so is this what the next four years is going to be like? Trump does some outrageous shit and lawsuits follow, tangling up the ability to get anything done because there's chaos and outrage every day?
Welcome to the world of governing by fiat. Maybe if Congress would do their jobs, change wouldn't have to come from the Executive and more people would be upset about it. As it is, we're in for whiplash every 4 years when the opposing party inevitably gets in power and issues 400 executive orders to undue the last party's 200 orders. Not great, Bob.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Chris has changed. It’s not a coincidence that this has happened in a particular era (2015-2025). He pretends to be impervious to the various events in this country, politically or otherwise; but his readers have the last decade of his writings to see the change in real time if they so desire.
Claiming to be fair minded, yet arrogantly selecting what news constitutes as a mountain or a molehill is the journalistic inverse of the outrage he mentions in other forms of media.
If five catastrophic earthquakes happened on the same day, Chris argues that reporting on only one is responsible journalism. His hypothesis about outrage porn in general is fair in and of itself, but again, as always, Chris becomes part of the story while claiming to be above the fray and independent of it. He’s not. He’s a product of the last ten years and simply reacting to a changing news world without admitting how hypocritical he sometimes appears. I’ve called out the hypocrisy before. The sooner Chris admits that living in a ‘post-truth’ and ‘fake news’ world has spread to his version of independent journalism the better.
Just as the Washington Post and legacy media need to adapt to the realities around them, so too does Chris, just in a different way. It is outrageous for a journalist to admit, in print, that he has purposefully not reported on countless stories because he views them as not worth his time, and potentially unnecessarily upsetting or difficult to quantify to his audience. Let us decide, not you. Chris is the story when he writes like this. Chris defines outrage porn as, “Anything that is designed to make you angry. To piss you off.” As I read Chris’ article today, I noticed that it had an ironic whiff of being designed to piss off people as well, just in that inverse way I mentioned. On some level I believe Chris is aware of this.
He is quite correct in his assessment of certain politicians flooding the airwaves with so many “molehills” that it has become difficult to contextualize and cover such stories. We all empathize with that struggle that every member of the media has experienced as of late. But that doesn’t mean the approach Chris has chosen works either. I’ve found that his writing devolves in moments like this where he keeps writing and writing and writing but he’s avoiding saying much of anything anymore.
If “mountains” are redefined long enough, then Chris gets to ignore the important and meaningful stories found in between those two black and white paradigms. Be better and do better. I beg you. Please stop talking down to your audience. We can tell when you do it and it’s so condescending. Like I’ve said before, it’s such a cynical way to approach the news and life in general.
You’re not telling us the truth. You’re shaping it to your narrative just like the people you call out from time to time. That makes me feel outrage.
Lost in the click magnet title, is that the whole Trump Empire is built on “outrage porn”. That is LITERALLY how he won in both 2016 and 2024.
Instead of calling a demagogue a demagogue and an “outrage” pimp, who’s ONLY schtick IS “outrage porn” I guess it’s easier to call justified push back to Trump’s “outage porn” a bad version of the same not worth the time of a journalist who feigns integrity.
This is what the mainstream media has devolved into. And yes, Chris represents the mainstream media mindset.
Lame, silly, dishonest “bothsiderim” and “whataboutism” that has Trump laughing his ass off at the gullibility of the MSM on how it’s so easy too manipulate them to do his dirty work.
Hakeem Jeffries is 100% correct. Dems should not be so concerned about the Gulf of America and Greenland and other shit like that. When we do that, we crumble right into Trump's hands, because he wants us to be overwhelmed about the shit.
I noticed Schumer speaking up about the spending freeze. THAT'S the kind of stuff the Dems and the rest of us should be outraged about. Birthright citizenship is way way more important than the hand gesture Musk makes.
But Dems can't do much right now, as they don't control Congress. Lawyers can do stuff, but not as quickly. But yeah, the bottom line is, forget the small stuff for now. There's a lot of big stuff going on, or will start, that Dems and all of us need to be concerned with.
Saving your outrage for people who aren’t Trump (like Biden and Mace) make it clear what is happening here. You threw a whole fit over Biden pardoning innocent people who Trump openly threatened (ignoring the significant cost those people would incur to defend themselves), but you elect to mostly ignore a Nazi salute from Trump-adjacent Elon and entirely ignore Trump shutting down HIV med access to millions, among many other newsworthy events. You’re not establishing credibility by doing this. You re just showing your cowardice and making it easier to unsubscribe.
Ryan: you get the Cilliza grift- he is just SO VERY above us mere “outraged” earthlings. Cilliza shills for the buck just like other lowly types- he just makes sure he stays on the good side of people he considers cash worthy.
I don’t agree with that and I’m not going to call him “lowly,” but I do think there’s recently been a noticeable shift in how he covers things and what he covers.
