Dana Milbank was right. The MSM are complicit in the "murder of our democracy." I am already wondering what life will be like in an American neo-fascist state. Sickening. Keep up the good work, Eric. Your voice is needed now more than ever.
A "neo-fascist state," you say? You mean a government that stages phony elections and then governs without accountability or legitimacy? One where peaceful protestors who went to the nation's capital to protest a sham election are held indefinitely without charges or trial as political prisoners? One where the regime's black-clad terrorist streetfighters burn down courthouses and get released without charges, but a father whose little girl was raped in a school bathroom gets arrested and charged with "terrorism" for raising his voice at a school board meeting?
We're already there. Are you not paying attention?
Sweetheart, five years ago I came back from living six years in a country that is one of the most politically oppressive on earth. Until you can name just one of those traitors who has been disappeared or tortured under the US government, keep your mouth shut. You're yapping freely here because you have the right to criticize your government and no one will kidnap you off the street and you will be tortured until you wish you're dead. If you think for a moment that the Biden administration tortures people, I hope you will pack up your shit and get the hell out of this country, because you are no asset but are an ignorant liability. By the way, the monster running the country I used to live in is Trump's "favorite dictator."
Thank you. I can't stand this bullshit whining. I get really, really angry. I lived in a place where you don't dare speak a word against the government, where tens of thousands of people are in prison because they protested years ago. Nobody knows where they are, there is no record of them, and this asshole has the nerve to call the people who tried to overthrow our government "political prisoners." And then quote some garbage he got off the internet about oh how terrible things are here in America! The insurrection is being treated with kid gloves, those "patriotic" white people who have free lawyers and are charged with misdemeanors instead of sedition. What is this guy even doing on this blog?
People like him don’t care if other people are disappeared as long as it’s the “right people—those who ‘deserve it.’”. They truly have no understanding of what democracy is, and especially the Bill of Rights. Hey anti-Brandon, go read a book about Mussolini or the Nazis then we’ll talk.
She wasn’t murdered. She was told to stop she refused. She was a clear and present danger to our legislators, police, and everyone else in the building. She should not have been there. She is a traitor and a failed insurrectionist. Her death is a tragedy that could have been avoided but for ignorant fools like you who have swallowed Trump’s lies. She is no more a hero than All those sad Confederate soldiers who gave their lives to preserve that peculiar institution known as slavery.
This person thinks namecalling and denial of facts is how arguments are won. What we are discussing here, or should be, is the media's portrayal of events. Brandon here paid his entrance fee to be a troll and post juvenile garbage. He is the typical Trumpist because he thinks he can change reality by acting like a child and insisting his opinion is truth for no other reason but that Donald Trump says it is.
How pitiful and devoid of any humanity you are. She was shot because she was breaking into an area she had no business entering. It's on video. Calling me a ghoul simply means you cannot think but prefer to attack people when they confront your spurious beliefs. I don't mind debating people who disagree with me, but petulance is something that should never be part of a discussion.
I'm paying attention to your nonsense, does that count? The thugs who violently attacked the Capital because the loser of the 2020 election kept lying about it being a sham are not being held indefinitely, just until their criminal trials, just like many other people who are likewise not "political prisoners". The rest of your rant is, similarly, as much nonsense as your pathetically petty username, loser. 🤭
You are out of your effing mind, especially the bullshit about peaceful protesters who were actually MAGA terrorists. I watched the whole damned thing live as it happened. Go back to the rock you crawled out from under before another MAGA derp moves in. BTW, 60 court cases said the election was fair and not a sham, including your "Cyber Ninja" fraudit in Arizona that actually found Biden got more votes in Maricopa County than your traitor god.
The tragic secret being kept from you by the MAGA leadership/FOX et al is that you are being duped by them, used by them to raise money that goes directly into the ex prez’s phony bank accounts. You’re being taken by people who lie to you about EVERYTHING. Dems are not the other for crying out loud. Did Obama take away your guns? It’s all bullshit they serve to you 24/7. If you can get your head out of your ass, you’d see it’s the Dems working to make life better for the working folks; that’s the Biden agenda that won him the presidency. You should play in your own back yard, unless you truly want to have a conversation.
Wow that tin foil hat is way too tight. Seriously, you have swallowed all the lies the GOP and RW media has fed you. Joe Biden won the election. Fairly. There was no voter fraud. Well, of course there were the Republicans who tried to vote when ineligible and the man who voted for Trump under his dead mother’s name. People like you are trying to steal my legitimate vote and those of millions of other Pennsylvanians, Wisconsinites, Arizonans, Georgians, etc. because you can’t bear to think Trump lost. You are so wrapped up in your own bubble you can’t see daylight.
The violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol to stop the congressional certification and kill certain members of Congress. They are not patriots they are Confederates—traitors to the US and our Constitution. They are in jail where accused suspects go after arrest. Many made bail: some have not. No different from other Incarcerated Americans. As for Antifa, there is no group; they are individuals determined to fight those who would beings fascism to our country. They didn’t burn down cities; that’s loser anarchists and saboteurs from your side as well as idiots looking to create chaos. I sympathize with the anti fascist sentiments but those who come out to face off against RW bullies are achieving nothing this way. And no, those school board protestors aren’t just concerned parents voicing their opinion. They threaten school board members and teachers, harass students wearing masks, and tru to get their way through bullying and intimidation.
Go away troll. You have nothing to add to the discourse here but more lies and dishonestly.
Dear Brandon (if the shoe fits), Obviously you have a big problem with truth so take your false rage anywhere else and spend your time sending money to the orange charlatan. That should keep you off the streets for awhile, hater.
The "New York Times: The Morning" email literally right next to yours in my inbox has this headline & main story that follows: Good morning. Why do Americans say the economy is in rough shape? Because it is.
I'd post a picture of it in my inbox if I could. Unbelievable!
Narrative! Dave Leonhardt pays passing tribute to the fact that actual economic metrics are strong, and then says people don't "feel" the economy is strong because of Covid related factors, like diminished staffing in offices and supply chain issues. His premise is if people THINK the economy is bad, it's bad. Narrative!
It’s always some reason other than the real one—the Leonhardts of the world keep telling them all the negatives, while ignoring positive news, then pretends what they are doing isn’t having an influence. If they really believed they don’t influence public opinion they should find another job.
