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I'm afraid, no, terrified, that the press seems to be handing trump the unprecedented gift of a three-year campaign to regain the presidency....at no cost to him. Not a day goes by without pictures of his orange mug, articles about "what he said" (read, the lies, insults, outrageous blatherings and useless commentary he spews constantly) adorning nearly every paper, magazine and media outlet, and it has been thus since 2015, nonstop. With the help of a responsible press, he needs to get out of our faces and STFU. Bad enough that fox-entertainment company is selling his crap, but the MSM is literally playing with fire in its' attempts (if they're actually trying) at unbiased reporting. G.W.Bush had it right, and so did Good Ole Joe.

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agreed, this is all playing out according to GOP script: block Biden's attempt to eradicate covid, watch the press blame Biden, and then score political victory

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Yes. The Kevin Drum article magnifies it. Fox business plan is evil.

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It’s not just Fox. The mainstream “liberal” media is desperate to find ways to proclaim that Biden’s presidency is doomed. Now that the Afghanistan story is dying down they are claiming that people are blaming Biden for Covid.

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No, people are blaming Biden for his incompetence as a president. It is everywhere, even across the world in Australia.

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Says who?

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However ‘chaotic’ as the descriptor and the word ‘evacuation’ are forever paired by the msm as if they were one word, not two, etched in stone.

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Are you finally discovering the dishonesty of the media?

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Fox included!!!!

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The WaPo has and article up with the headline “Democrats wanted Trump Gone. Now they want him on the ballot.” You can bet the authors spoke to a handful of Dems who told them that and they are generalizing it to Democrats as a whole. The truth is that its the media who want Trump to run. Just think of all that excitement!

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“Uncomfortable with reporting on a conservative movement that has lost touch with reality.” Is it just that they are uncomfortable or are they in denial? I honestly don’t know if they truly understand the threats we are facing. It doesn’t seem they bother to read or pay attention to actual events because they are so busy “covering (and making) the news.” The media loves to chide liberals for being in a bubble—and giving the GOP/GQP a pass—but no one lives in a bigger bubble than the Beltway media.

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i go back and forth on the same Q. yet it seems impossible for people who follow the news biz like they do to not understand the larger ramifications

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It’s even scarier if they do understand, then it’s diabolical. If they don’t, they’re enablers. Neither is reassuring.

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I mostly attribute it to willful ignorance because so many of these people know and socialize with the monsters they are covering. They meet them at parties, etc so “they can’t possibly mean the things they say.” They don’t know they kind of people—the MAGA faithful— the rest of us unwashed live among every day.

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I agree that being too close to the people they cover is a big reason mainstream reporters go easy on people who are ruining our democracy. I will never forget Sally Quinn’s crowd defending Ken Starr because he was one of them but gleefully trashing both Clintons because they were outsiders.

I think another problem is that reporters will protect their sources even when those sources have been lying to them or using them. I think that is the reason that the media has completely ignored the fact that Trump-loving agents in the NY FBI office repeatedly leaked information to damage Hillary and help Trump. The media has also ignored the fact that those agents’ leaks have been investigated by the DOJ’s IG. The NY office is notorious for leaking to the press which is a blatant violation of DOJ and FBI rules. I believe journalists refuse to report on that story because they would rather protect their sources than our democracy. I understand the need to protect sources who are dealing with them in good faith but that was not the case here.

I recently read that a journalist refused to come forward during the Clarence Thomas hearings to reveal that Thomas had said inappropriate sexual things to her because Thomas had been a valuable source for her. She protected him even though this had nothing to do with things he had told her as a confidential source. Being a source seems to confer blanket confidentiality.

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I think that’s it. No appropriate distance from the subjects of their reporting so there’s a corrosion underpinning whatever/whomever they’re ‘reporting’ on. Bubble Land for sure. Not to mention too cozy by half.

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They do not care even if it affects them personally. Remember how Trump has his minions jeer, boo and threaten the press and those spineless stenographers did nothing in response to that abuse. That's why I call them out for being totally useless.

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The Beltway Propataiment Complex prefers a President who stated he would have dated Ivanaka if she weren't his daughter. I don't have the energy to ponder all of the ramifications of their preference.

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They may have had second thoughts about their coverage of trump for a few moments forca moment or two, but I don't believe they've ever taken responsibility for the actions.

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The Press Corpse NEVER took responsibility for slandering Al Gore and lying us into war with Iraq.

