"So why is the press ignoring the huge political blunder by the GOP?" The narrative about the midterms has already been written, as has the narrative about Trump's affinity for murderous dictators like Putin and Kim: he doesn't just admire them, he wants them to like him...like a lovesick teenager wants the cool kid to look their way. This man-child ignoramus IS the Republican party, and the media still doesn't know how to cover this existential threat to our democracy.
Longer than that. I remember all the way back to the 1980s when he was obviously an amoral scumbag, yet he was hero-worshipped by the press the way they always grovel before extremely wealthy people - which is how rich men from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein - can carry on for many years without ever being held accountable for anything.
Clearly Republican advisors must think the Putin worship is now a huge political blunder. Trump changed his tune when he spoke at CPAC, calling Zelensky “brave” then saying "the Russian attack on Ukraine is appalling. We are praying for the proud people of Ukraine. God bless them all.”
Tucker Carlson also did a 180, saying that war is always a tragedy and that Putin is to blame for what we are seeing in Ukraine.
I also saw a video of a reporter at CPAC asking Pompeo what he thought now about what Putin is doing. Unlike the other three Pompeo didn’t condemn it, he said that he has never supported a “communist” dictator, which Putin isn’t. I bet he called Frank Luntz to tell him what weasel words to use for his non-denial denial.
Of course all of them are blaming Biden’s weakness for the Putin’s actions.
Why isn’t the media giving more attention to this story? Not only is it proof that you can’t believe a word these guys say, it also shows that Republicans are seeing something in their polling that scares them. Even the crazies at CPAC are beginning to back away from Trump. Although they voted for Trump as their next candidate, it was by lower numbers than last time. Unfortunately their second choice was DeSantos, the slightly less crazy Trump.
I used to think DeSantis was not as extreme as pretends but I changed my mind after he took his wife to those unmasked, crowded events shortly after she had had breast cancer treatments. Unless he wants her to die, he is nuts — just not as crazy as Trump, but not rational.
Yeah, everyone loves a winner. When the public turns, the usual suspects change their uniforms. Who can forget how the Republicans turned on a dime against Dubya and become the Tea Party following the crash? They never heard of him, and they pretty much officially memory-holed him.
Yeah, that was fun to watch. I wish they would do that to Trump. On the other hand, their adherence to Trump only helps Democrats in the midterms and the 2024 presidential election. So, more power to them.
Other rightwing crazies were playing the Communist card too. I called out Wendy Rogers, another idiot Republican darling, who was calling Putin a communist on Twitter. The language she was using sounded like a coordinated messaging campaign, like they’re trying to reinstate the Cold War, except this time, they’re siding with Russia. And I think, just based on the buildup and language being used by a lot of these people who initially defended Putin, is that they are laying the foundation for an invasion into Taiwan, another Putin objective China seems to have allied with him to achieve.
The responsibility of the Republican Party for also not neutralizing Trump should not be discounted. They have had ample opportunity to do so, but for some weird reason, they won’t, even though he is poison for the election.
They won’t speculate that the Republican stance will hurt them in November because it won’t. And it won’t hurt them in November because our media stars won’t let it hurt them. Several Republicans, including Trump, are begrudgingly moving off their explicit pro-Putin stances, and our media will decide “Hey it took them a couple of days but they got there. Now let’s talk about CRT.” Now until November.
They can’t deal with the Republican Party as it is. They have to make up an idealized Republican Party in their minds, and cover that.
The problem with this is polling is not going along with it. People are seeing the Republican Party for who they are now, hence the 80% number, despite the media’s best efforts to shield them from accountability. Sometimes I wonder if their clinging to this Communist, Cold War narrative is a desperate attempt to just keep their aging audience intact as they lose everyone’s else from GenX down.
Why is the press so reluctant to write about Republican support for Putin? Obviously because of the tacit hands-off policy towards the GOP and Trump, except to gleefully report on everything that imbecile does and says. I was saddened to see that C-SPAN broadcast his speech before the big right wingnut conference last week. And disappointed that his clearly stated intention to run in 2024 was portrayed in WaPo as a "hint." I'm getting very tired of having the press insulting my intelligence almost daily.