It's about ratings. Remember the old adage, that a lie is running down the street before the truth can get its pants on. This is even more true on the internet. The competition for readers is huge, especially when even TV news shows are flailing. I'm still gobsmacked by CNN's 75% ratings drop within one year. No wonder their stories are becoming ever more ridiculous. Sensationalism sells.
What we all have to remember is the media is about money. These papers and news outlets don't give a s**t about democracy or people. I wouldn't turn CNN on if you paid me. Eric I appreciate you and your honesty please keep up the good fight as long as you can.
The news coverage by WaPo has changed, however, since Buzbee. As I write this, there's a new article on inflation and how Biden's staff is making excuses for "the worst inflation in 40 years," a whopping 6.1 percent.
I don’t think it has gotten worse. Hiatt is the guy who hired those right wingers. He is a well-known neocon who not only wrote editorials championing the invasion of Iraq but also made sure there opinion columns were also pro-war.
I get the same email and I as soon as I read that I just rolled my eyes. I had already listened to Eric's piece so I was just ready to punch my computer. It's like they literally want the nation to burn down so they can feign ignorance. I'm so over them and I want the Democrats to call out the press at every moment for doing this s*it job. Also, hit the streets and go to the areas of the country that are blazing red that no one really touches and big up what is in the BBB plan & name the Senator who is not voting for it. Sell the product. All the stuff in there benefits everyone. I don't see folks rushing to return their child tax credit checks. Hmmmm
There’s not a decent journalist, at least who gets published without some whackadoo headline, in MSM. They may think this bullcrap will sell, but it won’t with rational people and the irrational don’t read them anyway.
Since January, all the cable shows have since had a 70%+ decline in viewership. They are desperate to bring back the good times.
When The Former Guy was running things, our Failed Political Press had it easy, there were nonstop scandals! gossip! palace intrigue! That TFG couldn’t even walk down an incline in his 3-inch lifts and needed a general to keep him from toppling over was a full news cycle. The stories wrote themselves.
Competence isn’t exciting. Things working as planned is dull. Our tabloidization is complete.
I'm not pessimistic about the economy. With people still voluntarily leaving their jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.2%, and a minor, temporary inflation we were warned about since 2019 (part of the normal cycling of a capitalist system includes both inflation and recession), I see no reason to fret. What I am alarmed about is seeing the destruction of a good president and the ever more likely return of the most dangerous psychopath to ever occupy the Oval Office. Why does the press seem to want this to happen? Or do they simply thrive on drama after four years of a nonstop Washington dumpster fire?
And in this story on The Hill there is not one single mention that raising the debt ceiling is necessary to cover what has already been spent by the previous administration. No Democratic Senator is quoted, no mention is made as to why the debt ceiling needs to be raised. The Hill: Graham warns GOP about Trump's wrath on debt vote | TheHill.
Prices are up, but the media’s doomsday narrative has spun the story beyond parody. I swear they just pick up the RNC’s daily talking points then add quotes from GOP Congresspeople to fill the “story” out. Even the “good news” is a bit off. Biden has said there will be no shutdowns to deal with Covid spikes. And on a side note, where was the media’s handwringing “how can we afford it?” over the whopping price tag of the defense spending bill?
I saw pushback on Twitter to the Milbank column. Journalists are trying to turn it into “oh we aren’t supposed to be tough on Biden,” setting up a straw man argument to avoid dealing with Milbank’s actual message.
I’d say Trump and the media deserve each other, but we the people are stuck in the middle and our democracy hangs in the balance.
And about that…. Waiting to see (what if any) media reaction to the Barton G piece in the Atlantic. He too is joining the chorus of voices that his fellow colleagues must change their coverage of the GOP. But I’m not holding my breath.
It seems journalists covering Biden have forgotten that while they're supposed to be tough on him, they also need to be fair and give him credit for reviving the economy despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It seems they're afraid to give him credit because they're afraid the obnoxious assholes at the Republican Party and right-wing media will accuse them of "liberal bias." If the media want the general public to trust them, they should stop listening to those loud voices from the Right and report the stories fairly & accurately. While they're supposed to cover all points of view, they must realize that when the other side is calling for violence against political opponents, questioning the credibility of free & fair elections, and attempting to slowly destroy democracy, isn't it time to re-think how they're doing their jobs. It seems many of them are too proud to admit that Milibank is right and they're ignoring their own consciences that what they're doing is wrong. Honestly, a little humility about admitting what they're doing is hurting America would go a long way.
I don’t think they are afraid. I think they hate a biden and look for any negative spin to report. They were appalled when he didn’t drop out in early 20 and were stunned he had so much support. They are all Mo Dowd now.
As someone who lives in a country where national elections are treated like a popularity contest & multi-ring circus, it sucks that the American media establishment does the same thing.
They’ve done it to almost every Democratic presidential candidate over the last 30 to 40 years.
Their election narrative seems to be interested in portraying one candidate as old, boring or both, while the other is charismatic and colorful.
It’s annoying that this type of narrative works with the public.
However, the 2020 elections were an exception in the Trump administration’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic led to Biden’s victory because your fellow Americans didn’t want to reality show-style trainwreck.
Now, those jackasses in the media want Trump again because of pure greed. They’re okay with America burning down to the ground as long as they’re making money from the chaos.
Seriously, those assholes are okay with their fellow Americans suffering while they’re going to get rich from book deals.
Jennifer Rubin despised Warren and Sanders. She was determined to not give up her "Democrat Lite" identity but I think she's much more appreciative of them now. She no longer disses progressives.
Just this week CNBC’s Jim Cramer said CNBC host Jim Cramer said this is “the strongest economy, perhaps, I’ve ever seen.”
Not only does the media act like inflation is not going away (unless Biden drastically reduces the evil government spending) they act like the midterm election is just a couple of months away so it’s a certainty that inflation will kill Democrats’ chances. I have repeatedly heard this prediction made with absolute certainty.
As I have said before it really feels like many in the press, people who claim to fear for our democracy, can’t wait to see the Democrats thrown out. They are definitely helping make that more likely and it’s hard to believe they are not aware of the effects their obsessively negative reporting has. When a Villager like Dana Milbank is freaking out and accusing his colleagues of assisting in the murder of our democracy you know it’s beyond bad.
