The “Good Story”

Lynette Dufton
2 min readSep 19, 2024

--

His critics claimed that famed newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst “never let the facts get in the way of a good story.” JD Vance is following in Hearst’s gigantic footsteps. Maybe there will be a Vance Castle someday.

The “good story” after the Harris-Trump Debate was illegal Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets belonging “real Americans” in Springfield, Ohio. Springfield’s (Republican) Mayor and Ohio’s (Republican) Governor both claimed the “good story” was false. Try as they must, even Fox News could not find a single fricasseed feline.

Did that stop JD from “doubling down”? A 39 year old first term Senator with no apparent qualifications does not get nominated to be “a heartbeat away from the presidency” occupied by an overweight 78 year old junk food fan if he does not follow the Trump Playbook ’s credo “Never admit you are wrong”. JD tweeted the following:

“In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false. Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here. That local health services have been overwhelmed. That communicable diseases — like TB and HIV — have been on the rise. That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can’t afford to put a roof over their head.”

“It’s possible that these rumors may turn out to be false”? Well played, JD. “Plausible deniability” is straight from the Trump Playbook.

The Trump Playbook also recommends vaguely scary statements that don’t stand up to facts:

One Springfield child was struck and killed by a car driven by a legal Haitian immigrant. That was one of five vehicular homicides in Springfield’s county last year. The other four involved “real Americans” who, unlike the Haitian, were legally drunk.

TB and HIV cases increased to less than ten and less than twenty in Springfield’s county last year. Did that “overwhelm local health services”?

Springfield’s total K-12 school enrollment is less today than it was before the Haitians arrived in 2020. Is Springfield High “struggling” with fewer students than it had four years ago?

Rents have increased in Springfield. Landlords claim that Haitians with jobs are willing to pay more than unemployed Real Americans. Springfield employers claim that they hire Haitians because they show up for work, are not on drugs, and meet their work quotas.

Don’t let the facts get in the way of your “good story”, JD. Let the Trump Playbook be your guide.

By Ed Dufton

--

--

Lynette Dufton

These posts are written by my father, Ed Dufton, who has an incredible knack of condensing the day’s news into a witty and insightful commentary on society.