Peter Baker’s weekend analysis of the Ukrainian situation mentioned Trump’s first impeachment, describing it as “all but forgotten.” Now, why would that be when it should be central to any story involving Ukraine and it’s self defense against the Russian invasion? Also missing was any reference to the 7/4/18 “trip” to Moscow by sitting GOP members to discuss how they could help minimize/reduce sanctions against Putin. Add in Paul Manafort, the Trump platform plank moving away from Ukraine, and Trump’s constant undermining of NATO and our European alliances.
All of this and the GOP “flip-flopping” on Russia and Ukraine should be everywhere. We cannot allow the media to whitewash the GOP’s undemocratic and treasonous behavior. Add to this, the media are trying to paint Biden not as the leader of the Western/world response but as weak and running behind the Europeans—the Wapo story about removing Russia from SWIFT quoted on “unnamed US official” and one “unnamed European official” saying the admin was left “scrambling” to catch up with the European moves.
Prior to the invasion, the media doubted the intelligence and all but accused Biden of wagging the dog. Praise for him and Blinken has been minimal, with the press portraying European unity as if it were spontaneous and constantly asking either where we went wrong, what we could have done better, or what more we could have done to prevent this. As well as why aren’t we doing more?!!!!
And they are already beating the inflation drum, painting it is possibly spiraling out of control due to the disruption to the energy market. Funny, have not seen much about the Saudis and UAE refusing to work with us to keep oil prices down.
All I saw over the weekend was one rightwing politician and pundit after another beating the drum about America ending our foreign oil dependency by only drilling domestically. It is so stupid. America doesn’t have enough oil to sustain demand. All it would accomplish is ruining the Alaska wildlife reserve, among other rightwing fever dream places and causing countless environmental problems. But Republicans never miss an opportunity to pull out that tired old trope. So, I think this is their reason for not bringing attention to the Saudis and UAE.
And how can I forget that Russian media is playing comments but Trump, Carlson, Pompeo etc on a loop? That should be mentioned everywhere as well. "But her emails!"
Damn, I completely forgot about the Moscow trip. Wish I had included a reference to it in my latest newsletter.
And yes, it is infuriating that the MSM is determined to go along with the GOP/Russian talking points to paint Biden as weak and ineffectual, when he has spearheaded all of it from the beginning.
Question: "Why won’t the D.C. press put that in political perspective?" Answer: "It’s the right wing’s billion-dollar media infrastructure." Our pipeline for communication which should carry clear information to the public has been hijacked and now has sewage flowing through it.
Like when the D’s put on amazing Convention programming in 2020- using all the ingenuity/creative thinking they could - and Rs just ‘used the White House as a backdrop’ - with a zillion flags, etc (AGAINST PROTOCOL) - but got away with it… that one still burns me🔥 (They just shamelessly cheat instead of doing the work - on everything it seems.?!)
"Forever presenting Republicans as being savvy and outmaneuvering Democrats"
- And Repubs are not even really savvy. They're just shameless. And clearly, the press thinks January 6th is a one-off. I think the midterms are going to be more tense than ever. Like everything else these days, it all comes back to 45*. I will never not be amazed at the press bowing down to a man who once put a line of steaks in Sharper Image.
And will the elite press acknowledge how Biden has so far seemed to work successfully to let European leaders get to where he's been on the Russian offensive rather than playing the big brother? How his 50 years of political experience, including 8 years as VP, is proving to be invaluable in a time of global crisis? Nope. To be clear, I'm not a fan of Biden, but the state of the Republican Party - which is the result of a trajectory set by Nixon and given given greater momentum by Reagan (Recall the "welfare queen" campaign theme.) - has made me more appreciative of Biden.
I have never been enamored with the Republican party, recognizing that their agenda is even more repugnant than their leaders. However, it is now clear that America and the Free World face their greatest enemies in both Russia and the GOP. If the Madman of Russia triggers Article 5 of NATO and draws us into war, and certain GOP members and Russian propaganda outlets such as Fox continue to give succor to the enemy, I hope the appropriate authorities come for them.
The American media is a double edged sword. They appear to inform but they also stoke the political divide, widening the gulf between the so called left and right. And the Left is easier to beat in the media as they are themselves splintered in their own ideologies. The political tornado that exist is the creation of the press, a tornado they willingly and greedily devour to keep their papers relevant. This is Political Cancer.
I always ask a version of the same question. The Beltway media has been consistently as unforgiving of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris as they have of softening the indefensible pro-authoritarian rhetoric of the party-f/k/a-the GOP, yet the NYT is selling record millions of subscriptions. Who is buying what they're selling?