And we're back to facing the fact that our democracy is very fragile and slipping. People have taken it for granted for generations, which explains why only about 30% of Americans vote. Politics was always boring. Back in the 80's I worked with a man who was a refugee from Pinochet's regime and had spent 5 years as a political prisoner. Back then, he warned me that someday a very bad group of people would find our weaknesses and use them to take over the country, and it would be easy. I never forgot that. Now I understand exactly what he was talking about. The death of democracy sneaks in a little at a time. The press, the educational system, the economy, all become unstable, and an ongoing pandemic keeps the populace frightened and distrustful. This is how Trump comes back.
When Bush and Cheney were lying into Iraq I had a conversation with a friend’s dad who grew up a Nazi in Hilter’s Germany. He was in the HItler youth, then joined the military. He told me he was a true believer until he was put through re-education in a prisoner of war camp. The videos of the concentration camps shocked him deeply and he became a champion of civil rights. He told me what was going on in this country, particularly the lying Republicans were doing and the complicity of the mainstream media in those lies reminded him of the Germany of his youth. I am glad he died before Trump got elected.
Yes, Germans who lived through the darkest days of the Third Reich were quietly warning people 20 years ago. Now those still around have gone from uneasy to fearful.
I have lived outside the box and have met some amazing people. When I was working in Jordan my boss told me she'd been a member of the Manson family. She related a story about helping to bury some machetes in the desert, and when she left the family she took a child with her and left him at a police station. I have a million of these anecdotes and should write them down!
(Btw Morning Joe led off its 8 am hour with inflation news). I was cautiously optimistic about Milbank’s column calling the msm to task, and now Eric cites YouGov’s poll confirming the fact that Biden is getting distorted and negative media coverage, vis a vis TFG or otherwise, and most dangerous is the fact that the voters are susceptible to the R ideas the press puts out. But will these FACTS alter the way msm views itself? How about the editors? My hope is that the drip drip drip of criticism from those inside the msm bubble coupled w/the losses in revenue, MIGHT turn the Titanic around in American newsrooms. And is there enough time? (A point of privilege totally off topic, but I highly recommend reading the Jamie Raskin piece in recent Wapos magazine. I cried and had goosebumps all the way through. Now there’s a patriot)!
I have this fantasy that Joey Biden and the Democrats are playing rope-a-dope and will drive the narrative in time for the midterms. Simultaneously, I think about leaving the country should the elections in 2022 and 2024 not go our way. We have all seen a lot of bad times over the years but there is something about the current narrative that scares me more than TFG being elected. The punitive laws being enacted for women are designed to eventually silence and control us, economically and socially. Let's put it this way: "The Handmaid's Tale" is never far from my thoughts. On that happy note, everyone have a good weekend. 333 days until midterms.
I just finished reading Oliver Knox's screed on WashPo Daily 202, entitled " Biden’s policies are popular. But he isn’t." It is an infuriating example of all that you have written above.
By now, y’all know my response to this latest mainstream fail, so I’ll leave it at this: Of what benefit or value is a mainstream, establishment media that works to undercut and oppose one of the two major political parties?
Oh, no, no, no. They serve the establishment, the powers that be who have corrupted the system and are cool with their GOP puppets of which Donnie is one.
They have to grovel insofar as there’s no alternative if they’re going do what they done since Carter and make enabling the GOP more important than reporting honestly and actually inform people instead of promoting lies and ignorance.
Here is an example of what Eric is saying. The Washington Post has been on a mission to destroy Biden. See 3 headlines below from today's Post.
"Prices climbed 6.8% in November compared with last year, largest rise in nearly four decades, as inflation spreads through economy" Washington Post December 10, 2021
"Opinion: Republicans blame Biden for inflation. So what’s their plan?" Washington Post December 10, 2021
"Inflation pinch challenges Biden agenda, but president says worst will soon pass
Prices keep climbing and the president is working to convince critics that his agenda will help, not hurt." Washington Post December 10, 2021
It helps them to know their readers are typically injurious sponges who soak up whatever the Post feeds them. The wording is everything -Biden is "struggling," he's "working to convince critics," he's always on the defensive. Read the reader comments on the 6.8% inflation article and you will find the majority are swallowing it whole. They think Biden caused the inflation and that it's like the end of the world, we're all going to die! And they want Trump back because he was in charge, damn it! Never mind that Trump skated on Obama's economic policies and that as early as 2019, economists warned that there would be inflation followed by recession, before covid was even a factor.
No that isn’t quite true and as a post subscriber/reader I guess you consider me an “injurious sponge.” The top comments with the most likes are those that criticize the story and point out its problems. Wapo doesn’t have a moderator like the NYT does so a lot of nonsense and crap gets through. More people see what’s happening with the media than ever before, but not enough. So much can happen between now and Nov. its too early to panic.
The word "injurious" is a typo. It should be "incurious." Sure, WApo has no moderators, and it's cheap subscription cost helps to lure people who simply want to see their grievances in print on their screens. But people tend to believe what they're told, and when it comes to looking for someone to blame for the country's problems, they blame the president. Simply put, Biden isn't to blame for the inflation or the causes of it - we are. We demand more goods than can be produced and supplied, causing prices to rise.
MAP you are correct in saying..."The top comments with the most likes are those that criticize the story and point out its problems." However the "all comments" sections are starting to look like MAGA Conventions.
There are lots of trolls who most likely “like” their own posts and write under different names.
I don’t believe people who subscribe are incurious. Unfortunately too many people who don’t even have subscriptions see the headlines on social media because the journalists and the paper promotes them to encourage readership. Most people are not news or political junkies. They don’t think about current events the way many of us here do. But too many Americans are lacking in critical thinking and analysis skills, and have little to no understanding of American govt and how it works. And this goes for people on the right and left.
The sad truth is, you tell a lie often enough and it takes hold. That is what’s happening with The press and Biden. The bad reporting then reverberates through local news stories and local television news.
Vanity Fair has a piece on Biden and the press and how journalists are upset because he won’t sit down with them. It just underscores where the bad reporting/framing is coming from.
You make great points. Thanks. These commenters lap it up. I keep posting the truth and they ignore it. Flat ignore it. WaPo and these commenters have a symbiotic relationship for sure.
Today December 10, The NY Times electronic edition has three stories at the top about why the economy is in such terrible shape: "Inflation rising at fastest pace in nearly 40 years new data shows"; "Rising prices continue to complicate Biden's agenda"; "The Morning: Here's why Americans feel grouchy about the economy."
