I have been thinking that a piece of the problem with the NYT and other news agencies is that we are so beaten down by the constant barrage of Trump's depravity we need comfort. Anything to soften it up. And we buy their papers. Normalizing Trump's republicans can have the effect of reducing anxiety by giving hope that Republicans will become decent people. It is a sick twist, for sure.
This mainstream media’s normalizing of Republicans has been going on for a long time. Long time Republican operator, Stuart Steven has a new book “It was All a Lie” in which he describes how Republicans laid the groundwork for Trump starting decades ago. He includes himself in his searing indictment.
The mainstream media has chosen to ignore or downplay the pervasiveness of racist strategies, of deeply dishonest and nasty political dirty tricks, and blatantly unconstitutional actions Republicans have been using for decades to get elected. For example the media has put GHW Bush on a pedestal as a great man of principle, ignoring or downplaying his deep involvement in the unconstitutional and illegal Iran Contra conspiracy, his repeated lies about that involvement, his withholding evidence in his diary his involvement and last but not least, his pardoning of all of his co-conspirators. Those pardons clearly kept that diary from being used as evidence in their trials. Those pardons were enthusiastically supported by William Barr. This was blatant obstruction of justice which the Independent Counsel, Republican Lawrence Walsh, publicly Called completing the coverup.
The media also knows that Bush lied about personally approving the race-baiting Willie Horton ad because Lee Atwater admitted that fact when he was dying. Just this morning I heard a pundit on Morning Joe point out that Dukakis had been ahead of Bush by 17 points in July. He conveniently omitted to say that was why Bush had approved the Willie Horton ad. It worked our well for him - Dukakis was badly weakened and the media accepted Bush denial that Bush was personally responsible for that reprehensible ad.
My high school journalism teacher would never let us get away with “'Some Say' Some Said “ journalism. It’s not just that two unnamed sources does not equal a trend, but as you point out, there is no groundswell of opposition; the Times wants a horse race where there is none. The Times is missing out on the biggest story of the new millennium (so far) and that’s one of our two political parties has gone nuts —and remember Trump didn’t just win the nomination, he won it with the most support of any GOP candidate in the history of their party. The GOP is Donald Trump, there is no difference.
The true narrative is that an uncertain number of Republicans, operating in near total obscurity, are infinitesimally embarrassed, almost, by Trump. But they can't be bothered to act on such a weak impulse. It would be a fine story to tell, openly and bravely.
Eric: I’m so confused! Thought the WSJ was conservative and the NYT was liberal. So, why is the NYT normalizing the GOP? How is that in their or their readers’ best interests?!
One of my dearest friends lives in DC and is a policy wonk. He deals with republicans who work in the areas where he works. He mirrors the problem here: New York Times political correspondents are bright and talk with equally bright people, so they really think when The Daily Show interviews Trump supporters, it's comedy and not reality. What The Times's mediocrity of an executive editor decried as not understanding the rest of the country in 2016 continues, except not in the way he thinks: The Times refuses to understand that republicans are not simply factually minded people who disagree on the best policies. They are all Louie Gohmert.
As always-great observations. The Times is almost unreadable these days. Yesterday’s front page piece on the ‘Swagger’ of midtown neighborhoods was a great example of the absurdity of its recent ‘journalism’.
A tale of two realities. Inside the “Fox bubble”; things are different.
Which “reality” will prevail? Best not to make assumptions.
And my main concern, given a Biden & significant Democratic victory, how do we reintegrate the Q-Anon, Limbaugh, Alex Jones, III Percent, Trump followers into America?
But first, lets insure the Republican ship does indeed sink.
I have been thinking that a piece of the problem with the NYT and other news agencies is that we are so beaten down by the constant barrage of Trump's depravity we need comfort. Anything to soften it up. And we buy their papers. Normalizing Trump's republicans can have the effect of reducing anxiety by giving hope that Republicans will become decent people. It is a sick twist, for sure.
good pt...also i think newsroom desperately want to believe the GOP hasn't really become what it has.
This mainstream media’s normalizing of Republicans has been going on for a long time. Long time Republican operator, Stuart Steven has a new book “It was All a Lie” in which he describes how Republicans laid the groundwork for Trump starting decades ago. He includes himself in his searing indictment.
