38 Comments

Turn back the clock to the late 80s/early 90s, and recall the media (and GOP) reaction to David Duke spewing his neo-Nazi BS. Duke was disowned by the GOP and mostly ignored by the national media, and was never mentioned without reference to his KKK roots. Greene is a dumber version of Duke, and she doesn't even try to disguise her quest for attention and campaign cash. That today's media is flummoxed by a carnival barker says more about the media than it does about Greene.

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flummoxed, indeed

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And recall the lack of media outrage about the multiple Republican investigations of the vile, vicious lie that the Clintons had murdered their close friend Vince Foster. That was insane even by today’s standards but the media preferred to pretend it wasn’t happening. They still pretend it didn’t happen.

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Gaetz , cruz, boebert, greene, cotton, gosar, and prolly more than a few more are nothing but social media trolls who pretend to be elected officials. Welcome to today's GOP.

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good pt; it's a whole new generation of trolls and press still treats them as "members of Congress." i.e. gives them respect they don't deserve

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What policies they do have are horrible too. Tax cuts for the most well off, irresponsible buisness deregulation, RW judges many who aren't all that qualified etc.

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Once again, this is why I subscribe to Press Run. If enough people in the DC media bubble read your newsletter, maybe the industry will overcome its infatuation with political power and the resulting asymmetric politeness.

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thansk Tom!

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How about doing both; minimize her exposure (+ therefore opportunities for fundraising) while using the sharp, honest language Eric outlines when reporting on her? After all she is the smallest and ugliest of people who is operating in a governmental position way beyond her abilities and doing so within a big, overeager press environment; she’s using the press to her advantage. She doesn’t belong in Congress and the press must make that clear every time her name is mentioned. Charlie is spot on, says more about the media’s flailing about than MTG.

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For the record, the "gold" stars worn by Jews in Nazi occupied Europe were actually YELLOW stars. Gold stars are what your receive when your school homework is good, therefore have a positive connotation.

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she is, indeed, wrong abt everythign

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Should the press ignore Greene? I don't think so. In fact, the press should do more to show how unhinged she is and to tie together her behavior with the entire Republican Party who more importantly are attempting to usurp democracy. The number one issue the press should be focusing on is the Republican's deliberate attempt to suppress votes so they can gain power. The bogus recount that is going on in Arizona and likely to happen soon in states like Michigan and Georgia needs to be pounded by the press daily. Even with Trump gone and with the Congress in the control of Democrats, our nation sits on the brink of fascism. Green is simply a small piece of this Republican nightmare. So yes, Greene can't be ignored. She must be reported on accurately with the correct language but so must the entire party. If the press continues to not view the Republicans as a clear and present danger to our democracy, we are finished as a free country.

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I'm with you the press has letdown the American people by not using the correct language. Call a liar what he truly is, the same thing with green she is a racist stalker who is dumber than dirt. Sorry dirt. It's time for the press and networks to call out the repugs for what they are in plain speak. If a liar call them that, if racist call them that, if about money tell us about their money hungry garb. It's time the press stop worrying about what the repugs will say and do. It's time they worry about democracy and justice for the American people.

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Greene ought to thank CBS for calling her a firebrand. It is no longer the uncomplimentary dictionary definition, it quite some time ago came to mean a go-getter. Very many people in the media aren't literate.

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Nor historically aware.

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Except for a handful of reporters who were in the Capitol on 1/6 and profoundly affected by the event, I don’t believe the Beltway press know or understand the threat the Trump party truly poses to the nation and our democracy. They treat GOP “lawmakers” with kid gloves, echo the GOP viewpoint and talking points, and continue to seek out their commentary in stories and invite them (often exclusively) on the useless Sunday shows. Not only that they are consciously or unconsciously shaping a negative view of Biden and his administration, positioning every story as “the sky is falling.” And if the GOP succeeds in taking back Congress, the media will cover their authoritarian moves as “strong leadership.” Luckily many people do see through today’s reporting. But it isn’t enough and unless something changes with coverage, the unthinkable will become the inevitable.

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I have no doubt about that at all. Either the press is afraid to properly cover these nutbags in the GOP, or their "handlers" won't let them for fear of backlash. If they were true to journalism, they would welcome backlash and honesty versus what they put out as news coverage. I just can't read the MSM reports. It is not believable in part or it isn't worth the ink to print it. I started reading the newspaper in 2nd grade. Everyday I would look it over and read what I thought was interesting. I can't see any intelligent kid finding anything worth reading these days. Truth in media is dying a slow death for many in the business

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You're absolutely right.