The last by David Leonhardt has such gems as:
"Offices remain eerily empty. Airlines have canceled thousands of flights. Subways and buses are running less often. Schools sometimes call off entire days of class. Consumers waste time waiting in store lines. Annual inflation has reached its highest level in three decades.
Does this sound like a healthy economy to you?"
AND
"But I think the answer to this supposed paradox is that it’s not really a paradox: Americans think the economy is in rough shape because the economy is in rough shape.
Sure, some major statistics look good, and they reflect true economic strengths, including the state of families’ finances. But the economy is more than a household balance sheet; it is the combined experience of working, shopping and interacting in society. Americans evidently understand the distinction: In an Associated Press poll, 64 percent describe their personal finances as good — and only 35 percent describe the national economy as good."
In large part Leonhardt blames Covid fatigue. But he fails to make the connection that the GOP is deliberately prolonging the pandemic, despite noting this:
"In Republican-leaning communities, the biggest Covid problem remains a widespread refusal to take the pandemic seriously. About 40 percent of Republican adults have not received a vaccine shot, according to the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll. As a result, the Covid death rate is far higher in heavily Republican counties than in Democratic ones.
Red America’s Covid denialism doesn’t seem to be abating, either. Fox News continues to spread disinformation, as Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post has noted. Many Republican politicians spend more time complaining about mask and vaccine mandates than trying to persuade conservatives to get a potentially lifesaving shot."
And of course it's all the fault of Democrats.
"Blue America, by contrast, has taken Covid seriously. Fewer than 10 percent of Democratic voters have not received a vaccine shot. Political liberals also tend to be comfortable wearing masks to reduce the spread of the Covid virus.
Yet many Democrats, both voters and politicians, have been almost blasé about the costs of Covid precautions — the isolation, unhappiness, health damage, lost learning, inflation, public-transit disruptions and more. Democrats have sometimes focused on minimizing the spread of Covid, regardless of the downsides: Closing schools, for example, almost certainly harms children more than it protects them, given the minuscule rate of severe childhood Covid, even lower than that of severe childhood flu."
You could conclude from this that Leonhardt is telling Democrats to stop worrying about people dying or the pandemic getting worse. It's essentially the GOP narrative that the cure shouldn't be worse than the disease.
Combined with "the economy is terrible" drumbeat, the media is doing its best to grease the skids for a GOP return to power and Trump back in the White House - and it will all be the Democrat's fault for "doing such a terrible job."
Is it wrong that read about the death rate in red states and think, “there’s hope for democracy, yet. We just have to outlive them”. Yes - it’s wrong. But that’s exactly what goes through my head. This pandemic has found the most evil parts of my soul.
These deaths in red states are the result of the heartlessness and ignorance of those who have the responsibility of governing in those states. Your thoughts are not actions, just thoughts and honestly come by. I’ve had them myself.
“Consumers waste time waiting in store lines.” Wait, are you kidding me? We’ve been waiting in store lines forever, and especially with the downsizing of America that happened well before Covid. What a spoiled baby in a bubble Leonhardt is. He lives in an area where he can get his groceries and so much else delivered in a matter of hours if he chooses and has the salary to do so without a thought. Wow, that’s a stretch.
As to all his points, what about the rising costs of health care and the damage to our health care system from the spread of Covid? He completely neglects this. And there was a sobering article in a local PA publication about a recent study that found people who survived Covid in the hospital often die with a year, including younger people.
The callousness of this reporting matches that of the GOP. Instead of talking about those problems as fallout from the pandemic and how they could be alleviated if everyone got vaxxed it’s turned into blame for the people who actually care about saving lives and protecting health. Maddening!
My thoughts exactly. The press behaves as though the world hasn’t been disrupted, turned upside down and inside out by a 21 month and still counting pandemic. We as a country are STILL being traumatized, both by the awful impact of the pandemic and TFG’s administration and we are trying to find our way back to a sense of sanity, safety and a semblance of economic health as a society - not to mention the challenges from the concurrent sabotaging of democracy on the right. And there is no going BACK to anything like pre pandemic normal. Everything ‘normal’ has been upturned and changed since 2016.
Just saw this article written by Robert Reich, who was Secretary of the Department of Labor during the Clinton administration. He doesn't trust most mainstream media, with the exception of the Guardian, so he wrote an article for them:
This post arrived in my inbox sandwiched between two NY Times articles beating bag news about the economy. One was David Leonhardt desperately trying to both-sides 5 face that while unvaccinated Republicans are keeping the pandemic going, the Democrats are harming people by trying to mitigate it. That confirmed that Leonhardt is a pompous fooll bordering on the level of David Btooks.
Dana Milbank was right. The MSM are complicit in the "murder of our democracy." I am already wondering what life will be like in an American neo-fascist state. Sickening. Keep up the good work, Eric. Your voice is needed now more than ever.
Thanks and ugh, agreed
A "neo-fascist state," you say? You mean a government that stages phony elections and then governs without accountability or legitimacy? One where peaceful protestors who went to the nation's capital to protest a sham election are held indefinitely without charges or trial as political prisoners? One where the regime's black-clad terrorist streetfighters burn down courthouses and get released without charges, but a father whose little girl was raped in a school bathroom gets arrested and charged with "terrorism" for raising his voice at a school board meeting?
We're already there. Are you not paying attention?
Sweetheart, five years ago I came back from living six years in a country that is one of the most politically oppressive on earth. Until you can name just one of those traitors who has been disappeared or tortured under the US government, keep your mouth shut. You're yapping freely here because you have the right to criticize your government and no one will kidnap you off the street and you will be tortured until you wish you're dead. If you think for a moment that the Biden administration tortures people, I hope you will pack up your shit and get the hell out of this country, because you are no asset but are an ignorant liability. By the way, the monster running the country I used to live in is Trump's "favorite dictator."
GREAT comeback.
Thank you. I can't stand this bullshit whining. I get really, really angry. I lived in a place where you don't dare speak a word against the government, where tens of thousands of people are in prison because they protested years ago. Nobody knows where they are, there is no record of them, and this asshole has the nerve to call the people who tried to overthrow our government "political prisoners." And then quote some garbage he got off the internet about oh how terrible things are here in America! The insurrection is being treated with kid gloves, those "patriotic" white people who have free lawyers and are charged with misdemeanors instead of sedition. What is this guy even doing on this blog?
He thinks he’s playing Gotcha but he’s really playing Psycho Fool.
