Contributed by Vic Kohring
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has been under perpetual assault by the liberal, Hillary Clinton press machine ever since "The Donald" established himself as the Republican front runner this spring. And following his nomination in July, the pace of attacks has increased to a frenzy. It's obvious to any thinking person that the media is afraid of Trump, fearing he may actually defeat their beloved Hillary. So they're constantly demonizing the man, hoping to destroy his credibility.
The criticisms have accelerated to a circus of around-the-clock bashing, intended to undermine Trump and influence the outcome of the November election, so as to install the first woman president. I don't object to a woman leading our country, but Ms. Clinton is a frightening prospect given her unscrupulous background. Most every time I read or hear the "news" (a word I use loosely), it's a constant attack against Trump with a simultaneous portrayal of the sickly, low energy Hillary as a real leader who's practically heroic. The media's bias is so obvious, I'd laugh if it wasn't so serious.
There are parallels between Trump's experience and my own as a legislative candidate through the years. I too was excoriated as a Christian conservative who espoused less government and a strong private sector. The old, socialist Anchorage Daily News (the Alaska Dispatch News is a big improvement) led a near constant chorus in a pathetic, but failed attempt to destroy me and elevate my liberal opponents to victory. The attacks always reached a crescendo shortly before each election. It was like clockwork and certainly by design.
I could count on a major blitzkrieg - usually timed a few days before each general election in November - often with a huge headlined story akin to a presidential assassination. Yet I was "only" a legislator. So why the big fuss over a single state representative, one of 60 lawmakers in Alaska?
It was because I was achieving fundamental changes in Juneau with my budget reforms and greatly highlighting the need to reduce the size of government's influence, the likes which hadn't been seen for years, if ever. I was rocking the boat instead of sitting on the sidelines.
In 2004, the Sunday before the election, the Daily News screamed with an enormous headline on its front page, "Kohring's Residency in Question," playing off the fact that I bought my bride a house near Portland, Oregon for her to live with family while I legislated in Juneau. And the attacks were always about my personal life, castigating me as a horrible human being.
Another year, I was beaten about the head and shoulders over the amount of per diem I claimed from spending long hours working on constituent matters. My sponsorship of legislation to ease the permitting requirements for coalbed gas drilling in the state also drew howls with front page headlines, as did my extra employment for an Anchorage developer to make some side money to support my family and keep the bills paid. As if working two jobs was somehow bad.
On and on it went. The granddaddy of them all was my legal case beginning in 2006 where I was accused of accepting a bribe over a lousy hundred bucks to buy my step-daughter Easter eggs. Despite the near-constant assault by a crazed media salivating over me like a bunch of starving hyenas looking for red meat, I not only survived, but prospered with seven straight landslide elections. I can still see the reporters and editors long faces of disappointment!
As annoying as these liberal political "spokesmen" were for the democrat party (the writers insisted they were fair and unbiased, but in reality were cheerleaders for the progressive candidates whom they adored), it bothered me little. In fact, I proudly wore the criticism as a badge of honor, deducing that if these hacks were so adamant in seeing me defeated, it must have meant they were afraid of me as with Trump. Otherwise, they wouldn't have given me the time of day and waste their coverage on yet another spineless, yellow-stripe-down-the-back rhino.
Furthermore, they must have seen me as a threat and that I was doing my job - the job I promised on the campaign trail and that I was elected to do. There's an old saying that, "You're known by your enemies." If those on the left couldn't contain themselves and cease their incessant onslaught through the years, it's something to be very proud of.
After years of assailing republicans including Donald Trump and people like me, the credibility of the press has fallen into a steady decline. The public now holds them in such low regard that used car salesmen are seen as more credible. People are finally recognizing the garbage, often outrageous, over the top, even child-like reporting and are turning away. For Trump's sake and for the sake of our country's future, I hope and pray that a majority of Americans see the press for what it is and before Election Day this November. God help us if they don't.