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The 9-11 coverage this past week drove me crazy because it completely ignored the fact that Bush and Cheney lied about WMD. I watched a discussion on MSNBC about all the information that our government had that the 1-6 rally could be violent and how that info was ignored by the Capitol Police and others. They then moved on to a discussion of 9-11 with Elizabeth Bumiller of the NY Times. No one mentioned that the Bushies ignored many warnings that Bin Laden was going to attack us. Then Bumiller summed things up by saying that in some ways we are worse off after what happened on 9-11 but we are definitely safer. After all we haven’t had a terrorist attack in this country since them. I wonder what she thinks happened on January 6. Our own government defines terrorism as “ the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”. January 6th fits that definition to a “t” as do other attacks by domestic terrorists since 9-11. Guess it doesn’t count if they aren’t foreigners.

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Yep. Clinton warned him in the limo ride to the inauguration. W’s people scoffed and said Russia was the threat and were all in on ramping up Star Wars defense.

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The multiple warnings that Bush and Co. received from the spring on from the CIA were kept classified for several years. When they were declassified most of the media buried the story. Here is a vivid account of the dire warning Condi was given on July 10, published in Politico — the EU edition:

https://www.politico.eu/article/attacks-will-be-spectacular-cia-war-on-terror-bush-bin-laden/

Here is one of the few articles published in a US publication:

https://www.businessinsider.com/new-report-shows-how-many-warnings-about-bin-laden-were-ignored-by-the-bush-white-house-2012-9

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Maudlin and gooey was the theme of the day.

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The term "bad faith actors" says it all. Fox News and Republican nihilists (and hypocrites) bang the drum about freedom, knowing death and illness will be the likely result, after deciding that the political points to be scored are worth it. The MSM aids and abets by blaming Joe Biden. Lather-rinse-repeat.

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"nihilst" really nails it....a phrase Beltway reporters would never use in a million yrs to describe today's GOP

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I like the term “death cult”.

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And the Democrats are so very wonderful? I see every sniveling leftist on here condemning the right wing stupids and they are just as stupid.

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Kevin Drum has been warning for some time about the pernicious effect of Fox News. He has a long article at Mother Jones examining a number of possible reasons why America is so divided. He concludes we have to look at Fox News as the elephant in the room.

It’s a sobering article.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/07/american-anger-polarization-fox-news/

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oh interesting, thanks for sharing

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What Fox is doing is terrifying but I am even more appalled by how the mainstream media is aiding and abetting them. As Steve Bannon said it’s the mainstream media that does the real damage to Democrats. Right wing media just keeps the base “energized” and that base is shrinking. The mainstream media portraying Biden as floundering, weak, doomed (I have seen that term several times recently) and by constantly focused on crises but ignoring what is working they are seriously damaging him.

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Yes. I have felt this since the 90's. And I hate to agree with Steve Bannon but he is absolutely right.

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What a great article! Thx, xaxnar. What I took away from it, other than FOX being nailed as the main culprit for the rage of the Rs, is that the propaganda they spew on Fox now finds its way into the msm, thus our news is seeded by Fox and msm runs w/it, eg ‘critical racism.’ Now that REALLY is scary.

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Seriously, is Biden just to boring for the American mainstream media to cover?

I'm sure those asshats at the mainstream media know he's a capable and competent leader who will occasionally stumble on his well-intentioned plan to alleviate the pressing issues of the United States of America.

However, in order to appear "unbiased" to their critics in the right-wing media, they need to put him in a negative light to appear "fair & balanced" while ignoring the lies and propaganda being put out by Fox, Newsmax, O.A.N.N.,etc, etc. which is brainwashing the G.O.P's idiotic, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, and racist base.

As a non-American, it's frustrating to see how the American mainstream media doesn't want to their part in creating a fact-based and data-driven narrative that would keep Americans well-informed on the pressing issues.

Instead, they feel the need to take a good leader down a peg because he's not as exciting to confront compared to the pathological liar and asshole that nearly destroyed America in just four years, and is still trying until now.

Also, Brian Stelter should resign from CNN since his employers are enabling dishonest reporting.

Also, I want to kick Jake Tapper in the nuts for editorializing Biden's speech.

Never thought he would turn into a pompous & self-important jackass.

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God bless David Rothkopf. Read This: "Forget About Biden’s ‘Cruel Summer’—He’s Doing Big Things"

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In DailyBeast.

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Tapper is correct. It’s wrong to blame Trump voters. Correct is Republican voters and the unfit people they elect.

The press that ignores Fox’s BS is complicit with Fox which is to say as bad as Fox.

What the mainstream also chooses not to report: Republicans are responsible for conservatively over 400,000 avoidable deaths and who knows how many long Covid cases.

