52 Comments

Beltway media is losing the high ground to, of all things, twitter. This week twitter posts have continuously focused on what perhaps may be the real reason for Manchin’s dislike of Neera. Manchin’s daughter earned a lot of money representing the pharmaceutical company responsible for producing and increasing the price of the EpiPen by almost 500%. People died because they could no longer afford this life saving tool. But she made money for herself and the company. Neera tweeted about it, something I’m sure Manchin would have preferred be kept quiet.

Expand full comment

OHHHH. I didn't see that one. wow

Expand full comment

Wow. Who knew? Neera is a brash, smart, experienced and exceedingly qualified person for the omb job. What are they - ie media, politicians - afraid of? Having their feelings hurt? Being one upped by a strong woman? Come on.

Now it all makes sense vis a vis Manchen. Disappointed. He eminates an ‘aw shucks’ fairness, doing right by his constituency. Hey, media, get your acts together and free yourselves of your own biases. That change will make for better, more interesting and accurate reporting.

Expand full comment

Yup. Munchkin's gotta go.

Expand full comment

Oops. Manchin.

Expand full comment

Right? That's how Big Media crafts the narrative.

Expand full comment

Fathers and daughters. I believe this is the main reason for his opposition. And when you represent 1.8 million of the 330 million in the US, why not?

Expand full comment

This is always the case with the Beltway press. Systematic internalized sexism isn't going away. No one remembers exactly what the press said about Clinton as all they really covered was Trump. But her emails...but Bengahzi...But look DT is talking about Megan Kelley and grabbing women. Look, he's kissing his daughter. BUT Hillary lost because she didn't go to Wisconsin. On behalf of all women, take a seat. As a grassroots journalist, I have been there. The infighting that goes on between female journalists as we all try to get a seat at the big table. Sexism isn't dead, it isn't even hiding. And Neera Tandem is another victim of an unwillingness to discuss this topic on the part of everyone. Thanks for addressing it.

Expand full comment
author

agreed. so little seems to change. and press turns blind eye

Expand full comment

Correction: Tanden

Expand full comment

Maybe it's time women stop trying for a seat at the big table and do their thing. It's time all women stand up for each other no matter their color that's how they keep the status quo. Making us fight each other

Expand full comment

I rolled my eyes in disgust when my milquetoast senator, Rob Portman, clutched his pearls while bemoaning Tanden's "highly partisan" tweets. This from the guy who turned a blind eye to Trump's vitriol for 5 years, and gave his blessing to Trump extorting foreign leaders and inciting a riot. Hypocrisy is too weak a word for today's GOP. And the NYT claiming Hillary was uniquely flawed is also a laugh, seeing it was 25+ years of slander from the NYT (especially Maureen Dowd) that was the source of the "flaw." In is closing statement, the Whitewater prosecutor told the jury that Bill and Hillary Clinton were VICTIMS of Jim McDougal. The NYT reporter "forgot" to mention that in his report the next day, and the NYT continued to flog its Whitewater fable.

Expand full comment

While everything you've written is spot on accurate, to me, the real sad story is that Democrats can never get a break. After four years of utter destruction by the Republican Party led by Trump, that ultimately led to an insurrection at the US Capitol, Dems are still hindered in what they want to do. Just one more Democratic Senator, one more flipped Senate seat and the Neera Tanden story is moot. But we just couldn't get to 51. Incompetents like Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham got re-elected and the only way we won the majority was due to two runoffs in Georgia that ended miraculously. But that win only gave us a 50-50 Senate. And then there's Joe Manchin, a man for all practical purpose should be a Republican. And here we sit, Joe Manchin can't get himself to vote for Tanden because of some rough tweets while he supported Trump cabinet picks who were on their best day questionable citizens. By all counts, the Biden Administration is putting together an all star cabinet. But somehow Tanden is a bad pick. There is no question that the press holds women and especially women of color to a much higher standard. But so is the entire Democratic Party. Just watching the daily White House briefing with Jen Psaki, now only covered by MSNBC in real time, proves that.

Expand full comment

I spit out my coffee with the Clinton double standard comment. I truly believe that if "you go low, I stay high" Michelle Obama or Mother Teresa were nominated for an appropriate position that the QRP's would sink them, and they'd maneuver some way, like milktoast/misogynist Manchin and Sinema to block, block and block some more any efforts by Democrats. QRP's are on a mission and in lockstep with media to sink Democracy, cause as much chaos as possible and save the "Republic" for their next 7 generations of white, so-called Christian, pro-life (LAUGH OUT LOUD), glock carrying future 'klans'. I'm so disgusted with the treatment of Neera Tanden. DISGUSTED! Since QRP's count on the fact that their followers have short memories go to the Google machine and look up "mean tweets" by more than DJT. The idea that suddenly Collins, Manchin, and others will sink Tanden is despicable considering their support for Kavanaugh, Grenell, Sessions and their unwillingness to comment on DJT's destruction of our society for 4 years.

Expand full comment
author

re: Clinton double standard, it's clear NYT has decided institutionally that it will never address honestly/apologize for its coverage.

Expand full comment

Yeah, what is with that? Why does the NYT hate the Clintons so much? What did the Clintons ever do to them? They seem irrationally obsessed.

