It's bad enough that the press remains fixated on him and his swampy cult, but he's asked for popular anonymity by going AWOL since election day. Since then he is not "MIA" as some have reported; that term implies action, as in Missing In Action. It carries a serious if not heroic sub-connotation. Instead he is Absent With Out Leave in fact. He is not performing any presidential function on behalf of the People. His idiotic ravings are not news. They are lies, purely stated over and over agin for his own benefit and no-one else's. It's time to wean us all off of this failed tragedy of a presidential term and move on.
Here's another angle that is being ignored: 154 million people cast votes, a 67% turnout. Seems to me that it is worthy of mention that when voting is made easier (i.e., mail-in ballots) more Americans do their civic duty. Perhaps more coverage of that angle would prompt state legislators to take steps to ensure the process of voting is consistent and simple.
First of all, 80 million Biden voters. Wow. Democrats, we should be loving ourselves a lot more. Second, all I can think of when you regale us with bad journalist stories is that they're just trying to keep their jobs. There is absolutely no reason we need 24/7 news. It's boring. Journalists are trying to stave off layoffs. Joe Biden doing a masterful job doesn't sell. Yet.
To to today’s WaPo and you will see this as one of their top articles: “Ivanka Trump’s time in the White House is about to end. Is her political career about to begin?”
That is just one of many articles I have seen about the Trump’s future political ambition. Too bad the media doesn’t bother pointing out that her husband and her brother Don were both referred for criminal investigation by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, not that we are likely to hear anything about that investigation. It is probably filed with the investigation of the NY FBI agents who violated the Hatch Act by trying to sink Hillary’s campaign. They were quite successful.
I have been since 2016 to see an article like Jennifer Rubin’s about Democratic voters. This is how she described those who voted for Biden:
“Most Biden voters have opened their eyes to enduring, pervasive racism. They believe America is a good and decent country, but not faultless. They understand that we are forever in the process of making “a more perfect” nation. They understand that racism does not merely emanate from venom-spouting neo-Nazis but can be embedded in institutions that solidify and perpetuate historic injustice. There is a reason huge gaps between Blacks and Whites persist in wealth, longevity, education, policing and most every facet of American life. They understand that we do not live in a zero-sum world in which addressing these historic inequities means “taking” something from other groups.”
I believe Rubin’s last point is the most important. The Trump/Republican voters that I know all have that zero-sum world view. They are focused on themselves and don’t see that helping everyone thrive benefits all of us.
Too bad the rest of the media can’t be bothered writing the people who vote for Democrats but they too busy trying to feel empathy for Trump voters to bother paying attention to the majority of voters.
The gymnastics required to pull off this act are quite remarkable. They manage to ask "Why did so many people vote for Trump?" without asking "Why did so many people vote for Trump when he did such a completely terrible job as president?" That's a question worth asking, but of course they turned it all into mush. Not because they don't know the answer, but because they DO know the answer and they're afraid of it.
Similarly, I think we actually need MORE analysis of the Trump voter -- actual analysis, not "analysis" that assumes they're decent, patriotic people and ignores all screamingly obvious evidence to the contrary, including Trump supporters' own words. An actual "WTF is the matter with these people?" examination is long overdue.
My fear is the press will continue this infatuation with baby-man Trump even after Biden is inaugurated. There is already talk that Trump plans to hold a rally on Inauguration Day announcing his candidacy. The press will cover it and they will continue to react to his tweets and soundbites because they can't help themselves. The press is the poor parent that has no idea how to handle a child throwing a tantrum. Typically you ignore them until their misdirected anger subsides. And does it matter how Biden received 80 million votes, whether it was a backlash at Trump or he was seen as a great candidate? The fact is Biden did receive more votes than any one US president in history. There was a time when the press reported facts and didn't spend so much time embracing the loser. Imagine your favorite baseball team winning the World Series yet the broadcasters spent all of the post game coverage on how the losing team felt. You would be infuriated.
All I know is that I'm having to turn off the TV earlier and earlier these days. For example, on MSNBC yesterday during one of Chuck Todd's useless hours, Biden was announcing his Economic officials/team, and just after Janet Yellen gave her speech, Chuck cut back to Trumpy Trump Trump!!! How can we expect the MSM media to care about voters like us when they don't even care to air speeches of the honorable patriots who are going to get our economy back on track?