The only one playing games here is you. I'm dropping truth bombs and you're whining crying and spraying the keyboard with spittle.
Except that's all lies. And you know it.
What am I doing here? You're in public, telling outrageous, preposterous lies, and I'm here to speak the truth.
Seethe, cope, and dilate.
That's how you rationalize your crap? Try harder next time, baby.
People like him don’t care if other people are disappeared as long as it’s the “right people—those who ‘deserve it.’”. They truly have no understanding of what democracy is, and especially the Bill of Rights. Hey anti-Brandon, go read a book about Mussolini or the Nazis then we’ll talk.
DITTO. This the be careful what you wish for part. Terrific reality check.
The irony is that his boy Donald Trump calls Sisi his "favorite dictator" because he'd love to run the US the way Sisi does.
I love how these tough guys go silent when I make them see that they're full of shit.
He’s regurgitating all the crap they feed him. As much as we’re pissed at the media, this person should read a newspaper now and then.
Pedo Joe has been sucking Communist Chinese cock for fifty years, and you're accusing other people of having "favorite dictators." Ha ha ha, oh wow.
FACTS, EXPERIENCE vs ignorance, know nothing ism. Sad. Awful.
Ashli Babbit was murdered. I won't shut up about it, you fucking ghoul.
She wasn’t murdered. She was told to stop she refused. She was a clear and present danger to our legislators, police, and everyone else in the building. She should not have been there. She is a traitor and a failed insurrectionist. Her death is a tragedy that could have been avoided but for ignorant fools like you who have swallowed Trump’s lies. She is no more a hero than All those sad Confederate soldiers who gave their lives to preserve that peculiar institution known as slavery.
This person thinks namecalling and denial of facts is how arguments are won. What we are discussing here, or should be, is the media's portrayal of events. Brandon here paid his entrance fee to be a troll and post juvenile garbage. He is the typical Trumpist because he thinks he can change reality by acting like a child and insisting his opinion is truth for no other reason but that Donald Trump says it is.
He’s swimming in the deep end of the pool here and I have no patience for ignorance and lies.
How pitiful and devoid of any humanity you are. She was shot because she was breaking into an area she had no business entering. It's on video. Calling me a ghoul simply means you cannot think but prefer to attack people when they confront your spurious beliefs. I don't mind debating people who disagree with me, but petulance is something that should never be part of a discussion.
I'm paying attention to your nonsense, does that count? The thugs who violently attacked the Capital because the loser of the 2020 election kept lying about it being a sham are not being held indefinitely, just until their criminal trials, just like many other people who are likewise not "political prisoners". The rest of your rant is, similarly, as much nonsense as your pathetically petty username, loser. 🤭
Trump won last year. Everyone knows it. You know it too.
LOL. Sure, sure. 🤪
You are out of your effing mind, especially the bullshit about peaceful protesters who were actually MAGA terrorists. I watched the whole damned thing live as it happened. Go back to the rock you crawled out from under before another MAGA derp moves in. BTW, 60 court cases said the election was fair and not a sham, including your "Cyber Ninja" fraudit in Arizona that actually found Biden got more votes in Maricopa County than your traitor god.
The tragic secret being kept from you by the MAGA leadership/FOX et al is that you are being duped by them, used by them to raise money that goes directly into the ex prez’s phony bank accounts. You’re being taken by people who lie to you about EVERYTHING. Dems are not the other for crying out loud. Did Obama take away your guns? It’s all bullshit they serve to you 24/7. If you can get your head out of your ass, you’d see it’s the Dems working to make life better for the working folks; that’s the Biden agenda that won him the presidency. You should play in your own back yard, unless you truly want to have a conversation.
Sure you did. What color is the sky on your planet? You people sure are allergic to the truth.
Wow that tin foil hat is way too tight. Seriously, you have swallowed all the lies the GOP and RW media has fed you. Joe Biden won the election. Fairly. There was no voter fraud. Well, of course there were the Republicans who tried to vote when ineligible and the man who voted for Trump under his dead mother’s name. People like you are trying to steal my legitimate vote and those of millions of other Pennsylvanians, Wisconsinites, Arizonans, Georgians, etc. because you can’t bear to think Trump lost. You are so wrapped up in your own bubble you can’t see daylight.
The violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol to stop the congressional certification and kill certain members of Congress. They are not patriots they are Confederates—traitors to the US and our Constitution. They are in jail where accused suspects go after arrest. Many made bail: some have not. No different from other Incarcerated Americans. As for Antifa, there is no group; they are individuals determined to fight those who would beings fascism to our country. They didn’t burn down cities; that’s loser anarchists and saboteurs from your side as well as idiots looking to create chaos. I sympathize with the anti fascist sentiments but those who come out to face off against RW bullies are achieving nothing this way. And no, those school board protestors aren’t just concerned parents voicing their opinion. They threaten school board members and teachers, harass students wearing masks, and tru to get their way through bullying and intimidation.
Go away troll. You have nothing to add to the discourse here but more lies and dishonestly.
What MAP said!
Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.
BRANDON WON
Fuck Don Trump
Living in your head rent-free since 2016.
You've been trolling desperately for how long, now, loser? 🤭
Dear Brandon (if the shoe fits), Obviously you have a big problem with truth so take your false rage anywhere else and spend your time sending money to the orange charlatan. That should keep you off the streets for awhile, hater.
You're allergic to truth. Cry harder.
The truth is Trump lost. How long are you gonna cry about not, trollboy? 😂🤣
He doesn't know that you exist.
The "New York Times: The Morning" email literally right next to yours in my inbox has this headline & main story that follows: Good morning. Why do Americans say the economy is in rough shape? Because it is.
I'd post a picture of it in my inbox if I could. Unbelievable!
and he’s supposed to be a NYT data journalist but since the data points to during economy he leaned n anecdotes . amazing
Narrative! Dave Leonhardt pays passing tribute to the fact that actual economic metrics are strong, and then says people don't "feel" the economy is strong because of Covid related factors, like diminished staffing in offices and supply chain issues. His premise is if people THINK the economy is bad, it's bad. Narrative!
It’s always some reason other than the real one—the Leonhardts of the world keep telling them all the negatives, while ignoring positive news, then pretends what they are doing isn’t having an influence. If they really believed they don’t influence public opinion they should find another job.
