The Fake Intellectualism of David Frum
Frum resents Trump because he reminds him of the jock that mocked him in school.
Why does the CBC keep seeking David Frum’s counsel about the United States? Is it because his mother Barbara Frum is a CBC legend. She was one of their biggest personalities in the 1970s and 1980s. Is it because he was the speechwriter for George W Bush and coined the term “axis of evil”? Or is it because he is a Never Trump Republican? In any case, there is no reason to ask David Frum's opinion about anything. I know many people who are in a better position to talk about the United States than Frum.
Frum speaks from privilege, he grew up in a wealthy and well-connected family. He has been a member of the elite classes of both Canada and the United States his entire life. He views the world from the privileged elitist position. He has never known another nor does he try to understand people in lower economic classes.
Frum was a guest on the 28 May edition of CBC’s The Current with host Matt Galloway. Galloway is not a journalist since he has not done any original reporting in years. I have listened to him for many years as the host of Metro Morning on CBC Radio in Toronto. I think he was better at his former gig. Galloway is not a particularly good interviewer, the quality of his questions is low. He doesn’t ask many opened-ended questions that seek to go deep.
Galloway has a comfortable position at Canada’s public broadcaster. Galloway’s profile has risen as a national personality since taking over as the host of The Current earlier this year. CBC is one of the establishment media outlets. People who work in the establishment media have to adopt their point of view to keep their job. Galloway has done just that and is quite successful for that reason.
David Frum owes a lot to Donald Trump. Before Trump became President, David Frum was in the wilderness (where he belongs). He is the editor of The Atlantic magazine but wasn’t on television much like he is now. David Frum has used Trump to resuscitate his career like all Never Trump Republicans. He has tried to whitewash his career but he should not be allowed to.
During the interview, Galloway asks Frum how the COVID crisis will impact the November election? The fact is we just don’t know. The election is six months away. The pandemic has thrown everything into a state of flux. Frum claims the economy was great before COVID, which is a lie. The corporate media lies about the economy doing well. The quality of jobs has gotten worse since 2008 as precarious jobs that undermine labor skyrocket.
The Obama economy was bad but the corporate press will never tell you that because they want to protect their guy. Obama’s failures in office laid the groundwork for his successor. Yes, Trump exploited racial resentment, but Obama supporters who reduce Trump’s electoral college victory to race are misleading you.
David Frum is an elitist schmuck that never wrote anything smart or interesting in his life. His most recent book Trumpocolypse: Restoring American Democracy is a stupid book, if you read that useless drivel it is time you will never get back. But if you wish to suffer through it for whatever reason, rent it at your local library. Don’t buy it, don’t waste your money on him.
Frum hates Trump because he spent his entire life building his profile as a member of the Republican establishment. In 2015 Trump comes along and claims the Republican party for himself faster than David Frum ever could. Trump understands the Republican base. Frum has always been an establishment hack who’s always looked down on people he finds lower than himself.
During the interview with Galloway, David Frum claims Trump will try to pardon himself or somehow resign the presidency to Mike Pence so that he could be pardoned. What is Trump going to seek a pardon for? Russiagate was a stupid conspiracy theory cooked up by the intelligence community (IC), corporate media, and the Clinton campaign that blamed Russian interference for helping Trump win the electoral college.
Russiagate was as dumb or dumber than Bush’s Saddam Hussein’s WMD’s conspiracy. It was a way for the establishment (corporate media, DNC, IC) to blame Russia rather than do some self-reflection on why Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. It was a distraction that did a lot of damage.
As a member of corporate media, David Frum was a Russiagater that advanced the baseless conspiracy. I think people like Frum saw themselves as a member of the same club as Hillary. When she went down in defeat, the corporate media took it personally. They had to take their revenge.
Never-Trump Republicans like Frum, Nicole Wallace, Tom Nichols, David Brooks, and Bill Kristol are frauds that should be ignored. None of them should be listened to because they helped lay the groundwork for Trump. They created the environment for the President thus they are not the people to come up with the solution to the mess they created.
Never Trump Republicans have been warmly embraced by the Democratic Party establishment. This is a frightening development. The Democrats have slid so far right that they have met Frum where he is. This will alienate millions of people that they need in order to win in November.
The fact that the CBC keeps going back to David Frum says poorly of the organization. They are lazy by not researching people with fresh perspectives. Frum does not speak for Americans. He is only presenting his own point of view. The CBC is doing a disservice to its listeners by not inviting American guests from outside the establishment.