Seit über zehn Jahren schreibe, publiziere, trete ich auf & die Öffentlichkeit schreitet mir meist zehn Jahre hinterher. Es geht um die Revolution der Welt durch Sprechakte, die sich in automatisch repetierte Codes giessen, die wiederum als neue Ideologien die Wirklichkeit und Welt prägen. #HannahArendtLecture Anlässlich eines Monates Trump 2.0 hier auf Englisch meine Gedanken & ja: Ein Substack-Account, der mich in die ongoing Conversation bringen würde, wäre besser, ich bin einfach noch nicht so weit.
It’s the Codes, Stupid.
On the madness of media, Trump Derangement Syndrome, Women & Sports, and stories that count more than facts.
by laStaempfli, March 6th, 2025
I’m not here to defend Donald Trump. Never was. Never will be. The man is a walking algorithm – a self-learning machine built out of resentment, showbiz instinct, and a pathological need for attention. But if you only see the man, you miss the real story.
The first month of Trump’s new reign – and yes, let’s call it that – wasn’t just a return to the chaos presidency. It was a reboot of the entire media-industrial complex. Every headline, every hot take, every “breaking news” alert: a mirror, not of Trump himself, but of the codes that run our discourse.
It’s the codes, stupid.
The code that makes outrage profitable.
The code that turns every policy into a meme.
The code that conflates moral panic with investigative journalism.
The code that treats politics as a Marvel reboot – good guys, bad guys, no context, no history.
The madness of the media isn’t that they lie. Most of them don’t. The madness is their code: the pre-set rules about what counts as a story, what makes the cut, what algorithms will amplify, and – more importantly – what won’t.
Take Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), for example. The term was born as a right-wing insult, but it perfectly captures what happens when journalists, activists, and academics stop thinking and start reacting. It’s a code glitch – a systemic bug that turns every Trump breath into a doomsday signal. And the thing about bugs is: they spread.
TDS doesn’t just distort coverage of Trump. It warps everything: Biden, the border, Gaza, Ukraine. In a code-driven media, there’s no space for nuance. Every story needs a villain. Every fact needs a spin. Every voice is either with us or against us.
And women? Women are always either symbols or side characters in these stories. Especially in sports. While Trump makes some clumsy, off-script comment about “protecting women’s sports” (because even a broken clock is right twice a day), the media code forces the narrative into two opposing boxes: you either cheerlead for trans inclusion in every context, or you’re a bigot. Forget biology, forget fairness, forget the actual voices of female athletes. The code doesn’t care. It’s not built to.
The stories that count are the stories that code well: outrage, simplicity, enemy-spotting. Women’s sports? Too complicated. Trumpism? Easy money. Complex history, broken systems, the digital architecture shaping our world? Doesn’t code. Doesn’t count.
I’m not saying facts don’t matter. I’m saying facts have no power if the code doesn’t let them in. And until we rewrite the code – the media logic, the platform incentives, the algorithms that decide what’s visible and what’s not – every president, every war, every social movement will just be content. Shuffled, sorted, framed, and forgotten.
The first month of Trump is just that: the latest content drop in a system that already decided the story before it even started.
It’s the codes, stupid.
– laStaempfli, March 6th, 2025
“It’s not Trump, it’s the codes, stupid. Media, madness & why stories outrun facts.” – laStaempfli, March 2025
“The first month of Trump 2.0 isn’t about him – it’s about us. Our codes, our blind spots, our media madness.” laStaempfli, March 6th 2025
“Outrage sells. Simplicity wins. Women lose. Welcome to the next media meltdown. #ItsTheCodesStupid” laStaempfli, March 6th 2025.
“Forget the man. Fear the machine. #ItsTheCodesStupid” by laStaempfli, March 6th 2025.
“Stories that code, outrun stories that count. Trump 2025 is already a content drop – and we’re all complicit.” by laStaempfli, March 6th 2025.