Many American mainstream media outlets during the administration of the Tangerine Turdblossom marketed themselves as the so-called "defenders of press freedom" knowing the insecure jackass was attacking the journalists asking him tough questions while also desperately seeking their attention.
That bought them eyeballs, clicks and subscriptions because the American public was following the fights between Dolt 45 & the press like it was a reality TV program or a WWE wrestling feud.
That's why the mainstream media hasn't been able to come down from the sugar high of covering the Orange Ballsack, they're still looking for the thrill & excitement that they're not able to appreciate the challenges faced by the Biden administration in rebuilding America.
That's why they're so focused on creating negative narratives against him & the Dems because they don't want to deal with the "boring" policy discussions that benefit the American people.
Re-Posting something I wrote on last Friday's Press Run that's still relevant to share:
During the Cold War, the previous administrations of the U.S. government had to rationalize their support of authoritarian regimes in East, Southeast & Central Asia (including the Philippines), and Central & South America.
Your government's very ironic justification for their support of those undemocratic governments was the supposed defense of democracy worldwide which ended up hurting America's reputation as a champion for democracy.
Nowadays, the GOP has a very lazy justification for embracing Putin that can be summarized in caveman speak; "Putin Strong Biden Weak!!!"
I don't understand their dumb idea to frame Biden as a weak & inept leader when he's working together with NATO in finding a solution to stop the war.
Added extra stupidity points for Faux, Newsmax, O.A.N.N. & other right-wing media outlets for claiming the Tangerine Ballsack was tough on Putin despite the existence of photographic & video evidence showing the complete & total opposite.
Seriously, the GOP has completely devolved from a right-of-center political party into a death cult & hate group promoting white minority authoritarian rule.
Our Failed Political Press ™ is actually consistent on something: they love a strongman. Just a quick search on the terms New York Times and Hitler shows a similar pattern of “Don’t worry about him” responses.
Back in the 20s and 30s the American Press had a love affair with Mussolini gloating how he made the trains run on time. Especially the Lucepress which endlessly praised Il Duce in Time and especially Fortune.
Is it just possible, and I'm being totally serious here, that money from Russia is finding its way into the bank accounts of a number of Republicans? I tend to think that the easiest explanation is usually the most obvious one. I would think that's a reason Republicans would be against the sanctions. How will they get paid? As for the media... They've been in bed with the Republicans for years now. They favor Republicans because that party wants nothing to do with regulation and taxes. If you are Rupert Murdoch or other billionaire owners of the media, why wouldn't you want to root for the party that doesn't want their "hard earned" money going into the pockets of lazy Americans (obvious code there) just looking for a handout? Right? And exactly what would Tucker Carlson do about our manufactured problem with our southern border, invade Mexico? Hey Tucker, if you ever get to go visit your idol Vlad Putin, don't forget your kneepads.
Russians pumped millions into the NRA which then pumped millions into GOP coffers. There was also an infuriating article in the Dallas Morning News a few years ago about Russians giving money to GOP candidates. Will look for it.
Remember that Ron Johnsonwax was one of the Treasonous 8 who spent July 4th 2018 in Moscow...probably getting his marching orders from his GRU handlers...
I have heard it mentioned that Russian money has been finding its way into Republican coffers. Remember the uproar when it was suggested — wrongly — that Gore was getting donations from Chinese nationals living in the US? The media obsessed about that but can’t be bothered investigating Russian money going to Republicans.
Russian corruption even worse and far more blatant in the UK. London has been the capital of Russian money laundering for years. Russian oligarchs living in the UK have been giving a lot of money to Tories who pretend that they have no ties to Putin.
Boris Johnson and his fellow Tories tried their best to prevent an investigation into Russian interference in their elections and the Brexit referendum in particular. Brexit was a Putin fever dream come true. When the Tories were finally forced to release the results of that investigation it was heavily redacted.
Oligarch money seeps into all aspects of the UK society, corrupting even their elite private schools.
Even the Guardian published the story as commentary. That's what newspapers do. They're afraid they'll be sued if such volatile stories are presented as analysis instead of opinion.
Russia funneled money into the NRA, thus funneling money into the pockets of GOP politicians. At least that is the prevailing theory I’ve researched so far. It would explain why so many in the GOP have been so pro-Putin. And you can bet Trump took campaign money from Putin.