It's about ratings. Remember the old adage, that a lie is running down the street before the truth can get its pants on. This is even more true on the internet. The competition for readers is huge, especially when even TV news shows are flailing. I'm still gobsmacked by CNN's 75% ratings drop within one year. No wonder their stories are becoming ever more ridiculous. Sensationalism sells.
David Leonhardt is terrible and has been for years, especially when he helmed the Times’ DC bureau.
It really matters who is in charge. I am wondering/worrying about who will replace Fred Hiatt as editorial page editor at the Washington Post.
So am I. It already changed for the worse when Buzbee took over as executive editor. On an average day there are at least 4 right wing editorials.
What we all have to remember is the media is about money. These papers and news outlets don't give a s**t about democracy or people. I wouldn't turn CNN on if you paid me. Eric I appreciate you and your honesty please keep up the good fight as long as you can.
The news coverage by WaPo has changed, however, since Buzbee. As I write this, there's a new article on inflation and how Biden's staff is making excuses for "the worst inflation in 40 years," a whopping 6.1 percent.
Agreed. And the comments section has been overrun by rightwing commenters.
It’s a sign that more and more people are discovering Eric’s writings. We need to ignore, not feed the trolls.
I don’t think it has gotten worse. Hiatt is the guy who hired those right wingers. He is a well-known neocon who not only wrote editorials championing the invasion of Iraq but also made sure there opinion columns were also pro-war.
https://fair.org/home/another-warmonger-rewarded-for-being-wrong-on-iraq-war/
That's a perfect synopsis!
I get the same email and I as soon as I read that I just rolled my eyes. I had already listened to Eric's piece so I was just ready to punch my computer. It's like they literally want the nation to burn down so they can feign ignorance. I'm so over them and I want the Democrats to call out the press at every moment for doing this s*it job. Also, hit the streets and go to the areas of the country that are blazing red that no one really touches and big up what is in the BBB plan & name the Senator who is not voting for it. Sell the product. All the stuff in there benefits everyone. I don't see folks rushing to return their child tax credit checks. Hmmmm
Me, too! David Leonhardt makes me angry.
There’s not a decent journalist, at least who gets published without some whackadoo headline, in MSM. They may think this bullcrap will sell, but it won’t with rational people and the irrational don’t read them anyway.
Since January, all the cable shows have since had a 70%+ decline in viewership. They are desperate to bring back the good times.
When The Former Guy was running things, our Failed Political Press had it easy, there were nonstop scandals! gossip! palace intrigue! That TFG couldn’t even walk down an incline in his 3-inch lifts and needed a general to keep him from toppling over was a full news cycle. The stories wrote themselves.
Competence isn’t exciting. Things working as planned is dull. Our tabloidization is complete.
Perhaps sticking a piece of toilet paper on Biden’s shoe as he boards AirForce One will get the full attention of the msm. That’s a foto to cherish.
Please no. Then we’d have e all the “is he capable of governing stories.” The beltway reporters are beyond hope I fear.
I'm not pessimistic about the economy. With people still voluntarily leaving their jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.2%, and a minor, temporary inflation we were warned about since 2019 (part of the normal cycling of a capitalist system includes both inflation and recession), I see no reason to fret. What I am alarmed about is seeing the destruction of a good president and the ever more likely return of the most dangerous psychopath to ever occupy the Oval Office. Why does the press seem to want this to happen? Or do they simply thrive on drama after four years of a nonstop Washington dumpster fire?
The press should be very careful what they wish for.
And in this story on The Hill there is not one single mention that raising the debt ceiling is necessary to cover what has already been spent by the previous administration. No Democratic Senator is quoted, no mention is made as to why the debt ceiling needs to be raised. The Hill: Graham warns GOP about Trump's wrath on debt vote | TheHill.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/585018-graham-warns-gop-about-trumps-wrath-on-debt-vote
oh geeZ, that’s really bad
In other words, Graham admits the GOP is a cult that SHOULD fear Dear Leader.
Prices are up, but the media’s doomsday narrative has spun the story beyond parody. I swear they just pick up the RNC’s daily talking points then add quotes from GOP Congresspeople to fill the “story” out. Even the “good news” is a bit off. Biden has said there will be no shutdowns to deal with Covid spikes. And on a side note, where was the media’s handwringing “how can we afford it?” over the whopping price tag of the defense spending bill?
I saw pushback on Twitter to the Milbank column. Journalists are trying to turn it into “oh we aren’t supposed to be tough on Biden,” setting up a straw man argument to avoid dealing with Milbank’s actual message.
I’d say Trump and the media deserve each other, but we the people are stuck in the middle and our democracy hangs in the balance.
And about that…. Waiting to see (what if any) media reaction to the Barton G piece in the Atlantic. He too is joining the chorus of voices that his fellow colleagues must change their coverage of the GOP. But I’m not holding my breath.
Eric Barcelonjust now
It seems journalists covering Biden have forgotten that while they're supposed to be tough on him, they also need to be fair and give him credit for reviving the economy despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It seems they're afraid to give him credit because they're afraid the obnoxious assholes at the Republican Party and right-wing media will accuse them of "liberal bias." If the media want the general public to trust them, they should stop listening to those loud voices from the Right and report the stories fairly & accurately. While they're supposed to cover all points of view, they must realize that when the other side is calling for violence against political opponents, questioning the credibility of free & fair elections, and attempting to slowly destroy democracy, isn't it time to re-think how they're doing their jobs. It seems many of them are too proud to admit that Milibank is right and they're ignoring their own consciences that what they're doing is wrong. Honestly, a little humility about admitting what they're doing is hurting America would go a long way.
I don’t think they are afraid. I think they hate a biden and look for any negative spin to report. They were appalled when he didn’t drop out in early 20 and were stunned he had so much support. They are all Mo Dowd now.
Who did they hope would win in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries?
I’m guessing they wanted Bernie Sanders to win since he’s popular with the younger progressives.
They really liked Liz Warren too. I think it was almost anyone but Biden. And now they are doing their damndest to hurt him.
As someone who lives in a country where national elections are treated like a popularity contest & multi-ring circus, it sucks that the American media establishment does the same thing.
They’ve done it to almost every Democratic presidential candidate over the last 30 to 40 years.
Their election narrative seems to be interested in portraying one candidate as old, boring or both, while the other is charismatic and colorful.
It’s annoying that this type of narrative works with the public.
However, the 2020 elections were an exception in the Trump administration’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic led to Biden’s victory because your fellow Americans didn’t want to reality show-style trainwreck.