I'd like to know what are these journalists so afraid of? I'm sure when they were dreaming about becoming one they said they would hold folks accountable report the facts, not be afraid, etc...Yet time and time again we see them keep their mouths shut and write puff pieces about a racist while never calling him as such. Like you said Eric, the 80 million votes is historic yet we've heard less than a peep from anyone. Just shameful!!!
The Trump fascination from the press has an element of gawking at a car crash. Sure, they could report that most people made it to work on time, but...
Conflict and drama bring eyeballs. One would think 80M voters decisively throwing out a corrupt and incompetent incumbent would be a good, dramatic story, but no. Returning to normalcy is not a headline.
First, the political media have to relinquish control over the lexicon. Enough with the Luntzspeak. Second, who's a good dog in Heaven, free and wild? My day is already better. Thank you.
Your argument that the 80m Biden voters is not attributable to Trump fails the moment you accept that a certain number of the “extra” votes in the blue states were against Trump rather than for Biden. Trump motivated 25 million Americans to the polls. 10 million for him. 15 million against him.
Next the question of how Trump got 74 million votes is a legitimate one. We have an Administration which, blessedly, accomplished very little. What it did accomplish, kids in cages, was disturbing. We have an Administration who’s foreign policy was inconsistent and confusing. Where exactly do we stand with the DPRK? We have a domestic policy leaving a quarter of a million dead while Republican Senators are cleaning up based on classified information.
It seems to me that Biden got 80 million votes because Trump's wretched behavior invigorated people in both red and blue states to vote him out. Eric's argument that voter turnout in red states was relatively small compared to turnout in blue states may undercut the argument that Trump motivated massive pro-Trump turnout in red states, even though turnout was higher than usual everywhere, but it does not undercut the argument that he motivated anti-Trump turnout in blue states. I am all for praising Biden's performance. I like Biden, and I think he deserves media praise. But we must accept that Biden would not be here now without Trump's disgusting performance in office.
It's bad enough that the press remains fixated on him and his swampy cult, but he's asked for popular anonymity by going AWOL since election day. Since then he is not "MIA" as some have reported; that term implies action, as in Missing In Action. It carries a serious if not heroic sub-connotation. Instead he is Absent With Out Leave in fact. He is not performing any presidential function on behalf of the People. His idiotic ravings are not news. They are lies, purely stated over and over agin for his own benefit and no-one else's. It's time to wean us all off of this failed tragedy of a presidential term and move on.
Here's another angle that is being ignored: 154 million people cast votes, a 67% turnout. Seems to me that it is worthy of mention that when voting is made easier (i.e., mail-in ballots) more Americans do their civic duty. Perhaps more coverage of that angle would prompt state legislators to take steps to ensure the process of voting is consistent and simple.
First of all, 80 million Biden voters. Wow. Democrats, we should be loving ourselves a lot more. Second, all I can think of when you regale us with bad journalist stories is that they're just trying to keep their jobs. There is absolutely no reason we need 24/7 news. It's boring. Journalists are trying to stave off layoffs. Joe Biden doing a masterful job doesn't sell. Yet.
Biden got 81,000,000
To to today’s WaPo and you will see this as one of their top articles: “Ivanka Trump’s time in the White House is about to end. Is her political career about to begin?”
That is just one of many articles I have seen about the Trump’s future political ambition. Too bad the media doesn’t bother pointing out that her husband and her brother Don were both referred for criminal investigation by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, not that we are likely to hear anything about that investigation. It is probably filed with the investigation of the NY FBI agents who violated the Hatch Act by trying to sink Hillary’s campaign. They were quite successful.
I have been since 2016 to see an article like Jennifer Rubin’s about Democratic voters. This is how she described those who voted for Biden:
“Most Biden voters have opened their eyes to enduring, pervasive racism. They believe America is a good and decent country, but not faultless. They understand that we are forever in the process of making “a more perfect” nation. They understand that racism does not merely emanate from venom-spouting neo-Nazis but can be embedded in institutions that solidify and perpetuate historic injustice. There is a reason huge gaps between Blacks and Whites persist in wealth, longevity, education, policing and most every facet of American life. They understand that we do not live in a zero-sum world in which addressing these historic inequities means “taking” something from other groups.”
