Perhaps this is a reporter’s rebellion against being assigned to report twittering?
Or perhaps they have figured out that they will actually be even worse off if Democrats win the House in mid-terms than the mere catastrophe of Trump pressing home victory. It the sort of “gaffe” and “faux pas” and “speculation” that one might write about if ordered to actively campaign for liberals to stay home in despair.
That does seem to be the message from CNN:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/donald-trump-presidency-supreme-court-economy/index.html
But it its hard to believe anybody could coordinate a campaign to cover this “news” about a piece of paper stuck to a shoe that would include:
WAPO:
Trump boards Air Force One with toilet paper in tow. (Or was it a napkin?)
“Excuse me, Mr. President, I believe you have some toilet paper stuck to your shoe” — said no one.
Alas, President Trump made an embarrassing climb into Air Force One on Thursday with what appeared to be some sort of paper product attached to the bottom of his shoe.
Video showed him step out of a limousine in front of the aircraft at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and start up the staircase with a couple squares of toilet paper or, perhaps, a napkin, billowing in the wind with each step. What about the dozen or so people surrounding him? (Bueller? . . . Bueller?)
As he reached the top, the president — seemingly oblivious — turned around and waved goodbye.
Historically, toilet paper and shoes have gone together much like humiliating faux pas and deep, tear-inducing belly laughter.
Those who had the privilege to see it happen — either live or later on while watching videos on social media — couldn’t help but share it.
CNN political commentator Ana Navarro posted a clip on social media. “Starting the day with a little comic relief,” she wroteFriday on Twitter.
… [yes there’s more]
Here’s the worldwide “related coverage”.
I haven’t read any more of the first one hundred stories but its well worth scanning the headlines to get a sense of the collapse.
My guess is they really have just given up.
Meanwhile it seems the West has also given up on dealing with the rather serious issue of the Russian state use of novichok.
If, as is plausible, somebody with access to illegal Russian stockpiles did this without authority one would expect the Russian government to try to evade responsibility while being extremely cooperative and anxious to help establish the facts so as to ensure any culprits were found and stopped from seriously damaging Russian as well as other interests.
Instead Russia is churning out the usual stuff from Sputnik and threatening retaliation.
If that is the result of ineptitude on the part of both the British and Russian governments that is not terribly unusual.
But there is the other alternative that the Russians were deliberately testing Western responses. So far those responses are completely inadequate if based on a firm conclusion that the Russian government is either complicit in testing Western responses or unable to control its security personnel who decide to do so without authority.
The latest reports suggest that Western governments are comfortable with merely mocking the bumbling incompetence of GRU clowns:
https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/10/04/the-west-indicts-the-gru
I feel rather less comfortable about the Russian State not being able to manage its own agencies that are equipped with nerve agents.
If they weren’t clowns they would know how to remotely monitor WiFi networks instead of sitting in a car with the equipment
While enjoying the collapse of mainstream politics I would have thought there would be some insistence that the clowns with nerve gas be dealt with rather than ridiculed. Is nobody functioniing?
C21st Left 
Sorry, formatting broken. Not sure how to fix.
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Arthur, I’ve tried to fix it. Mucked around with cutting and re-pasting but no improvement. I’ll consult someone who knows vastly more about IT software later today.
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