Now, those jackasses in the media want Trump again because of pure greed. They’re okay with America burning down to the ground as long as they’re making money from the chaos.
Seriously, those assholes are okay with their fellow Americans suffering while they’re going to get rich from book deals.
Jennifer Rubin despised Warren and Sanders. She was determined to not give up her "Democrat Lite" identity but I think she's much more appreciative of them now. She no longer disses progressives.
I think they liked Warren the best.
Just this week CNBC’s Jim Cramer said CNBC host Jim Cramer said this is “the strongest economy, perhaps, I’ve ever seen.”
Not only does the media act like inflation is not going away (unless Biden drastically reduces the evil government spending) they act like the midterm election is just a couple of months away so it’s a certainty that inflation will kill Democrats’ chances. I have repeatedly heard this prediction made with absolute certainty.
As I have said before it really feels like many in the press, people who claim to fear for our democracy, can’t wait to see the Democrats thrown out. They are definitely helping make that more likely and it’s hard to believe they are not aware of the effects their obsessively negative reporting has. When a Villager like Dana Milbank is freaking out and accusing his colleagues of assisting in the murder of our democracy you know it’s beyond bad.
And we're back to facing the fact that our democracy is very fragile and slipping. People have taken it for granted for generations, which explains why only about 30% of Americans vote. Politics was always boring. Back in the 80's I worked with a man who was a refugee from Pinochet's regime and had spent 5 years as a political prisoner. Back then, he warned me that someday a very bad group of people would find our weaknesses and use them to take over the country, and it would be easy. I never forgot that. Now I understand exactly what he was talking about. The death of democracy sneaks in a little at a time. The press, the educational system, the economy, all become unstable, and an ongoing pandemic keeps the populace frightened and distrustful. This is how Trump comes back.
When Bush and Cheney were lying into Iraq I had a conversation with a friend’s dad who grew up a Nazi in Hilter’s Germany. He was in the HItler youth, then joined the military. He told me he was a true believer until he was put through re-education in a prisoner of war camp. The videos of the concentration camps shocked him deeply and he became a champion of civil rights. He told me what was going on in this country, particularly the lying Republicans were doing and the complicity of the mainstream media in those lies reminded him of the Germany of his youth. I am glad he died before Trump got elected.
Yes, Germans who lived through the darkest days of the Third Reich were quietly warning people 20 years ago. Now those still around have gone from uneasy to fearful.
Marycat, the tidbits you share about your life are so intriguing!
I have lived outside the box and have met some amazing people. When I was working in Jordan my boss told me she'd been a member of the Manson family. She related a story about helping to bury some machetes in the desert, and when she left the family she took a child with her and left him at a police station. I have a million of these anecdotes and should write them down!
(Btw Morning Joe led off its 8 am hour with inflation news). I was cautiously optimistic about Milbank’s column calling the msm to task, and now Eric cites YouGov’s poll confirming the fact that Biden is getting distorted and negative media coverage, vis a vis TFG or otherwise, and most dangerous is the fact that the voters are susceptible to the R ideas the press puts out. But will these FACTS alter the way msm views itself? How about the editors? My hope is that the drip drip drip of criticism from those inside the msm bubble coupled w/the losses in revenue, MIGHT turn the Titanic around in American newsrooms. And is there enough time? (A point of privilege totally off topic, but I highly recommend reading the Jamie Raskin piece in recent Wapos magazine. I cried and had goosebumps all the way through. Now there’s a patriot)!
And a Mensch!
I have this fantasy that Joey Biden and the Democrats are playing rope-a-dope and will drive the narrative in time for the midterms. Simultaneously, I think about leaving the country should the elections in 2022 and 2024 not go our way. We have all seen a lot of bad times over the years but there is something about the current narrative that scares me more than TFG being elected. The punitive laws being enacted for women are designed to eventually silence and control us, economically and socially. Let's put it this way: "The Handmaid's Tale" is never far from my thoughts. On that happy note, everyone have a good weekend. 333 days until midterms.
Sorry for being "that guy," but the Summer of Love was in 1967, while Woodstock was in 1969.
Ha! Totally agree. I went beck in this morning and changed it online to “when Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock”
I just finished reading Oliver Knox's screed on WashPo Daily 202, entitled " Biden’s policies are popular. But he isn’t." It is an infuriating example of all that you have written above.
By now, y’all know my response to this latest mainstream fail, so I’ll leave it at this: Of what benefit or value is a mainstream, establishment media that works to undercut and oppose one of the two major political parties?
good Q
It is a groveling media counting on Trump to stop calling them "the enemy of the people" if they can "prove their fairness."
Oh, no, no, no. They serve the establishment, the powers that be who have corrupted the system and are cool with their GOP puppets of which Donnie is one.
They have to grovel insofar as there’s no alternative if they’re going do what they done since Carter and make enabling the GOP more important than reporting honestly and actually inform people instead of promoting lies and ignorance.
Here is an example of what Eric is saying. The Washington Post has been on a mission to destroy Biden. See 3 headlines below from today's Post.
"Prices climbed 6.8% in November compared with last year, largest rise in nearly four decades, as inflation spreads through economy" Washington Post December 10, 2021
"Opinion: Republicans blame Biden for inflation. So what’s their plan?" Washington Post December 10, 2021
"Inflation pinch challenges Biden agenda, but president says worst will soon pass
Prices keep climbing and the president is working to convince critics that his agenda will help, not hurt." Washington Post December 10, 2021
It helps them to know their readers are typically injurious sponges who soak up whatever the Post feeds them. The wording is everything -Biden is "struggling," he's "working to convince critics," he's always on the defensive. Read the reader comments on the 6.8% inflation article and you will find the majority are swallowing it whole. They think Biden caused the inflation and that it's like the end of the world, we're all going to die! And they want Trump back because he was in charge, damn it! Never mind that Trump skated on Obama's economic policies and that as early as 2019, economists warned that there would be inflation followed by recession, before covid was even a factor.
No that isn’t quite true and as a post subscriber/reader I guess you consider me an “injurious sponge.” The top comments with the most likes are those that criticize the story and point out its problems. Wapo doesn’t have a moderator like the NYT does so a lot of nonsense and crap gets through. More people see what’s happening with the media than ever before, but not enough. So much can happen between now and Nov. its too early to panic.