"As I noted last week, what’s unfolding within the GOP would have been like in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait if members of the Democratic Party had praised Saddam Hussein. The media condemnations would have rained down without pause, as would have predictions of the party’s electoral ruin."
[snip]
"It’s hard to recall the last time a political party landed so awkwardly on the wrong side of a breaking news story. Why won’t the D.C. press put that in political perspective?"
It's been over forty years that the mainstream's Beltway press has treated the parties as the same. With the GOP, it's nearly all see, hear, speak no evil. In other words, the complaint in the post is very, very old and has been ongoing forever.
The real problem is that what the mainstream supports by supporting the GOP is, like the GOP, ever more insane. The GOP says what it has to say to attract votes -- an excuse even if a shitty one. The media, though, has no acceptable excuse. And, yet again, by their choices in supporting a party that, among other things, is literally killing Americans is literally harmful.
As for Russian domestic coverage, they're apparently relying on commentary from Carlson and POTUS-wannabe Tulsi Gabbard.
"So why is the press ignoring the huge political blunder by the GOP?" The narrative about the midterms has already been written, as has the narrative about Trump's affinity for murderous dictators like Putin and Kim: he doesn't just admire them, he wants them to like him...like a lovesick teenager wants the cool kid to look their way. This man-child ignoramus IS the Republican party, and the media still doesn't know how to cover this existential threat to our democracy.
still, after 6 yrs doesn't know how to cover him
I think you're giving them to much credit. If course they know how he should be covered. The press moguls don't want him covered that way.
Longer than that. I remember all the way back to the 1980s when he was obviously an amoral scumbag, yet he was hero-worshipped by the press the way they always grovel before extremely wealthy people - which is how rich men from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein - can carry on for many years without ever being held accountable for anything.
(Or, as Mary tRump says: “He benefitted from 40 years of myth-making…” 😒)
Clearly Republican advisors must think the Putin worship is now a huge political blunder. Trump changed his tune when he spoke at CPAC, calling Zelensky “brave” then saying "the Russian attack on Ukraine is appalling. We are praying for the proud people of Ukraine. God bless them all.”
Tucker Carlson also did a 180, saying that war is always a tragedy and that Putin is to blame for what we are seeing in Ukraine.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/02/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-praise
JD Vance, the millionaire hillbilly, has also flip-flopped suddenly deciding that what is going on in Ukraine is “unquestionably a tragedy”.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-backpedals-by-declaring-ukraine-invasion-a-tragedy-days-after-saying-he-couldnt-care-less
I also saw a video of a reporter at CPAC asking Pompeo what he thought now about what Putin is doing. Unlike the other three Pompeo didn’t condemn it, he said that he has never supported a “communist” dictator, which Putin isn’t. I bet he called Frank Luntz to tell him what weasel words to use for his non-denial denial.
Of course all of them are blaming Biden’s weakness for the Putin’s actions.
Why isn’t the media giving more attention to this story? Not only is it proof that you can’t believe a word these guys say, it also shows that Republicans are seeing something in their polling that scares them. Even the crazies at CPAC are beginning to back away from Trump. Although they voted for Trump as their next candidate, it was by lower numbers than last time. Unfortunately their second choice was DeSantos, the slightly less crazy Trump.
yes, was funny to see Pompeo play the "communist" card
DeSantis is slightly less crazy but what scares me is that he's a lot smarter than Trump. But in all fairness, a squirrel is a lot smarter than Trump.
I used to think DeSantis was not as extreme as pretends but I changed my mind after he took his wife to those unmasked, crowded events shortly after she had had breast cancer treatments. Unless he wants her to die, he is nuts — just not as crazy as Trump, but not rational.
But he IS lucky… ( and that can make up for a lot of ground, sorry to say)…
Yeah, everyone loves a winner. When the public turns, the usual suspects change their uniforms. Who can forget how the Republicans turned on a dime against Dubya and become the Tea Party following the crash? They never heard of him, and they pretty much officially memory-holed him.
Yeah, that was fun to watch. I wish they would do that to Trump. On the other hand, their adherence to Trump only helps Democrats in the midterms and the 2024 presidential election. So, more power to them.
So SICK of people keeping their remarks in line with the latest polling numbers… just wow.