Uh. Have you seen Chris' comment sections? Every single one is nothing but anger along those lines. If he was giving in to audience capture and grifting for money, he'd be losing his mind over everything Trump does, because his audience makes it VERY clear that's what they want.
I'm fine skipping the outrage porn for ALL of the reasons listed above.
This is just an extension of how I have to operate daily as a teacher, pick the teachable moments that deal w/real Constitutional issues or structural changes. All of the other stuff, it's got to become white noise.
As for all those on the left that were worried about the coming abyss, it's clear Dem leaders have changed their tack with how they relate to and convey their disdain for Trump policies. It seems a lesson may have been learned. We won't know until mid-terms, but, if you are Dem voter this should be cause for optimism. The lack of outrage is a good thing.
I like your mountain and molehill analogy, but I just feel the mountains are now all Everest sized and the molehills are the Rocky's. Everything Trump does is so far to the extreme, it's hard to ignore.
I do think there are a few other mountains that I wish dem leadership would acknowledge with outrage. For example, firing 15 inspectors general in the middle of the night so we actually don't have any oversight in executive agencies. Asking federal employees who they voted for and firing if they aren't loyal. Revoking security details from people not "loyal" to him on the same day he Pardons violent criminals. I get that not everything can be faced with outrage. But it is maddening that so many seem to treat this as business as usual, as if this is how an administration of a different party acts. I feel dems need to get it together and speak out!
This might not upset others as much as it upset me but by trying (or succeeding) to kick out all trans soldiers in the military equals more than 15,000 people who are protecting our country. and that is not a small mountain.
Personally, worried about an area trans and LGBT+ activist and is also in the reserve Air National Guard. She runs a resource and support center for area people (including teens, and parents) who are non-binary. A LOT of other people, vulnerable and marginalized, all over the world, but she may become a lightning rod.
I agree with the idea of focusing on the things that really matter and/or dangerous and not getting outraged over every single batsh*t crazy thing Trump or his sycophants do. Most of us have limited bandwidth, and we should dedicate our time and outrage on what really matters.
As I read the Politico excerpt, I was ticked off by their lumping the pardons in with Musk’s gesture. We absolutely *should* be outraged by the pardons. They are an attack on the rule of law and our justice system. They let several hundred violent criminals loose in our society. They send a message to anyone who contemplates violence that they can do so without consequence as long as it’s done in Trump’s name. They insult law enforcement officers, especially those who defended the Capitol on 1/6. I’m glad Chris made the case later in the piece that the pardons are a huge concern. I will never not be outraged about the pardons.
Also, another thing that’s worth our outrage is the “pause” on federal grants and loans OMB ordered on Monday. We’re getting into wonky budget territory, but this is an assault on Congress’s constitutional authority that will, if it stands, upend the power balance between the President and Congress.
Yeah, we can't do outrage 24/7. Blatantly violating the law -- firing IGs, impounding funds -- is worth focusing on. In the long run the Democrats have to make the case that what Trump and his minions are doing is HURTING Americans. AOC is pointing out that his threatened tariffs are a tax on American consumers, not foreign countries. That's the way to go.
Ditto Chris. I agree. The only thing I would like you to do is, (for example when you do the line by line), call out the person when he or she lies. I have said this before, you and several others will say "this is not true" or "this is false" or this is not accurate but for some reason you never say "this is a lie". "This person is lying" or "this person is a lier" and I do not understand that. When you right a piece about a mountain then you should call him or her out! Thanks.
Thanks for this column Chris! It is a good strategy. I agree that if everything is an outrage, then eventually nothing is outrageous because we are all worn out.
You made my heart race a little less today. Truly, the Gulf of Mexico stuff is just stupid. And even the Colombia debacle — which was scary when I read it late at night — is more showmanship than anything else (from both sides, I think).
The fact that there seems to be less yelling and hang wringing from the Democrats and more tangible things like law suits and people not stepping down from jobs they were illegally fired from actually gives me hope.
I am trying to mete out news watching - not get rid of it entirely, but not after 5 pm or before 9am. That’s keeping sane but not going totally off news.
I really need to schedule a one-on-one with you one of these days.
I think the blocking of federal grants is a mountain!
Agree! One of many that should spark outrage. At least more.
Chris posted a video on YouTube about 45 minutes ago regarding the grant freeze, if you're interested.
Also, quick update: according to the AP, a federal judge issued a temporary block on the freeze until Monday.
so is this what the next four years is going to be like? Trump does some outrageous shit and lawsuits follow, tangling up the ability to get anything done because there's chaos and outrage every day?
Welcome to the world of governing by fiat. Maybe if Congress would do their jobs, change wouldn't have to come from the Executive and more people would be upset about it. As it is, we're in for whiplash every 4 years when the opposing party inevitably gets in power and issues 400 executive orders to undue the last party's 200 orders. Not great, Bob.
