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On the Trump CV+ dx: can we focus more attention on "arrived too late to be tested" before the debate? Because if ever there were an official excuse with the unmistakeable stink of Trumpian prevarication all over it, that one is right up there with Bone Spurs. Consider: the couldn't POSSIBLY cancel out the first debate under the headline "Trump fails CV test!" And they couldn't possibly drop the plan of having his entourage drop their masks (symbolism worthy of Poe) during the debate because mocking Biden for masking was an essential part of Trump's schtick. You want schadenfreude, just imagine the panic in the inner court. Check the expression on Melania's face on the debate stage for a taste. This is the real torpedo-below-the-waterline, and they aimed it at themselves. They knew, I guarantee it.

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Bothsiderism is in the kernel code of beltway journos. It's almost fun watching them flounder with it as it becomes more and more out of phase with reality. Kinda like they're stuck with Windows 98 and there's just no patch that will keep it running anymore, but all their systems depend on it.

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“It's a lazy narrative that lets the press avoid telling ugly truths about today's GOP.”

Actually, the DC press corps has Bering doing that since Reagan, maybe a little longer. Only exception that comes to mind is the repulsion over Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate. No substantive push back against any GOP initiative, act or whatever comes to mind. It’s not just Fox; the entire corporate DC press corp is all in for the GOP. Pretty obvious that this has not served the nation well, to say the least.

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Does anyone here remember Media Whores Online? I so miss that web site.

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Hey Eric how bout the White House Press Corps grow a spine and tell the White House no masks no press conference? Instead they enable the WH's reckless if not criminal behavior e.g. a just tested positive Kayleigh McEnany speaking to them maskless.

They enable as well as suffer for it (three reporters infected.)

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You should’ve gone one step further: the GOP is no longer a conventional political party but a radical faction hostile to the rule of law and democratic norms and traditions. The Mueller report and the Senate Intelligence report definitively that the GOP is a conduit for Russian disinformation, and it’s attempts to slow the mail, question the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, threatening local election boards to dismiss those ballots, eliminating polling places and drop boxes in Democratic counties, and deploying poll watchers to intimidate voters is the stuff of a fascist regime. Republicans are not only guilty of malfeasance fee, they’re domestic enemies.

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founding

Yesterday I was trying to get info on Trump’s drive by. My google search showed cheery headlines about Trump taking around the hospital so he could wave to supporters from outlets like NPR, USA Today an other major news outlets. The one exception was this headline:

“ ‘This is insanity’: Walter Reed physician among critics of Donald Trump drive-by visit“. It was from The Guardian, a British publication. The Guardian then published tweets from that same physician, James Phillips, doctor of emergency medicine at George Washington University, who is an attending physician at Walter Reed:

“Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die,” he wrote in a tweet.

“For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”

and this tweet from Phillips:

“That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/04/trump-walter-reed-drive-by-visit-criticism

(Ironically Dr. Phillips is on my TeeVee as I am writing this reaffirming how reckless Trump’s drive-by was.)

There were a lot of tweets from respected people like Norman Ornstein and medical experts who were all making it clear just how much risk Trump was exposing his protective staff to. In contrast much of the print media just swallowed the Trump PR whole just like they did when Reagan’s people hid the fact that he nearly died after he was shot.

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Here in Kansas, the GOP sued to overturn the Democrat Governor's mandates to help curb the virus. This is contributing to the continued issues with the virus in this state!

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What good is objectivity on its own if the public isn’t being told the truth about who is causing our political problems?

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This is perfect.

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I only read Politico Playbook because another newsletter I subscribe to makes fun of it all the time. Especially the vital news on birthdays and weddings.

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Politico’s go-to headline is *always* the “Dems in disarray” trope.

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If you get a chance, see Dawes live. They are amazing.

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Eric, I would love to hear your perspective on why, finally, the media seems to have turned the corner on Trump. Sort of. They continued to cater to him while he bullied them, put them in pens, incited violence towards them during his rallies, savaged their peers, withheld information from them, etc etc etc. Why are they speaking up now? And of course I'd love to hear from anyone else who wants to chime in. Thanks.

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