Pity the poor mouse, searching for food required to keep him alive, when he stumbles across a tempting piece of cheese, only to find the treat he planned to enjoy, or possibly even share with his companions, turns out to be connected to a spring-loaded trap.  His joy immediately turns into his last gasp of life as the trap slams shut.

Many on the left may have had a similar feeling after MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow promised the tantalizing treat of releasing a portion of Donald Trump’s tax returns, and having it to turn out to be re-hashed info that sort of made Trump look better than some of the Democrats idols, at least when it comes to paying a fair share of taxes.

The conversation quickly turned after the illegally-obtained tax forms were finally presented, after quite a bit of clickbait-style hype that even frustrated many of the host’s followers.  What was planned to be a firestorm of anti-Trump rhetoric about his failing to pay taxes, shifted almost immediately to more unproven accusations about Trump and his gang of conspirators plotting against his opponents.

Which brings us back to the mousetrap.  Despite many of the mainstream media believing Trump is out to get them, they can’t bring themselves to resist that tempting piece of cheese in the trap.  In their zeal to find anything that will damage Trump’s reputation or delegitimize his presidency, they will take even the smallest tidbit and, eschewing any journalistic ethics, present the info as if it was a proven fact.

And while the trap that falls on them, after the info is discredited or found to be “a nothingburger,” the new buzzword being tossed about, may not actually end their lives, it does do even more damage to their journalistic lives and livelihood.  Most of them are teetering on the brink of death in their chosen profession, and can ill afford to look more ridiculous, as did Maddow.

And that begs the question, is Trump actually trying to set his opponents up for failure, as a part of his war on journalists that he called the enemy of the people?  This in itself is quite frightening.  There is more than enough disinformation coming out of Washington without the nation’s leader purposefully releasing false or misleading information to the press just to make them look bad.

I mean, with the approval ratings of the press at all-time lows among the American public, would it really be necessary to manipulate them into making foolish accusations?  They are doing quite well at taking unproven statements with no apparent evidence to back them up, and presenting them as facts, causing them to look vindictive in the public’s vision.

But, they are obviously easy to manipulate, mostly because they are willing to use any and all methods of bringing down Trump’s presidency, and they are willing to set the truth and ethics aside as long as it makes Trump look bad.

You would think that with healthcare, environmental issues, Trump’s immigration policies and many more relevant news stories, they would have more to talk about than how much tax Trump paid 12 years ago.  It could be that they are finding out that most Americans do not agree with their take on those issues, and they are looking for a ratings boost by catering to the extreme wings of the left.

Or, it may be that Trump has found the way to build that better mousetrap, and the left are just unable to keep their hands off the piece of cheese he has offered them, even if they believe it may be a trap.  Unfortunately for them, that doesn’t do much for their credibility ratings.