, the post-Millennial generation born after 1997, and polling and cultural observation shows that they will vehemently fight against the mainstream media’s gasping attempts to determine the contours of the political and social order. 

Millennials, who grew up without the evils of Communism in their daily lives, felt the echoes of lingering sexism and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. Gen Z did not. 

Now, women are graduating college at higher rates than men and are expected to possess the same professional ambitions as men. Gay marriage is now recognized in all 50 states, and, according to a 2015 Pew research study, the overwhelming majority of Millennial Republicans and Democrats are supportive of this fact. 

Once, rebels took bong rips in between protesting war and Jim Crow laws; today they “sh*tpost” memes and fight against a different form of social control: political correctness and a perceived establishment agenda. 

Seemingly overnight, the culture wars have radically new goalposts, and increasingly feature 4chan memes rather than paid political ads as ammunition. It has become crystal clear that CNN still has no clue why Hillary and the establishment lost. 

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.