Other rightwing crazies were playing the Communist card too. I called out Wendy Rogers, another idiot Republican darling, who was calling Putin a communist on Twitter. The language she was using sounded like a coordinated messaging campaign, like they’re trying to reinstate the Cold War, except this time, they’re siding with Russia. And I think, just based on the buildup and language being used by a lot of these people who initially defended Putin, is that they are laying the foundation for an invasion into Taiwan, another Putin objective China seems to have allied with him to achieve.
Hope you’re right…
The responsibility of the Republican Party for also not neutralizing Trump should not be discounted. They have had ample opportunity to do so, but for some weird reason, they won’t, even though he is poison for the election.
They won’t speculate that the Republican stance will hurt them in November because it won’t. And it won’t hurt them in November because our media stars won’t let it hurt them. Several Republicans, including Trump, are begrudgingly moving off their explicit pro-Putin stances, and our media will decide “Hey it took them a couple of days but they got there. Now let’s talk about CRT.” Now until November.
They can’t deal with the Republican Party as it is. They have to make up an idealized Republican Party in their minds, and cover that.
agreed, "traitorous" is just not a word the press feels comfortable using to describing GOP men
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
Perfect quote for the moment.
They’d lose the horserace narrative COMPLETELY…? It’s such an easy ‘template’, if you will…
The Completely Corrupted Corporate Controlled Conservative Press is complicit. Period.
The problem with this is polling is not going along with it. People are seeing the Republican Party for who they are now, hence the 80% number, despite the media’s best efforts to shield them from accountability. Sometimes I wonder if their clinging to this Communist, Cold War narrative is a desperate attempt to just keep their aging audience intact as they lose everyone’s else from GenX down.
Why is the press so reluctant to write about Republican support for Putin? Obviously because of the tacit hands-off policy towards the GOP and Trump, except to gleefully report on everything that imbecile does and says. I was saddened to see that C-SPAN broadcast his speech before the big right wingnut conference last week. And disappointed that his clearly stated intention to run in 2024 was portrayed in WaPo as a "hint." I'm getting very tired of having the press insulting my intelligence almost daily.
Yep.
The state of the union front loading has begun: bad, really bad, or terrible? Thanks AP.
Peter Baker’s weekend analysis of the Ukrainian situation mentioned Trump’s first impeachment, describing it as “all but forgotten.” Now, why would that be when it should be central to any story involving Ukraine and it’s self defense against the Russian invasion? Also missing was any reference to the 7/4/18 “trip” to Moscow by sitting GOP members to discuss how they could help minimize/reduce sanctions against Putin. Add in Paul Manafort, the Trump platform plank moving away from Ukraine, and Trump’s constant undermining of NATO and our European alliances.
All of this and the GOP “flip-flopping” on Russia and Ukraine should be everywhere. We cannot allow the media to whitewash the GOP’s undemocratic and treasonous behavior. Add to this, the media are trying to paint Biden not as the leader of the Western/world response but as weak and running behind the Europeans—the Wapo story about removing Russia from SWIFT quoted on “unnamed US official” and one “unnamed European official” saying the admin was left “scrambling” to catch up with the European moves.
Prior to the invasion, the media doubted the intelligence and all but accused Biden of wagging the dog. Praise for him and Blinken has been minimal, with the press portraying European unity as if it were spontaneous and constantly asking either where we went wrong, what we could have done better, or what more we could have done to prevent this. As well as why aren’t we doing more?!!!!
It’s maddening to follow.
And they are already beating the inflation drum, painting it is possibly spiraling out of control due to the disruption to the energy market. Funny, have not seen much about the Saudis and UAE refusing to work with us to keep oil prices down.
All I saw over the weekend was one rightwing politician and pundit after another beating the drum about America ending our foreign oil dependency by only drilling domestically. It is so stupid. America doesn’t have enough oil to sustain demand. All it would accomplish is ruining the Alaska wildlife reserve, among other rightwing fever dream places and causing countless environmental problems. But Republicans never miss an opportunity to pull out that tired old trope. So, I think this is their reason for not bringing attention to the Saudis and UAE.
And how can I forget that Russian media is playing comments but Trump, Carlson, Pompeo etc on a loop? That should be mentioned everywhere as well. "But her emails!"
You wonder if Pompeo being so visible/bold has TFG wondering…
John Kerry was the quintessential ‘flip-flopper’- amirite? GOP just misspeaks. /s
Damn, I completely forgot about the Moscow trip. Wish I had included a reference to it in my latest newsletter.
And yes, it is infuriating that the MSM is determined to go along with the GOP/Russian talking points to paint Biden as weak and ineffectual, when he has spearheaded all of it from the beginning.