The word "injurious" is a typo. It should be "incurious." Sure, WApo has no moderators, and it's cheap subscription cost helps to lure people who simply want to see their grievances in print on their screens. But people tend to believe what they're told, and when it comes to looking for someone to blame for the country's problems, they blame the president. Simply put, Biden isn't to blame for the inflation or the causes of it - we are. We demand more goods than can be produced and supplied, causing prices to rise.
MAP you are correct in saying..."The top comments with the most likes are those that criticize the story and point out its problems." However the "all comments" sections are starting to look like MAGA Conventions.
There are lots of trolls who most likely “like” their own posts and write under different names.
I don’t believe people who subscribe are incurious. Unfortunately too many people who don’t even have subscriptions see the headlines on social media because the journalists and the paper promotes them to encourage readership. Most people are not news or political junkies. They don’t think about current events the way many of us here do. But too many Americans are lacking in critical thinking and analysis skills, and have little to no understanding of American govt and how it works. And this goes for people on the right and left.
The sad truth is, you tell a lie often enough and it takes hold. That is what’s happening with The press and Biden. The bad reporting then reverberates through local news stories and local television news.
Vanity Fair has a piece on Biden and the press and how journalists are upset because he won’t sit down with them. It just underscores where the bad reporting/framing is coming from.
And the people you are talking about vote.
You make great points. Thanks. These commenters lap it up. I keep posting the truth and they ignore it. Flat ignore it. WaPo and these commenters have a symbiotic relationship for sure.
Injurious should be incurious.
Today December 10, The NY Times electronic edition has three stories at the top about why the economy is in such terrible shape: "Inflation rising at fastest pace in nearly 40 years new data shows"; "Rising prices continue to complicate Biden's agenda"; "The Morning: Here's why Americans feel grouchy about the economy."
The last by David Leonhardt has such gems as:
"Offices remain eerily empty. Airlines have canceled thousands of flights. Subways and buses are running less often. Schools sometimes call off entire days of class. Consumers waste time waiting in store lines. Annual inflation has reached its highest level in three decades.
Does this sound like a healthy economy to you?"
AND
"But I think the answer to this supposed paradox is that it’s not really a paradox: Americans think the economy is in rough shape because the economy is in rough shape.
Sure, some major statistics look good, and they reflect true economic strengths, including the state of families’ finances. But the economy is more than a household balance sheet; it is the combined experience of working, shopping and interacting in society. Americans evidently understand the distinction: In an Associated Press poll, 64 percent describe their personal finances as good — and only 35 percent describe the national economy as good."
In large part Leonhardt blames Covid fatigue. But he fails to make the connection that the GOP is deliberately prolonging the pandemic, despite noting this:
"In Republican-leaning communities, the biggest Covid problem remains a widespread refusal to take the pandemic seriously. About 40 percent of Republican adults have not received a vaccine shot, according to the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll. As a result, the Covid death rate is far higher in heavily Republican counties than in Democratic ones.
Red America’s Covid denialism doesn’t seem to be abating, either. Fox News continues to spread disinformation, as Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post has noted. Many Republican politicians spend more time complaining about mask and vaccine mandates than trying to persuade conservatives to get a potentially lifesaving shot."
And of course it's all the fault of Democrats.
"Blue America, by contrast, has taken Covid seriously. Fewer than 10 percent of Democratic voters have not received a vaccine shot. Political liberals also tend to be comfortable wearing masks to reduce the spread of the Covid virus.
Yet many Democrats, both voters and politicians, have been almost blasé about the costs of Covid precautions — the isolation, unhappiness, health damage, lost learning, inflation, public-transit disruptions and more. Democrats have sometimes focused on minimizing the spread of Covid, regardless of the downsides: Closing schools, for example, almost certainly harms children more than it protects them, given the minuscule rate of severe childhood Covid, even lower than that of severe childhood flu."
You could conclude from this that Leonhardt is telling Democrats to stop worrying about people dying or the pandemic getting worse. It's essentially the GOP narrative that the cure shouldn't be worse than the disease.
Combined with "the economy is terrible" drumbeat, the media is doing its best to grease the skids for a GOP return to power and Trump back in the White House - and it will all be the Democrat's fault for "doing such a terrible job."
Is it wrong that read about the death rate in red states and think, “there’s hope for democracy, yet. We just have to outlive them”. Yes - it’s wrong. But that’s exactly what goes through my head. This pandemic has found the most evil parts of my soul.
These deaths in red states are the result of the heartlessness and ignorance of those who have the responsibility of governing in those states. Your thoughts are not actions, just thoughts and honestly come by. I’ve had them myself.
“Consumers waste time waiting in store lines.” Wait, are you kidding me? We’ve been waiting in store lines forever, and especially with the downsizing of America that happened well before Covid. What a spoiled baby in a bubble Leonhardt is. He lives in an area where he can get his groceries and so much else delivered in a matter of hours if he chooses and has the salary to do so without a thought. Wow, that’s a stretch.
As to all his points, what about the rising costs of health care and the damage to our health care system from the spread of Covid? He completely neglects this. And there was a sobering article in a local PA publication about a recent study that found people who survived Covid in the hospital often die with a year, including younger people.
The callousness of this reporting matches that of the GOP. Instead of talking about those problems as fallout from the pandemic and how they could be alleviated if everyone got vaxxed it’s turned into blame for the people who actually care about saving lives and protecting health. Maddening!
My thoughts exactly. The press behaves as though the world hasn’t been disrupted, turned upside down and inside out by a 21 month and still counting pandemic. We as a country are STILL being traumatized, both by the awful impact of the pandemic and TFG’s administration and we are trying to find our way back to a sense of sanity, safety and a semblance of economic health as a society - not to mention the challenges from the concurrent sabotaging of democracy on the right. And there is no going BACK to anything like pre pandemic normal. Everything ‘normal’ has been upturned and changed since 2016.
Just saw this article written by Robert Reich, who was Secretary of the Department of Labor during the Clinton administration. He doesn't trust most mainstream media, with the exception of the Guardian, so he wrote an article for them:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/09/whats-really-wrong-mainstream-media
This post arrived in my inbox sandwiched between two NY Times articles beating bag news about the economy. One was David Leonhardt desperately trying to both-sides 5 face that while unvaccinated Republicans are keeping the pandemic going, the Democrats are harming people by trying to mitigate it. That confirmed that Leonhardt is a pompous fooll bordering on the level of David Btooks.