I'll be even more blunt...the WH and more than a few anchors will shoulder more than a small portion of the blame for the slow-moving horror show that is overtaking our country. Had they vetted Trump before the primaries, he never would have risen to the presidency. Had they put the same level of diligence into Trump's tax returns as Hillary's emails, we never would have reached the point of impeachment. Had they covered the Mueller report as it was written (vs as interpreted by Barr), there would have been far more support far earlier for impeachment. Had they continued to question why Jared Kushner had an instant messaging relationship with MBS, we might understand the danger that this soulless puppet has wrought over the past 3.5 years. Had they forced Trump to answer questions about the dangers posed by the looming pandemic instead of allowing contradictory and ignorant answers and deflections to stand, 100,000 lives or more would not be in jeopardy. Had they forced answers to the absence of PPE, we wouldn't have doctors falling ill and dying. History will rightfully harshly judge those who had the opportunity to act as the final rail of democracy, protecting the vulnerable from an administration that, with reckless negligence or deliberate malice, are allowing tens of thousands to die. My hope is that a fearless writer will document, naming names, those in the media who so shamefully abdicated their fundamental role in our society, and ignored empathy for access.
We need a "Fire Joe Morgan" for political coverage.
Tired: "Jared Kushner, the President's son in law, is handling covid 19 response for federal government despite his lack of qualifications. Damn this nepotism!"
Wired: "Jared Kushner is handling covid 19 response for federal government despite his lack of necessary qualifications. Per X, an expert on organized crime who worked for Y for Z years, Kushner's unlikely role reflects the notion that cooperation between fathers and sons or sons-in-law is a common organized criminal relationship."
This is how you move the conversation forward instead repeating the same thing for 3 years and avoid a pandemic that kills 200,000 people.
His profiteer friends are making a lot of money off this battle between the states and other countries for supplies. It is very Halliburton/Black Water-esque Why use an easily replicated test from the WHO when companies can make a bundle from the government? I believe he secretly revels in the idea of so many deaths. He is not as smart as Ted Bundy, but he is a narcissistic sociopath. It is also very Ayn Rand, though i think he is hoping for more Dem deaths...
Someone should be asking how the free market is working during a hunt for scarce resources during a pandemic and why he is insisting on using this approach. Someone also needs to follow up on the Kushner nonsense, though i hope to never see him on television again.
He is only Randian when it comes to other people. When it comes to himself he expects to be coddled, praised and propped up no matter how badly he failed.
We need to remember one salient fact about Trump crime family, and that is this: They use scandal to cover up the malice at the heart of their policy decisions, and they then use incompetence to cover up the scandals. They want people to buy into the "Jared is a moron" narrative, because that gives cover to the insidious attack on the norms of balance of power and checks and balances essential to a functioning democracy.
Conservative right-wing GOP types have long operated on the cold-blooded premise that people who don't vote for them don't deserve any "handouts," as they love to label public services.
It's all about maintaining power, privatizing government and enriching themselves by any and all means possible, which explains the unholy alliance between the godless grifters surrounding Trump and the clueless evangelical "leaders" who are likewise in the business of fleecing their followers.
Thank you, Eric, for calling out the media's abject failure to see past the "objectivity" and "tell both sides of the story" that USED to be foundational for journalism, but can no longer be the roadmap for any self-respecting reporter.
I don’t think it was wrong to comment on the change in Trump’s tone but not if there isn’t any attempt to explain the reasons for it. The only person I have seen do this is Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair. According to Sherman:
“Trump’s latest tonal and tactical shift (and almost certainly not the last) was driven by several factors, both personal and political. Trump learned that his close friend, 78-year-old New York real estate mogul Stan Chera, had contracted COVID-19 and fallen into a coma at NewYork-Presbyterian. “Boy, did that hit home. Stan is like one of his best friends,” said prominent New York Trump donor Bill White. Trump also grew concerned as the virus spread to Trump country. “The polling sucked. The campaign panicked about the numbers in red states. They don’t expect to win states that are getting blown to pieces with coronavirus,” a former West Wing official told me. “
“The campaign doesn’t matter anymore,” he recently told a friend, “what I do now will determine if I get reelected.”
So the fact that someone close to Trump has gotten seriously ill scared him which is typical of so many Republicans. They don’t care about serious problems unless it personally affects them or those they care about. J
And of course the second reason is that Trump is finally realizing it could kill his reelection if Trump country gets hit hard. What that tells me is that he really is deep into magical thinking.....
How could anyone not realize from the start that this was going to happen, especially if the governors of red states were refusing to act?
Great job, as always. Here's the problem: the Boston Globe said this in an editorial. New York Times columnists and editorial writers have done a good job on #trumpvirus. It's the political reporters who are the total failures.
I always think of the Anthony Lewis comment about writing a column. When The Times gave him a column, he went back to DC from London, spent a week there, and then took off for Boston because, he said, he realized he couldn't write honestly from there. I get it--I don't think I'd be any better. But I continue to chuckle at the circle you-know-what that goes on among people who cover politics.
I remember Russell Baker saying nearly 20 years ago that the best political analysis of the Bush administration was being done from an office in the economics department at Princeton--namely, Krugman, who didn't have to worry about those connections. My nasty comment is that they are all too busy trying to make sure they're welcome at lunch.
