Ken Burns on the 'Political Ponzi Scheme' of the Trump Campaign

While Donald Trump in the media—all day, every day—is a given, we find it equally hard to avoid his mention in most other spaces, public or private. And so it was during Ken Burns' commencement address at Stanford University delivered over the weekend. Burns introduces the topic of Trump without saying the name once, but Burns' three-minute, pitch perfect description of the man and his campaign render the need to say the name unnecessary. "For 216 years, our elections, though bitterly contested, have featured the philosophies and character of candidates who were clearly qualified. That is not the case this year," he says, continuing after the applause for that line has died down: One is glaringly not qualified. So before you do anything with your well-earned degree, you must do everything you can to defeat the retrograde forces that have invaded our democratic process, divided our house, to fight against, no matter your political persuasion, the dictatorial tendencies of the candidate with zero experience in the much maligned but subtle art of governance; who is against lots of things, but doesn’t seem to be for anything, offering only bombastic and contradictory promises, and terrifying Orwellian statements; a person who easily lies, creating an environment where the truth doesn’t seem to matter; who has never demonstrated any interest in anyone or anything but himself and his own enrichment; who insults veterans, threatens a free press, mocks the handicapped, denigrates women, immigrants and all Muslims; a man who took more than a day to remember to disavow a supporter who advocates white supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan; an infantile, bullying man who, depending on his mood, is willing to discard old and established alliances, treaties and long-standing relationships. I feel genuine sorrow for the understandably scared and—they feel—powerless people who have flocked to his campaign in the mistaken belief that--as often happens on TV--a wand can be waved and every complicated problem can be solved with the simplest of solutions. They can’t. It is a political Ponzi scheme. And asking this man to assume the highest office in the land would be like asking a newly minted car driver to fly a 747. And the historical documentarian who has covered the America of jazz, baseball and exploration, America at war, America at the intersection of race, crime and media frenzy, delivered this critique of the media's sisyphean and dangerous attempt at balance when none can legitimately be had: We no longer have the luxury of neutrality or “balance,” or even of bemused disdain. Many of our media institutions have largely failed to expose this charlatan, torn between a nagging responsibility to good journalism and the big ratings a media circus always delivers. In fact, they have given him the abundant airtime he so desperately craves, so much so that it has actually worn down our natural human revulsion to this kind of behavior. Hey, he’s rich; he must be doing something right. He is not. Edward R. Murrow would have exposed this naked emperor months ago. He is an insult to our history. Do not be deceived by his momentary “good behavior.” It is only a spoiled, misbehaving child hoping somehow to still have dessert. Watch the full speech below, which includes not only the Trump critique, but Burns' own idea of American greatness.

Fishbowl

Ken Burns on the 'Political Ponzi Scheme' of the Trump Campaign

The documentarian perfectly captures and eviscerates Trump within the sweep and context of American history.

Corinne Grinapol

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Corinne Grinapol