I believe Rubin’s last point is the most important. The Trump/Republican voters that I know all have that zero-sum world view. They are focused on themselves and don’t see that helping everyone thrive benefits all of us.
Too bad the rest of the media can’t be bothered writing the people who vote for Democrats but they too busy trying to feel empathy for Trump voters to bother paying attention to the majority of voters.
The gymnastics required to pull off this act are quite remarkable. They manage to ask "Why did so many people vote for Trump?" without asking "Why did so many people vote for Trump when he did such a completely terrible job as president?" That's a question worth asking, but of course they turned it all into mush. Not because they don't know the answer, but because they DO know the answer and they're afraid of it.
Similarly, I think we actually need MORE analysis of the Trump voter -- actual analysis, not "analysis" that assumes they're decent, patriotic people and ignores all screamingly obvious evidence to the contrary, including Trump supporters' own words. An actual "WTF is the matter with these people?" examination is long overdue.
My fear is the press will continue this infatuation with baby-man Trump even after Biden is inaugurated. There is already talk that Trump plans to hold a rally on Inauguration Day announcing his candidacy. The press will cover it and they will continue to react to his tweets and soundbites because they can't help themselves. The press is the poor parent that has no idea how to handle a child throwing a tantrum. Typically you ignore them until their misdirected anger subsides. And does it matter how Biden received 80 million votes, whether it was a backlash at Trump or he was seen as a great candidate? The fact is Biden did receive more votes than any one US president in history. There was a time when the press reported facts and didn't spend so much time embracing the loser. Imagine your favorite baseball team winning the World Series yet the broadcasters spent all of the post game coverage on how the losing team felt. You would be infuriated.
All I know is that I'm having to turn off the TV earlier and earlier these days. For example, on MSNBC yesterday during one of Chuck Todd's useless hours, Biden was announcing his Economic officials/team, and just after Janet Yellen gave her speech, Chuck cut back to Trumpy Trump Trump!!! How can we expect the MSM media to care about voters like us when they don't even care to air speeches of the honorable patriots who are going to get our economy back on track?
I'd like to know what are these journalists so afraid of? I'm sure when they were dreaming about becoming one they said they would hold folks accountable report the facts, not be afraid, etc...Yet time and time again we see them keep their mouths shut and write puff pieces about a racist while never calling him as such. Like you said Eric, the 80 million votes is historic yet we've heard less than a peep from anyone. Just shameful!!!
The Trump fascination from the press has an element of gawking at a car crash. Sure, they could report that most people made it to work on time, but...
Conflict and drama bring eyeballs. One would think 80M voters decisively throwing out a corrupt and incompetent incumbent would be a good, dramatic story, but no. Returning to normalcy is not a headline.
First, the political media have to relinquish control over the lexicon. Enough with the Luntzspeak. Second, who's a good dog in Heaven, free and wild? My day is already better. Thank you.
Your argument that the 80m Biden voters is not attributable to Trump fails the moment you accept that a certain number of the “extra” votes in the blue states were against Trump rather than for Biden. Trump motivated 25 million Americans to the polls. 10 million for him. 15 million against him.
Next the question of how Trump got 74 million votes is a legitimate one. We have an Administration which, blessedly, accomplished very little. What it did accomplish, kids in cages, was disturbing. We have an Administration who’s foreign policy was inconsistent and confusing. Where exactly do we stand with the DPRK? We have a domestic policy leaving a quarter of a million dead while Republican Senators are cleaning up based on classified information.
Yet Trump got 74m votes.
Why?
It seems to me that Biden got 80 million votes because Trump's wretched behavior invigorated people in both red and blue states to vote him out. Eric's argument that voter turnout in red states was relatively small compared to turnout in blue states may undercut the argument that Trump motivated massive pro-Trump turnout in red states, even though turnout was higher than usual everywhere, but it does not undercut the argument that he motivated anti-Trump turnout in blue states. I am all for praising Biden's performance. I like Biden, and I think he deserves media praise. But we must accept that Biden would not be here now without Trump's disgusting performance in office.