Congress is worthless and even more so now that they're in control of both houses and will capitulate to Dear Leader's wishes and whims.
Aaaand I'm not engaging with that one. Have a good one.
Well said Chris. That's why you are so valuable to the community.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Chris has changed. It’s not a coincidence that this has happened in a particular era (2015-2025). He pretends to be impervious to the various events in this country, politically or otherwise; but his readers have the last decade of his writings to see the change in real time if they so desire.
Claiming to be fair minded, yet arrogantly selecting what news constitutes as a mountain or a molehill is the journalistic inverse of the outrage he mentions in other forms of media.
If five catastrophic earthquakes happened on the same day, Chris argues that reporting on only one is responsible journalism. His hypothesis about outrage porn in general is fair in and of itself, but again, as always, Chris becomes part of the story while claiming to be above the fray and independent of it. He’s not. He’s a product of the last ten years and simply reacting to a changing news world without admitting how hypocritical he sometimes appears. I’ve called out the hypocrisy before. The sooner Chris admits that living in a ‘post-truth’ and ‘fake news’ world has spread to his version of independent journalism the better.
Just as the Washington Post and legacy media need to adapt to the realities around them, so too does Chris, just in a different way. It is outrageous for a journalist to admit, in print, that he has purposefully not reported on countless stories because he views them as not worth his time, and potentially unnecessarily upsetting or difficult to quantify to his audience. Let us decide, not you. Chris is the story when he writes like this. Chris defines outrage porn as, “Anything that is designed to make you angry. To piss you off.” As I read Chris’ article today, I noticed that it had an ironic whiff of being designed to piss off people as well, just in that inverse way I mentioned. On some level I believe Chris is aware of this.
He is quite correct in his assessment of certain politicians flooding the airwaves with so many “molehills” that it has become difficult to contextualize and cover such stories. We all empathize with that struggle that every member of the media has experienced as of late. But that doesn’t mean the approach Chris has chosen works either. I’ve found that his writing devolves in moments like this where he keeps writing and writing and writing but he’s avoiding saying much of anything anymore.
If “mountains” are redefined long enough, then Chris gets to ignore the important and meaningful stories found in between those two black and white paradigms. Be better and do better. I beg you. Please stop talking down to your audience. We can tell when you do it and it’s so condescending. Like I’ve said before, it’s such a cynical way to approach the news and life in general.
You’re not telling us the truth. You’re shaping it to your narrative just like the people you call out from time to time. That makes me feel outrage.
Quite right.
Lost in the click magnet title, is that the whole Trump Empire is built on “outrage porn”. That is LITERALLY how he won in both 2016 and 2024.
Instead of calling a demagogue a demagogue and an “outrage” pimp, who’s ONLY schtick IS “outrage porn” I guess it’s easier to call justified push back to Trump’s “outage porn” a bad version of the same not worth the time of a journalist who feigns integrity.
This is what the mainstream media has devolved into. And yes, Chris represents the mainstream media mindset.
Lame, silly, dishonest “bothsiderim” and “whataboutism” that has Trump laughing his ass off at the gullibility of the MSM on how it’s so easy too manipulate them to do his dirty work.
Wholeheartedly agree! Won't make it through 2 months, let alone 4 years if everything is DefCon 5.
I think I would add fund impoundment to the mountain list.
Hakeem Jeffries is 100% correct. Dems should not be so concerned about the Gulf of America and Greenland and other shit like that. When we do that, we crumble right into Trump's hands, because he wants us to be overwhelmed about the shit.
I noticed Schumer speaking up about the spending freeze. THAT'S the kind of stuff the Dems and the rest of us should be outraged about. Birthright citizenship is way way more important than the hand gesture Musk makes.
But Dems can't do much right now, as they don't control Congress. Lawyers can do stuff, but not as quickly. But yeah, the bottom line is, forget the small stuff for now. There's a lot of big stuff going on, or will start, that Dems and all of us need to be concerned with.
I'm tired of being outraged 🙄
That's the objective of the firehose approach.
But it doesn't mean I don't remain engaged!
Saving your outrage for people who aren’t Trump (like Biden and Mace) make it clear what is happening here. You threw a whole fit over Biden pardoning innocent people who Trump openly threatened (ignoring the significant cost those people would incur to defend themselves), but you elect to mostly ignore a Nazi salute from Trump-adjacent Elon and entirely ignore Trump shutting down HIV med access to millions, among many other newsworthy events. You’re not establishing credibility by doing this. You re just showing your cowardice and making it easier to unsubscribe.
Ryan: you get the Cilliza grift- he is just SO VERY above us mere “outraged” earthlings. Cilliza shills for the buck just like other lowly types- he just makes sure he stays on the good side of people he considers cash worthy.