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Our Failed Political Press’s ™ coverage of Rep. 3-Names is the same problem as the coverage of Trump during his entire public office. In 2016 Trump won the nomination of the GOP with more primary votes than any candidate in Republican history. He was not some aberration, he reflects the party itself (and still does). Greene is much the same.

The coverage should not be that one member makes offensive anti-semitic/racial/homophobic/transphobic remarks, the story is that the GOP does not censure her, and therefore are A-OK with it.

The Big Story is that one of our two political parties has gone completely bug-fucking crazy. It is the story of the century and our media isn’t covering it because then they would have to admit that the pundit press been wrong since at least the Reagan era. You see, Both Sides don’t. It’s that simple.

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"Or does her toxic awfulness represent an important part of today’s politics?"

Yes, the media must cover every last outrageous word Greene says, over and over and over. Americans MUST see how awful she is, and MUST be told that the GOP allows this. Over and over and over until she looks like a fool. Being awful is not enough; she must be made to look like a fool. Nothing is so politically damaging as to look like a fool. Then, finally, the public will see her for what she is and will tire of her awfulness. At the same time, the media must do everything that Eric suggests, and I would also suggest reminding the public over and over what a bully she is (and call her a bully), and show her refusing to go through the metal detector at the doorway to the House. The public must see that she is what Eric called her: a public menace.

The New York Times described her in terms that her supporters love about her: “a “combative style,” known for “increasingly brazen behavior”. The media is largely illiterates copying illiterates.

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Not just today's politics, today's humans and their thought process and behavior. Almost animal like. We are going backwards.

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I also want the media to repeatedly point out that Republicans do not believe in democracy and are actively dismantling ours. I have been heartened to see that happen more and more but it should always be the main point. These people are theocrats, plutocrats or in many cases both not small “d” democrats

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Marjorie Trailertrash Greene is so undeserving of any mention, whatsoever...but here we are, too, having to do so for our own sanity.

She lucked out when Tя☭mp was silenced by social media. Now msm has sadly latched onto her, instead, for their pathetic titillating broadcasts.

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She has morphed in to and benefited since becoming Gaetz' opening act .

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Shorter AP on firing that reporter: “We regret that we didn’t handle it so nobody noticed it happening.”

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First, I continually wonder why it's necessary to cover Greene in the first place. That notwithstanding, sure, honest journalism can be had with a minimal of fact- and reality-based context. As I've noted and WITF has demonstrated a sentence is enough.

As for the CBS Evening News, suffice to say Norah O'Donnell has old Walt spinning furiously in the grave.

As for the Wilder affair: The AP can say whatever it wants; they caved. The tweet that's believed to have gotten her fired was an opinion of how (again) reportage can be honest. If that's wrong to post, AP has a real problem. If the problem was essentially opinions held while an undergrad, that too is (or should be) BS.

They caved to make Greene's fellow travelers (to coin a phrase) happy.

And while the media have some fear of GOP backlash, there's also been a lot of proactive reaching out as were to the GOP -- support. A lot of the fawning coverage of Reagan had nothing to do with fear of any backlash. And a reminder: The term of liberal media is a far right creation. Which is to say, as is their frequent practice, a perversion of language and reality. Like they pervert pro-life (the GOP is maybe pro-birth but anti-life big time) or patriot.

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Let's not forget O'Donnell's interview with Kamala, and O'Donnell's question about the VP bringing "a socialist agenda..." (the VP laughed at the question).

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Sometimes, media people appear dumb as a brick as a means to pander to their audience. And sometimes, they’re just really stupid. O’Donnell, I have no doubt, is really, really stupid. And the portentous voice she has while necessary to be some of star, makes her seem even more stupid when she says anything.

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$6 mil per year. Amazing

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The GOP is even pro-birth. They're simply anti-abortion.

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Orwellian

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Corporate media still is loathe to call them "lies." Just this past week they seemed to finally call them falsehoods or false claims. They're still pussyfooting.

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First, on Representative Space Laser (and by the way, I always think of the butcher in Fiddler on the Roof, Lazar Wolf): Another press critic (though not my favorite--that's Mr. Boehlert) used the term "truth sandwich" for how to write stories: "Continuing to lie about his background, republicans again raised questions about whether Barack Obama was born in the U.S.," etc. That is how to do it.

Now, on Emily Wilder. IF she told her bosses she had never been politically active, then she should be fired. But I am only 99.999999999% certain that never came up or that she was honest about it, and frankly college students SHOULD be politically active. So, AP is reminding us anew that it isn't just that the republic party and its fellow believers in the Fourth Reich work the refs, but, rather, that supposedly legitimate news-gathering organizations like AP let the far right dictate the narrative.

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