Question: "Why won’t the D.C. press put that in political perspective?" Answer: "It’s the right wing’s billion-dollar media infrastructure." Our pipeline for communication which should carry clear information to the public has been hijacked and now has sewage flowing through it.
increasingly clear that Dem president face monumental hurdles in today's information landscape, which is flooded w/ lies etc
Like when the D’s put on amazing Convention programming in 2020- using all the ingenuity/creative thinking they could - and Rs just ‘used the White House as a backdrop’ - with a zillion flags, etc (AGAINST PROTOCOL) - but got away with it… that one still burns me🔥 (They just shamelessly cheat instead of doing the work - on everything it seems.?!)
"Forever presenting Republicans as being savvy and outmaneuvering Democrats"
- And Repubs are not even really savvy. They're just shameless. And clearly, the press thinks January 6th is a one-off. I think the midterms are going to be more tense than ever. Like everything else these days, it all comes back to 45*. I will never not be amazed at the press bowing down to a man who once put a line of steaks in Sharper Image.
And will the elite press acknowledge how Biden has so far seemed to work successfully to let European leaders get to where he's been on the Russian offensive rather than playing the big brother? How his 50 years of political experience, including 8 years as VP, is proving to be invaluable in a time of global crisis? Nope. To be clear, I'm not a fan of Biden, but the state of the Republican Party - which is the result of a trajectory set by Nixon and given given greater momentum by Reagan (Recall the "welfare queen" campaign theme.) - has made me more appreciative of Biden.
Not according to the Republican Stenographers in the Press Corpse who are hell bent on kneecapping Joe to put Trump back in office.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. - Upton Sinclair
I have never been enamored with the Republican party, recognizing that their agenda is even more repugnant than their leaders. However, it is now clear that America and the Free World face their greatest enemies in both Russia and the GOP. If the Madman of Russia triggers Article 5 of NATO and draws us into war, and certain GOP members and Russian propaganda outlets such as Fox continue to give succor to the enemy, I hope the appropriate authorities come for them.
The American media is a double edged sword. They appear to inform but they also stoke the political divide, widening the gulf between the so called left and right. And the Left is easier to beat in the media as they are themselves splintered in their own ideologies. The political tornado that exist is the creation of the press, a tornado they willingly and greedily devour to keep their papers relevant. This is Political Cancer.
I always ask a version of the same question. The Beltway media has been consistently as unforgiving of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris as they have of softening the indefensible pro-authoritarian rhetoric of the party-f/k/a-the GOP, yet the NYT is selling record millions of subscriptions. Who is buying what they're selling?
NYT under Trump did a very good job marketing itself as the standing up to Trump; lots of consumers believed it.
Many American mainstream media outlets during the administration of the Tangerine Turdblossom marketed themselves as the so-called "defenders of press freedom" knowing the insecure jackass was attacking the journalists asking him tough questions while also desperately seeking their attention.
That bought them eyeballs, clicks and subscriptions because the American public was following the fights between Dolt 45 & the press like it was a reality TV program or a WWE wrestling feud.
That's why the mainstream media hasn't been able to come down from the sugar high of covering the Orange Ballsack, they're still looking for the thrill & excitement that they're not able to appreciate the challenges faced by the Biden administration in rebuilding America.
That's why they're so focused on creating negative narratives against him & the Dems because they don't want to deal with the "boring" policy discussions that benefit the American people.
Re-Posting something I wrote on last Friday's Press Run that's still relevant to share:
During the Cold War, the previous administrations of the U.S. government had to rationalize their support of authoritarian regimes in East, Southeast & Central Asia (including the Philippines), and Central & South America.
Your government's very ironic justification for their support of those undemocratic governments was the supposed defense of democracy worldwide which ended up hurting America's reputation as a champion for democracy.
Nowadays, the GOP has a very lazy justification for embracing Putin that can be summarized in caveman speak; "Putin Strong Biden Weak!!!"
I don't understand their dumb idea to frame Biden as a weak & inept leader when he's working together with NATO in finding a solution to stop the war.
Added extra stupidity points for Faux, Newsmax, O.A.N.N. & other right-wing media outlets for claiming the Tangerine Ballsack was tough on Putin despite the existence of photographic & video evidence showing the complete & total opposite.
Seriously, the GOP has completely devolved from a right-of-center political party into a death cult & hate group promoting white minority authoritarian rule.
