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Thanks Eric.

Joe Biden is simply a good man. Perhaps too moderate for many, including me, but clearly surrounded himself with bright, capable and compassionate people. And now has executed the largest airlift in history.

Reading Press Run allows me to maintain a safe distance from the nonsense. Eric reminds all that the majority of the press is broken, and not worth my time, so I have time and energy to read, watch or listen to the journalists and sources that are working.

Reading the Press Run comments provides a sense of community. Bonus.

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author

Thanks Ed!

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I like that he is a genuinely good person who is willing to learn and evolve, but I also wish he was more progressive.

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Imo Biden has moved farther left than expected, thanks to the influence/pressure from Bernie, et. al. Realistically I doubt he’d be as effective as he’s been so far if he were to go harder left.

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Bernie Sanders wasn't the reason for Biden's "shift" to the left. It was Covid. Just like the Great Depression was the reason for FDR's New Deal!

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My memory is that after Biden won the nomination his D opponents eg Bernie, Amy et al immediately closed ranks and coalesced around him. Biden’s a team builder and he brought all sides together to develop policies for the election. Elizabeth Warren played a big role and/or her surrogates, eg. The arrival of Covid overlapped with these policy decisions and, as you say, like FDR the conditions presented themselves when the pandemic hit.

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I feel like Covid was the main driver, but he's got people in Congress influencing how to address it.

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I agree and I'll give him some credit and saying that he's probably kind of doing some of this "deceptively", meaning he's presenting a moderate face but then when the policy is announced it's more progressive than anyone expected.

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This

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Though I, in fairness, must point out Tuesday’s NYT column by David Leonhardt showing that none of President Biden’s critics have any plan to do the evacuation better.

It’s the old criticism of opposing something without offering an alternative.

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author

correct. Press gets a free pass: Biden’s plan is awful in part bc there is no other plan

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Republicans anybody?

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What I want to know is where these reporters are sourcing their information. What it looks to me like, is that they're reading each other and scanning google, and then saying what everybody else is saying. In other words, lazy, substandard effort for a paycheck, with a very few searching for the truth. Thanks for keepin' their feet in the fire Mr. B.

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I don’t think there’s any sourcing. It’s all lies for a purpose unknown other than to prove they’re not the liberal media. Now instead it’s the useless media

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If I hear one of these stenographers mention "sources say" one more time...

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Exactly. Cite the source or stfu

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‘Doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different outcome = insanity’ as the saying goes, but this time it’s cnn, others recreating and spewing this monster of disinformation over and over and over again; this time we are the ones going crazy by the folks who are supposed to deliver the news accurately, knowledgeably, keeping us informed. They sure have lost their way. Eric, you are a gem. I’d have long ago gone over the edge if it were not for you, PressRun folks.

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author

Hang in there!

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My family appreciates that you have given people like me a place to rant so they don’t have to listen to it as much. Not that they disagree but….. 🙂

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Ps. Optics = shallow reporting 1/2 inch deep, a mile + wide, minus context, facts, hard work, sourcing. They’ve lost all credibility with this nonsense. Enraging. In this case, pictures being worth a 1000 words, are not worth much at all. Grrrrr.

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I have emailed CNN to tell them exactly what I think of their clickbait Afghanistan coverage. Did you know we are all turning on Biden? Me neither. Did you know all hope for his agenda is lost? Nope? I didn’t either. Sending an email to them doesn’t amount to much I know but it’s all I’ve got right now. I suggest everyone here take a few seconds and tell them (and any other MSM) what we think of their totally slanted bullcrap “news.” It sure made me feel better.

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This CNN headline was in my inbox this morning, courtesy of Google News: Terror threat looms as Afghanistan evacuation enters final phase

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author

Right? so perfect…in a sad way

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Perfectly shameful!

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Ditto

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I read a report that the crooked president of Afghanistan asked that Americans and Afghan citizens who had assisted the US not be allowed to leave months ago because such an exodus would make his government look weak and hasten the arrival of the Taliban. This is the same clown who allegedly ordered the Afghan Military/cops to stand down (and regularlyfailed to pay them). Professional journalists would be screaming from the rooftops about that, but here in Bizarro World...it's all Biden's fault. <sigh>

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NYMag:

“If you want to understand the strange difficulty that Joe Biden’s sane, competent administration has in yielding measurably higher approval than Trump’s insane, incompetent presidency, the asymmetrical relationship between the two parties and their respective media environments is the most important place to start.”

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author

Excellent NY mag piece

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Sadly now that there has been an explosion outside the airport, the media is already acting like wild dogs that have just been thrown a fresh steak. The "Sky is Falling" narrative gets new life. Hopefully injuries are limited but in a highly successful evacuation effort of this magnitude, there was bound to be a bump in the road. Unfortunately the DC press will do everything to pin the attack all on Biden as they fail to mention that Trump created this mess dealing with the Taliban and completely ignoring the Afghanistan government. It was a setup by the Trump admin to sabotage Biden, likely orchestrated by Stephen Miller. There is so much truth and story to tell, far more interesting than the current narrative if only the press was interested.

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Eric thanks again for calling out these "journalists." I think it's time for the Dems to start pushing back harder and forget about this bipartisanship because it's clear the GOP DOES NOT CARE. If the shoe were on the other foot and Dems were acting this way OMG heads would roll.

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A factoid to maybe keep in mind: a strong sign that maybe people should have started thinking about leaving was given when Donnie committed to leaving Afghanistan in May 2020. ~15 months notice ignored I guess is Biden’s fault apparently.

But the shriveling news audiences and ever shrinking trust is on the mainstream media. Too, the right is correct that the mainstream’s awful. The problem is that their reasons and examples are pretty much all wrong.

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I fear that the media is empowering our enemies.

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And many, if not most, of the most dangerous enemies of our democracy right live right her in the good ol’ US of A.

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This is a superb analysis Eric, and thank you very much.

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founding

Great Article! Thank You!

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author

👍🏻

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Yep

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The press obsession with how bad things are in Afghanistan now is just the usual feeding frenzy - all of the things that contributed to what's happening now were taking place over the last two years when they stopped paying attention. They're making up for lost time because now they have actual bleeding to lead with... Without what's happening in Kabul, we'd be seeing more stories about Britney Spears struggle to reclaim control of her life...

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Just waiting for Peter Doofy from 19th Century Fox to get smacked down again by Jen...

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The DC Press Corpse becomes more irrelevant with each passing day.

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