I'll be even more blunt...the WH and more than a few anchors will shoulder more than a small portion of the blame for the slow-moving horror show that is overtaking our country. Had they vetted Trump before the primaries, he never would have risen to the presidency. Had they put the same level of diligence into Trump's tax returns as Hillary's emails, we never would have reached the point of impeachment. Had they covered the Mueller report as it was written (vs as interpreted by Barr), there would have been far more support far earlier for impeachment. Had they continued to question why Jared Kushner had an instant messaging relationship with MBS, we might understand the danger that this soulless puppet has wrought over the past 3.5 years. Had they forced Trump to answer questions about the dangers posed by the looming pandemic instead of allowing contradictory and ignorant answers and deflections to stand, 100,000 lives or more would not be in jeopardy. Had they forced answers to the absence of PPE, we wouldn't have doctors falling ill and dying. History will rightfully harshly judge those who had the opportunity to act as the final rail of democracy, protecting the vulnerable from an administration that, with reckless negligence or deliberate malice, are allowing tens of thousands to die. My hope is that a fearless writer will document, naming names, those in the media who so shamefully abdicated their fundamental role in our society, and ignored empathy for access.
I agree. The press is complicit in so much of this
We need a "Fire Joe Morgan" for political coverage.
Tired: "Jared Kushner, the President's son in law, is handling covid 19 response for federal government despite his lack of qualifications. Damn this nepotism!"
Wired: "Jared Kushner is handling covid 19 response for federal government despite his lack of necessary qualifications. Per X, an expert on organized crime who worked for Y for Z years, Kushner's unlikely role reflects the notion that cooperation between fathers and sons or sons-in-law is a common organized criminal relationship."
This is how you move the conversation forward instead repeating the same thing for 3 years and avoid a pandemic that kills 200,000 people.
His profiteer friends are making a lot of money off this battle between the states and other countries for supplies. It is very Halliburton/Black Water-esque Why use an easily replicated test from the WHO when companies can make a bundle from the government? I believe he secretly revels in the idea of so many deaths. He is not as smart as Ted Bundy, but he is a narcissistic sociopath. It is also very Ayn Rand, though i think he is hoping for more Dem deaths...
narcissistic sociopath, no doubt. and press won’t touch topic
Someone should be asking how the free market is working during a hunt for scarce resources during a pandemic and why he is insisting on using this approach. Someone also needs to follow up on the Kushner nonsense, though i hope to never see him on television again.
yeah, didn't seeing Kushner yesterday feel like kick in the stomach?
Yes; total feeling of dread. I wanted to scream. Is that how it feels when the Antichrist is present? He is very Omen-y.
He is only Randian when it comes to other people. When it comes to himself he expects to be coddled, praised and propped up no matter how badly he failed.
We need to remember one salient fact about Trump crime family, and that is this: They use scandal to cover up the malice at the heart of their policy decisions, and they then use incompetence to cover up the scandals. They want people to buy into the "Jared is a moron" narrative, because that gives cover to the insidious attack on the norms of balance of power and checks and balances essential to a functioning democracy.
Conservative right-wing GOP types have long operated on the cold-blooded premise that people who don't vote for them don't deserve any "handouts," as they love to label public services.
It's all about maintaining power, privatizing government and enriching themselves by any and all means possible, which explains the unholy alliance between the godless grifters surrounding Trump and the clueless evangelical "leaders" who are likewise in the business of fleecing their followers.
Thank you, Eric, for calling out the media's abject failure to see past the "objectivity" and "tell both sides of the story" that USED to be foundational for journalism, but can no longer be the roadmap for any self-respecting reporter.
I don’t think it was wrong to comment on the change in Trump’s tone but not if there isn’t any attempt to explain the reasons for it. The only person I have seen do this is Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair. According to Sherman:
“Trump’s latest tonal and tactical shift (and almost certainly not the last) was driven by several factors, both personal and political. Trump learned that his close friend, 78-year-old New York real estate mogul Stan Chera, had contracted COVID-19 and fallen into a coma at NewYork-Presbyterian. “Boy, did that hit home. Stan is like one of his best friends,” said prominent New York Trump donor Bill White. Trump also grew concerned as the virus spread to Trump country. “The polling sucked. The campaign panicked about the numbers in red states. They don’t expect to win states that are getting blown to pieces with coronavirus,” a former West Wing official told me. “
“The campaign doesn’t matter anymore,” he recently told a friend, “what I do now will determine if I get reelected.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/inside-trumps-decision-to-back-off-of-his-easter-coronavirus-miracle
So the fact that someone close to Trump has gotten seriously ill scared him which is typical of so many Republicans. They don’t care about serious problems unless it personally affects them or those they care about. J
And of course the second reason is that Trump is finally realizing it could kill his reelection if Trump country gets hit hard. What that tells me is that he really is deep into magical thinking.....
How could anyone not realize from the start that this was going to happen, especially if the governors of red states were refusing to act?
Great job, as always. Here's the problem: the Boston Globe said this in an editorial. New York Times columnists and editorial writers have done a good job on #trumpvirus. It's the political reporters who are the total failures.
DC bureaus continue to be the weak link
I always think of the Anthony Lewis comment about writing a column. When The Times gave him a column, he went back to DC from London, spent a week there, and then took off for Boston because, he said, he realized he couldn't write honestly from there. I get it--I don't think I'd be any better. But I continue to chuckle at the circle you-know-what that goes on among people who cover politics.
Oh wow such a good point....and it certainly worked well for Lewis!
I remember Russell Baker saying nearly 20 years ago that the best political analysis of the Bush administration was being done from an office in the economics department at Princeton--namely, Krugman, who didn't have to worry about those connections. My nasty comment is that they are all too busy trying to make sure they're welcome at lunch.
it’s absolutely true that there’s desire for access and desire to acceptance inside Beltway that taints coverage
By refusing to take off the gloves with trump the media is only an extension of trumps lies!
In a nutshell trump COVID 19 policy is - if everything else fails, follow directions!
Typo change “who is now” to “who he is now”