They will slam the the GOP in their new books.
Yeah they won't report the truth in real time. They will hold what they know until the check clears from the publishers.
Yep.
🙄
Our Failed Political Press ™ is actually consistent on something: they love a strongman. Just a quick search on the terms New York Times and Hitler shows a similar pattern of “Don’t worry about him” responses.
Back in the 20s and 30s the American Press had a love affair with Mussolini gloating how he made the trains run on time. Especially the Lucepress which endlessly praised Il Duce in Time and especially Fortune.
Is it just possible, and I'm being totally serious here, that money from Russia is finding its way into the bank accounts of a number of Republicans? I tend to think that the easiest explanation is usually the most obvious one. I would think that's a reason Republicans would be against the sanctions. How will they get paid? As for the media... They've been in bed with the Republicans for years now. They favor Republicans because that party wants nothing to do with regulation and taxes. If you are Rupert Murdoch or other billionaire owners of the media, why wouldn't you want to root for the party that doesn't want their "hard earned" money going into the pockets of lazy Americans (obvious code there) just looking for a handout? Right? And exactly what would Tucker Carlson do about our manufactured problem with our southern border, invade Mexico? Hey Tucker, if you ever get to go visit your idol Vlad Putin, don't forget your kneepads.
i certainly wonder, for instance, is Sen. Ron Johnson receives Russia funding somehow
Russians pumped millions into the NRA which then pumped millions into GOP coffers. There was also an infuriating article in the Dallas Morning News a few years ago about Russians giving money to GOP candidates. Will look for it.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/05/08/how-putin-s-oligarchs-funneled-millions-into-gop-campaigns/
I did not know this. Thanks for the link!
Remember that Ron Johnsonwax was one of the Treasonous 8 who spent July 4th 2018 in Moscow...probably getting his marching orders from his GRU handlers...
If he took money from the NRA, then yes, it probably came from Putin.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/senate-report-nra-russia-gun-foreign-asset-891859/
I have heard it mentioned that Russian money has been finding its way into Republican coffers. Remember the uproar when it was suggested — wrongly — that Gore was getting donations from Chinese nationals living in the US? The media obsessed about that but can’t be bothered investigating Russian money going to Republicans.
Russian corruption even worse and far more blatant in the UK. London has been the capital of Russian money laundering for years. Russian oligarchs living in the UK have been giving a lot of money to Tories who pretend that they have no ties to Putin.
Boris Johnson and his fellow Tories tried their best to prevent an investigation into Russian interference in their elections and the Brexit referendum in particular. Brexit was a Putin fever dream come true. When the Tories were finally forced to release the results of that investigation it was heavily redacted.
Oligarch money seeps into all aspects of the UK society, corrupting even their elite private schools.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/27/ukraine-liberal-ideals-boris-johnson-tories-russian-money
This is yet another important story our media ignores.
Even the Guardian published the story as commentary. That's what newspapers do. They're afraid they'll be sued if such volatile stories are presented as analysis instead of opinion.
Russia funneled money into the NRA, thus funneling money into the pockets of GOP politicians. At least that is the prevailing theory I’ve researched so far. It would explain why so many in the GOP have been so pro-Putin. And you can bet Trump took campaign money from Putin.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/senate-report-nra-russia-gun-foreign-asset-891859/
"As I noted last week, what’s unfolding within the GOP would have been like in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait if members of the Democratic Party had praised Saddam Hussein. The media condemnations would have rained down without pause, as would have predictions of the party’s electoral ruin."
[snip]
"It’s hard to recall the last time a political party landed so awkwardly on the wrong side of a breaking news story. Why won’t the D.C. press put that in political perspective?"
It's been over forty years that the mainstream's Beltway press has treated the parties as the same. With the GOP, it's nearly all see, hear, speak no evil. In other words, the complaint in the post is very, very old and has been ongoing forever.
The real problem is that what the mainstream supports by supporting the GOP is, like the GOP, ever more insane. The GOP says what it has to say to attract votes -- an excuse even if a shitty one. The media, though, has no acceptable excuse. And, yet again, by their choices in supporting a party that, among other things, is literally killing Americans is literally harmful.
As for Russian domestic coverage, they're apparently relying on commentary from Carlson and POTUS-wannabe Tulsi Gabbard.
5th Columnist Toolsi Gabbard is more accurate.