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Why or when the media decided that democrats are the enemy and only republicans have valid opinions is the question I have. And how is it sustainable ? I’ve cancelled my decades long NYT subscription and I’m beginning week 5 of no TV news programming. No CNN and no MSNBC. At some point low ratings have to draw the attention of sponsors and advertising. What then? How many people will have died because the media normalized stupidity and wanton disregard for science. We used to care about each other, I mourn that loss

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Incredibly, the Washington Post recently cited as a "political win" for the GOP the fact that "Republican governors in several states have also had success in undermining Biden’s efforts to require masks for schoolchildren and others in an effort to limit Covid-19 spread."

So in essence WaPoo was cheering the death of children because the GOP were "successful" in stopping measures to halt the spread of Covid. I really don't know how else to interpret the story. Am I missing something?

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I live in the southeast My city and county has a strong mask mandate for all public spaces. The government even updated it so that private schools can’t evade it. The very wealthy county next to mine not only has refused to institute a mask mandate even for schools, they just dropped the requirement that kids with Covid quarantine. We have friends with kids in that county and they are livid — and terrified. Everywhere I go in this county people are wearing masks but just three miles south of here the number of mask wearers is much lower.

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It's just insane. In my neck of the woods Cincinnati Public schools is the first school district in Ohio to mandate vaccinations for staff.

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The question is why does the press continue to play warm and fuzzy with the Republicans? What's in it for them to not disclose what's really going on here, how the Republicans are playing politics with the lives of the very people that vote for them? It's mind boggling, especially when 60 to 70 percent of the country agree with Biden's actions. The only logical explanation is that much of the MSM is part of the coup. Everything else fails the logic test.

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The Liberally Biased Mainstream Media™ want disorder and chaos because it moves the needle for them profit wise!

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Glad to see at least one person on here has their eyes open. The rest are brainwashed leftists. They whine about the right wing and are just as clueless.

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That's a factor but I think they also swoon over the GQP's polished black jack bootsing.

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Tapper has been consistent in his position that , "Trump voters are being lied to about [X] by far-right players, it’s the liars who are to blame — who are the “villains” — not the millions of people who willingly embrace the falsehoods,” no matter what the [X] is: the Big Lie, the Insurrection, the Pandemic.

So I give him some credit: he understand the cause/effect, and he even has sympathy for the victims. So why doesn’t he go after Fox News, etc?

I blame professional courtesy and the insular nature of the Political Press. He isn’t going to go hammer and tongs against his peers. They see each other at social events, it just isn’t done in his set.

Access journalism is access to each other, too. And besides, he might end up working with them at some point.

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Tapper was one of the WH press corps members who loudly objected when Obama officials simply moved Fox News' seat out of the front row at the daily pressers. The WHCA didn't mind Spicer, Sanders, and McEnany lying to them everyday, but dissing Fox was simply intolerable.

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Check out the NPR investigation today about HUD selling houses in flood zones. The investigation covers the years 2017-2020 yet not once in the story do they say Trump administration, nor do they have any mention if this has been a standard HUD practice and how it compared to previous admins. How could an editor not catch this? The piece does have a few quotes from the current HUD spokesperson and mention that combatting climate change is a priority of the Biden Admin. etc. A worthwhile story that they muddy.

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NPR = Nothing but Propaganda for Republicans.

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Their editor is not paid to report it.

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Another trick is to emphasize other reasons why people are reluctant to COVID vaccination. An example is a piece, front page, in the Washington Post today (Fetters and DeVynck) that treats the reluctance as an instance of extreme wellness enthusiasm. Extreme Trump or Fox News worship is, of course, not mentioned.

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yes, press loves coming up with reasons for "vaccine hesitancy," while ignoring the most obvious and dangerous one

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I didn't realize until recently that of so many of the disinformation dozen, including many of the FIX news people are pushing miracle cures, supplements and vitamins. It's truly crazy. And of course you just look at the and they are obviously not eating or sleeping well.

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But they are getting richer off the rubes who listen to them.

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Funny how the pushback from a cult is stronger than any journalism mission statement. Catewampus times these are.

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A recent exchange with a couple of New York Times majordomos reminded me anew of the staggering stupidity, laziness, and worthlessness of 99% of the political media. This wonderful article is a more general reminder.

It comes back to this: The New York Times may drive a lot of the media narrative, but Fux Noise actually drives it more, because it drives both the left and the right. And the real problem is that people treat Fux Noise as if it is a journalistic organization. When Chris Wallace remembers his father's pugnacity, it is; when he remembers his father liked Nixon and was a rampaging misogynist, it isn't. Otherwise, it is as if there's a room full of world leaders, and they are all competing to sit at Hitler's table.

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I look at this list of victims brainwashed by Fox News and it makes me angry. Very Angry. Makes me want to see Rupert Murdoch and his family arrested and brought before the World COurt on a charge of genocide!

https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com

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