The tone and format hasn't changed one bit all through the 2024 election cycle, post-election and now, a couple of months into the worst Presidential administration in American history. The Stephanie Miller show is still a bright beacon of light in a sky full of dark clouds. I was a regular listener, catching the opening half-hour on my commute to work every morning and then, once things settled down and I could get to my routine, listening in my office. Since the election, it's the one thing that helps me get through the day.
It's unique in that it isn't the typical talking heads commentary or even call-in format of typical political programming, nor is it a headliner for the host, like so many so-called news and commentary programs. It is entertainment, with a heavy dose of light hearted humor, which makes the litany of incompetence and destructiveness going on in the Trump administration a little easier to take. There is no compromise on facts. If they provide information, it's accurate, and it is delivered with the expected natural reaction sane, solid thinking people tend to have when they hear something that sounds ridicuous and incredulous, which is an every moment occurrence with Trump.
What it makes me feel like is that there is a normal world out there, that things are moving on, that we will get through it and in the meantime, we can temper the ridiculous and stupid with some humor and laughter about it, rather than worrying over it and getting an ulcer as a result. The show is a way of knowing there are plenty of people out there who think along similar terms and are also trying to figure out how to navigate through four years of chaos in government.
They are also not just sitting back and getting a laugh or two here and there. There is encouragement to those who are frustrated with what's going on to take action, be pro-active, and put productive feet to making a difference. These are people who are very familiar with dealing with a thin-skinned demagogue like Trump, they pay attention and they know what kinds of action to take that is effective in irritating him and getting a reaction out of him. And the manner in which they have reported on, and appropriately ridiculed, his recent back-downs just makes me laugh.
Irreverence is, perhaps one of the single most appropriate approaches to the Trump Presidency, which I still consider a joke. Trump is really an image without substance, and I take pride in the fact that, while millions of Americans have walked away from their education, intellect and experience to vote for the guy, I was not fooled. Stephanie Miller's show affirms my pride in having continued to see through the phony veneer and recognizing the emptiness that is behind Trump, as well as perhaps also affirming a little bit of arrogance as well.
As this administration moves forward in time, and the regression of decades of progress moves backward in time, the fact that most of our media has ceased to be a free press, and has become propaganda outlets for far right wing extremism will make the continued existence and prosperity of shows like Stephanie Miller even more important. It is already one of the only remaining trustworthy sources of information in the media, among a handful of podcasts, blogs and radio programs that still tell the truth.
This is liberal political programming at its best.
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