The mainstream media has chosen to ignore or downplay the pervasiveness of racist strategies, of deeply dishonest and nasty political dirty tricks, and blatantly unconstitutional actions Republicans have been using for decades to get elected. For example the media has put GHW Bush on a pedestal as a great man of principle, ignoring or downplaying his deep involvement in the unconstitutional and illegal Iran Contra conspiracy, his repeated lies about that involvement, his withholding evidence in his diary his involvement and last but not least, his pardoning of all of his co-conspirators. Those pardons clearly kept that diary from being used as evidence in their trials. Those pardons were enthusiastically supported by William Barr. This was blatant obstruction of justice which the Independent Counsel, Republican Lawrence Walsh, publicly Called completing the coverup.
The media also knows that Bush lied about personally approving the race-baiting Willie Horton ad because Lee Atwater admitted that fact when he was dying. Just this morning I heard a pundit on Morning Joe point out that Dukakis had been ahead of Bush by 17 points in July. He conveniently omitted to say that was why Bush had approved the Willie Horton ad. It worked our well for him - Dukakis was badly weakened and the media accepted Bush denial that Bush was personally responsible for that reprehensible ad.
https://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/jeb-bush-willie-horton-118061
Reagan has gotten similar hagiographic treatment by the media.
My high school journalism teacher would never let us get away with “'Some Say' Some Said “ journalism. It’s not just that two unnamed sources does not equal a trend, but as you point out, there is no groundswell of opposition; the Times wants a horse race where there is none. The Times is missing out on the biggest story of the new millennium (so far) and that’s one of our two political parties has gone nuts —and remember Trump didn’t just win the nomination, he won it with the most support of any GOP candidate in the history of their party. The GOP is Donald Trump, there is no difference.
The true narrative is that an uncertain number of Republicans, operating in near total obscurity, are infinitesimally embarrassed, almost, by Trump. But they can't be bothered to act on such a weak impulse. It would be a fine story to tell, openly and bravely.
correct! NYT desperately wants us to believe that tiny group = huge portions of GOP
If NYT wants us to buy this rhetoric, where are all the iconic "diner interviews" with disheartened Trump supporters?
that’s such a good point!
Eric: I’m so confused! Thought the WSJ was conservative and the NYT was liberal. So, why is the NYT normalizing the GOP? How is that in their or their readers’ best interests?!
It's in the best interests of the stockholders of the propaganda rag that lied us into a war that killed my son.
Trump brings in the cash, just like the endless character assassinations the Times did on Hillary, Bill and Al Gore.
Sorry to hear about your son.
But aren’t the NYT stockholders AND the stakeholders liberal? If not NYT, from whom can we read an accurate yet liberal perspective?
I do not trust the American media at all. I get my news by reading the UK Guardian, The Economist and I listen to BBC News.
One of my dearest friends lives in DC and is a policy wonk. He deals with republicans who work in the areas where he works. He mirrors the problem here: New York Times political correspondents are bright and talk with equally bright people, so they really think when The Daily Show interviews Trump supporters, it's comedy and not reality. What The Times's mediocrity of an executive editor decried as not understanding the rest of the country in 2016 continues, except not in the way he thinks: The Times refuses to understand that republicans are not simply factually minded people who disagree on the best policies. They are all Louie Gohmert.
As always-great observations. The Times is almost unreadable these days. Yesterday’s front page piece on the ‘Swagger’ of midtown neighborhoods was a great example of the absurdity of its recent ‘journalism’.
I also thought that piece was odd
Mr. Boehlert,
Please also remember the NYT is “ground zero” for the “liberal media” (caps optional) argument.
A better argument is that Trump’s approval ratings among Republicans has dropped about 10%.
Another telling argument will be how tightly Republicans tie themselves to Trump in the general election.
Really does seem GOP wants to go down w/ the ship
A tale of two realities. Inside the “Fox bubble”; things are different.
Which “reality” will prevail? Best not to make assumptions.
And my main concern, given a Biden & significant Democratic victory, how do we reintegrate the Q-Anon, Limbaugh, Alex Jones, III Percent, Trump followers into America?
But first, lets insure the Republican ship does indeed sink.
You can't. They will continue to radicalize the Republican Party.
Joe,
What then do we do with the, say, 50 million dedicated Trumpistas?
And party membership has dropped significantly so that is 10% of a much smaller number than when Trump took office.
Maggie’s acess to Trump, I assume he talks to her regularly, is extremely important to NYT