I don’t agree with that and I’m not going to call him “lowly,” but I do think there’s recently been a noticeable shift in how he covers things and what he covers.
Uh. Have you seen Chris' comment sections? Every single one is nothing but anger along those lines. If he was giving in to audience capture and grifting for money, he'd be losing his mind over everything Trump does, because his audience makes it VERY clear that's what they want.
I'm fine skipping the outrage porn for ALL of the reasons listed above.
This is just an extension of how I have to operate daily as a teacher, pick the teachable moments that deal w/real Constitutional issues or structural changes. All of the other stuff, it's got to become white noise.
As for all those on the left that were worried about the coming abyss, it's clear Dem leaders have changed their tack with how they relate to and convey their disdain for Trump policies. It seems a lesson may have been learned. We won't know until mid-terms, but, if you are Dem voter this should be cause for optimism. The lack of outrage is a good thing.
I like your mountain and molehill analogy, but I just feel the mountains are now all Everest sized and the molehills are the Rocky's. Everything Trump does is so far to the extreme, it's hard to ignore.
I do think there are a few other mountains that I wish dem leadership would acknowledge with outrage. For example, firing 15 inspectors general in the middle of the night so we actually don't have any oversight in executive agencies. Asking federal employees who they voted for and firing if they aren't loyal. Revoking security details from people not "loyal" to him on the same day he Pardons violent criminals. I get that not everything can be faced with outrage. But it is maddening that so many seem to treat this as business as usual, as if this is how an administration of a different party acts. I feel dems need to get it together and speak out!
This might not upset others as much as it upset me but by trying (or succeeding) to kick out all trans soldiers in the military equals more than 15,000 people who are protecting our country. and that is not a small mountain.
Personally, worried about an area trans and LGBT+ activist and is also in the reserve Air National Guard. She runs a resource and support center for area people (including teens, and parents) who are non-binary. A LOT of other people, vulnerable and marginalized, all over the world, but she may become a lightning rod.
I feel for you and her. He's just shut down all federal aid in the country too. :-(
They do speak out. But there isn't a lot Dems can do, since they don't control any aspect of Congress (yet). Or would you want a coup?
I agree with the idea of focusing on the things that really matter and/or dangerous and not getting outraged over every single batsh*t crazy thing Trump or his sycophants do. Most of us have limited bandwidth, and we should dedicate our time and outrage on what really matters.
As I read the Politico excerpt, I was ticked off by their lumping the pardons in with Musk’s gesture. We absolutely *should* be outraged by the pardons. They are an attack on the rule of law and our justice system. They let several hundred violent criminals loose in our society. They send a message to anyone who contemplates violence that they can do so without consequence as long as it’s done in Trump’s name. They insult law enforcement officers, especially those who defended the Capitol on 1/6. I’m glad Chris made the case later in the piece that the pardons are a huge concern. I will never not be outraged about the pardons.
Also, another thing that’s worth our outrage is the “pause” on federal grants and loans OMB ordered on Monday. We’re getting into wonky budget territory, but this is an assault on Congress’s constitutional authority that will, if it stands, upend the power balance between the President and Congress.
Yeah, we can't do outrage 24/7. Blatantly violating the law -- firing IGs, impounding funds -- is worth focusing on. In the long run the Democrats have to make the case that what Trump and his minions are doing is HURTING Americans. AOC is pointing out that his threatened tariffs are a tax on American consumers, not foreign countries. That's the way to go.
Ditto Chris. I agree. The only thing I would like you to do is, (for example when you do the line by line), call out the person when he or she lies. I have said this before, you and several others will say "this is not true" or "this is false" or this is not accurate but for some reason you never say "this is a lie". "This person is lying" or "this person is a lier" and I do not understand that. When you right a piece about a mountain then you should call him or her out! Thanks.
Chris, is the blocking of federal grants today not a mountain? It sounds like one to me. Would appreciate your comments on this one, thank you.
He released a video on YouTube about it 45 mins ago, worth a watch
After all, what does Greenland have to do with the price of eggs????
Thanks for this column Chris! It is a good strategy. I agree that if everything is an outrage, then eventually nothing is outrageous because we are all worn out.
You made my heart race a little less today. Truly, the Gulf of Mexico stuff is just stupid. And even the Colombia debacle — which was scary when I read it late at night — is more showmanship than anything else (from both sides, I think).
The fact that there seems to be less yelling and hang wringing from the Democrats and more tangible things like law suits and people not stepping down from jobs they were illegally fired from actually gives me hope.
I am trying to mete out news watching - not get rid of it entirely, but not after 5 pm or before 9am. That’s keeping sane but not going totally off news.
I really need to schedule a one-on-one with you one of these days.
Thanks for giving me some much needed peace.