Thinking about the horror of Trump’s appearance with the NABJ, and what a terrible catch-22 we’re in.

If you put him on the air, even if you feel it’s your obligation to cover what he’s doing as a candidate, you’re giving him a national platform to spew his anger, hatred and fear. True, it’s not a journalist’s job to avoid reality, even if it does look like the next episode of “Evil,” but in this case, normalizing someone who led an attempted coup puts everything in a different light, doesn’t it?

Since his outrageousness is what feeds his campaign to destroy American democracy along with his ego-driven sociopathy, shouldn’t journalists stop providing coverage of his lunatic dog and pony shows and stick to an analysis of the issues? Since rational thinking is apparently something he can’t do, and he has no solid plans for America, other than attacking immigrants and women and cutting taxes for the rich, limiting coverage would provide added perspective on the vast divide between the candidates.

So far, covering Trump as though he’s just another candidate has done nothing but make a bad situation worse by normalizing his neo-Nazi movement. I know the campaign must be covered, but the Trump-free week following the announcement that Biden wouldn’t seek another term, while Donald was conferring with his cabal was heavenly. A return to sanity and the safety it provides as opposed to the master of chaos filling our screens and front pages with his blather each and every day. Or maybe putting all that insane drivel out there is a good idea, as there may be one or two voters who haven’t yet realized that the Donald is certifiably crackers. Co-morbid, as Mary Trump put it in her book, exhibiting more than just one psychological or possibly psychiatric dysfunction.

I dunno, it just feels to me like the news media was horribly late in getting to the party by not recognizing that this is not just another campaign, and as such, it requires a whole different kind of coverage. But that’s where the catch-22 comes in. Not sure what the answer is, I just hope Harris has the staying power to pull us through the storm and into a safe harbor while the usual bunch of reporters struggle to cover this mess as best they can.