Expand full comment

Esquire did an article years ago detailing how Howell Raines' personal pique at being over-shadowed as "the brilliant boy from Arkansas" turned into institutional targeting of the Clintons' every flaw in the NYT's pages. It quickly became a habit. Read Hunter Thompson's "Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail," too, for the history of the NYT's constant truckling to Republican/corporate power in Washington.

Expand full comment

Yes, a few people there failed to lick the nasty, screeching, corrupt, hypocritical old harridan's pumps. But not you, Eric! Is Hillary a good tipper? LOL

Expand full comment

This. All of this. 👆

Expand full comment

Um Susan? There weren't enough buzzwords in your post, and not nearly enough hysteria. Could you cry a little louder? LOL

Expand full comment

You are right on point.

Expand full comment

Dana Milbank wrote the truth in this W. Post editorial: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/24/what-terrible-things-did-neera-tanden-tweet-truth/

Expand full comment
author

yes, that was a good piece

Expand full comment

The media has been desperately waiting for anything they could call a “stumble” to call out the Biden Admin and the Dems. Since the SC primary it has driven the politerati nuts that Biden isn’t “failing.” I actually heard one idiot say “if Biden wanted unity or a cabinet that looked like America, why isn’t there a Republican among his picks?” Not to mention the hit piece on Ron Klain in Wapo yesterday. The double standard driving media coverage (both gender wise and Dem-GOP wise) is headbanging.

Expand full comment

But she has such a "strident" voice, and should have expressed her criticism "more appropriately," and furthermore, we'll never vote for her now because a "rational" woman would have already graciously declined the position (and gone into the kitchen to make us all a sandwich). Yeah, it's not sexism at all...

Expand full comment

Thanks for the laugh

Expand full comment

If she was a R and tweeted against your antifa friends, you'd be outraged. LOL

Expand full comment

I was under the impression that Joe Manchin was against Neera's tweets aimed at His daughter over the Epi Pen price gauging a few years ago.

Additionally, the press has not owned up to their own culpability regarding the misogyny regarding Hillary Clinton in order to have the more marketable news of Trump

Expand full comment

Of all of your excellent pieces, this is the most eloquent. Thank you for acknowledging the role misogyny played in press coverage of Hillary Clinton. And because Tanden is a Clinton ally I think Clinton hatred is the real subtext of the media/performative emo left squawking. Plus she has the nerve to be, you know, Not White. I contend the media's hatred of Democrats is rooted in the power and influence African Americans and women have in the Democratic Party.

Expand full comment

"A recent Associated Press report on the nomination waited until the 24th paragraph to even bring up the idea that sexism might be in play. The AP suggested poor White House planning was by far a bigger factor."

"You really should have known they were going to be sexist jerks" is a mainstay of the enablers of conservatives and domestic abusers.

When Miami no longer exists, it will be Al Gore's fault because he shouldn't have gained weight, grown a bad beard and gotten divorced. Those are the rules.

Expand full comment

Hey, some women are truly nasty. Is it sexist to say so? LOL

Expand full comment

Conservative Christians, mostly men, have long blamed Eve (and all women) for being exiled from the Garden of Eden; but it’s funny how they never blamed the serpent. Professional courtesy?

Our failed political press doesn’t cover sexism because they would then need to examine their own newsrooms.

Expand full comment

Sexism is everywhere. What was it that study/poll a few years back proved? That we would see a black man elected President of the United States before we would see a woman in the Oval Office. And it took 60 freaking years since the Civil Rights movement before the media even admitted there is rampant racism in America, and that was only because Trump emboldened racists to such an extreme it couldn’t be excused or ignored. What is it going to take for the media to be forced into acknowledging what women of every race are dealing with?

That Dolly Parton song is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago and is an absolute delight. But it’s sad that we can all still relate to it. Progress is way too slow.

Expand full comment

It's somehow ingrained in our country's history to follow a pattern: black men received the right to vote before any and all women in the US. An odd coincidence? How deep does this misogyny go, ffs?

Expand full comment

At our family's annual knock-down, drag-out Christmas lunch political discussion (it's really centrists vs leftists) in 2006, the issue of Democratic contenders came up. Most of the crew was holding out for Hillary. When I brought up Obama and said we'd elect a black man as President long before we'd elect a woman of any color, I received howls of derisive laughter. I held my ground, arguing that the American well of misogyny was as deep and probably much wider than that of racism. Still proud of that argument, if not the results.

Expand full comment

Thanks for the woke hysteria. Wait, is that sexist and racist? LOL

Expand full comment

As I am sure others have pointed out, Manchin’s real problem with Tanden is that she called attention to his daughter’s role at a drug company, over pricing and salaries.

https://www.newsweek.com/neera-tanden-criticized-joe-manchin-daughter-heather-bresch-1571531

Expand full comment

I don't wanna be a *contrarian* but imo there are very good reasons for opposing neera tanden for any significant position. Her openly imperialist comments on basically taking libya's oil is dick Cheney level crap. Having said that disqualifying her cause she *mean tweeted* or dissed manchins daughter about epipen is ridiculous. Manchin voted for every trump slug he could vote for.

Expand full comment

Spot on. Jill Flipovic at WaPo did seem to get it right on Feb. 24.

Expand full comment