40 Comments

I remember that interview between Wolf Blitzer and Nancy Pelosi. Nancy basically ripped him a new one after he made that outrageous claim. She told him the House had passed a bill back in May (2020) which by then months had passed as Wolf stood there stammering like Ralph Kramden. I'm sure the press will soon be touting how the Dems passing through relief that 83 percent of America favors will ring the death knell for them in the midterm elections. Republicans and the DC press have become so predictable. After four years of Trump and coming within an inch of losing our democracy you would think the press would get a clue and change. I guess not.

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All everyone has to remember is one simple thing now. Today’s republicans stand for WTF = white supremicist, terrorism & fascism. Democrats stand for all other things.

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Yes Eric! I immediately thought of Press Run as the DC press and NYT rolled out these stories. For example, "Congress passes Covid relief." No, Democrats passed the relief bill with ZERO R support. In fact President Biden and WH staff had to wrestle one of their own to the floor.

I have been turning to Jen Psaki for some hope recently. She gets it. "Bipartisan" doesn't mean both sides of Congress. Bipartisan means voters from both parties. And if Psaki gets it, I am hopeful the whole administration gets it.

Let the chatterers chatter. Head down, do the work, reap the benefits.

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Underlying today’s post is one of the things I keep ranting about: On important matters, the establishment press doesn’t inform but only gives the appearance of informing, leaving the audience less informed than had they ignored the reporting. The irony is that the term fake news would be useful except Trump trumped (to coin a phrase) the phrase by using when the press factually criticized him.

And then there’s another of my rants: the same establishment press— not just Fox — actively propagandizes for the GOP. Their leader is literally a killer: not reported. GOP policies and positions have been harmful for the overwhelming majority of the nation’s people: never reported. Honest reporting on the economy: never.

And here we are.

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Gail Collins and Brett Stephens had their weekly comedy duo act at The NY Times today. They both seemed thrilled at idea of Cuomo being replaced by a Republican because “government works better when it’s split between the two parties.” Stephens was also aroused by the idea of a female Governor hitting on male staff members...

Clueless and oblivious - that’s the mainstream media.

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I vividly recall Chuck Grassley making change after change to the ACA, getting the Dems to agree to those changes, and then voting against the bill HE amended, and whining to the press that the Republicans had been shut out of the legislative process. The hypocrisy would be breathtaking if it weren't so common. I'm not sure which is worse: that the media remains blind to it, or simply refuses to see and report it.

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The Beltway Propatainers are in mourning, along with their Rethug heroes Rand Paul and Pick Any Republican. Every time a starving child is fed and a poor sick child is healed Rand and Chuck Todd pull a wing off of an angel.

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Beside's Alterman's blogging and magazine writing, his Sound & Fury, on the Washington DC political punditry brothel, is must reading.

I've noticed that Pope Francis doesn't seem to think papal infallibility is a thing. That just leaves journalistic infallibility, even including the wonderful Marty Baron.

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For me, the moment that will always define Chuck Todd is when he had the privilege of asking the very first question of newly inaugurated Barack Obama at Obama's first White House press conference, and the question he chose to ask was "If Democrats pass a healthcare bill with no Republican votes, will you veto it in the interests of bipartisanship?”

This is always the position of our failed political press, who seem to be the only people who care about bipartisanship. No one, absolutely no one recalls the vote totals on any bill.

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I've been saying for years that when Democrats gain power, the media demands that they "pivot to the center," "reach across the aisle," and "seek bipartisan solutions." When Republicans gain power, the media shrugs and says that they can do what they want because they won. This is why Joe and Chuck get no credit for pushing this through but it's okay for Mitch to make his entire caucus work in lockstep attempting to block progress.

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How does the public get to express outrage to these hacks? It’s just infuriated that these rags can print GOP propaganda!

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Yesterday's front page at Washpo had the triumph for Dems story right after the failure for Dems story on the same topic: passage in the Senate. Makes you wonder if two editors were scrambling for one job.

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“Square One” was exactly the song I needed to hear to start my day today. Thanks for this. Getting back to my roots and giving it my best shot feels like a bittersweet victory indeed.

It also feels like Joe Biden and reminds me of what we as a country are experiencing at this moment, starting over, beginning to find peace, or at least “normal,” getting our feet back under us and working to make things right. Excellent song choice.

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I’m so frustrated by this. What can we do? I share Pressrun with everyone but it’s David vs Goliath.

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As usual Eric, you totally nailed it with this one.

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I've gone around and around in my own head about the persistence of Bothsidesism and the cult of bipartisanship, and then one day in despair I pulled out Occam's Razor and started swinging. Todd and Blitzer and the NYT editorial page trolls are all wealthy (mostly white) conservatives whose personal material interests align with the GOP; keep income taxes low, my investments safe and domestic help cheap and plentiful. These folks in turn work for big media companies whose material interests as corporate entities demand deregulation, union-busting and impunity for the Wall St. casino. And even though I enjoyed the job Pelosi did on Wolf, it's worth noting that she and and a big part of the Dem leadership elite are members of the 1% and materially benefit from the GOP policies they decry in public....

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