Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy❤
No. of Recommendations: 2
The writer gets it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/11...Opinion
How the media sleepwalked into Biden’s debate disaster.
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Because there are
10 times as many Democrats as Republicans in mainstream newsrooms, journalists tended, with a few noble exceptions, to give a Democratic administration trust it didn’t deserve. The president’s invisibility was a giant red flag; they treated it as a restful break from having to monitor Trump’s ravings 24/7. As Biden’s decline grew more visible, people kept respectfully airing the administration’s insultingly implausible claims: that there was a secretly brilliant president flitting around the back corridors of the White House like Batman, while the videos of that same president acting befuddled on world stages were “cheap fakes.”
And when journalists did cover the issue, many outlets that had been pitilessly clear about Trump’s defects apparently couldn’t bring themselves to be quite so blunt about a president they liked — in part because that would make their friends mad, as well as the White House. A lot of articles about Biden’s age ended up so couched in ethereally vague language about “questions” and “concerns,” so defensively swaddled in equivocal context that the necessary SOS didn’t get through.
As a result, viewers of Fox News understood the president’s condition better than our audiences, which ought to be a huge wake-up call for us. We don’t have the exact problem conservatives imagine, but we do have a problem.
And the only way to fix it is to add more viewpoint diversity to our newsrooms.
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... more truthiness at the link
No. of Recommendations: 13
bighairymke: The writer gets it.
No, she most clearly does not “get it.”
McArdle writes: “If Trump had slipped as visibly and publicly as President Biden, it’s possible we would have covered that more aggressively.”
Trump has slipped visibly and publicly repeatedly but while the media amplifies every Biden gaffe, they ignore every Trump gaffe.
Trump called president Biden, “Obama,” on multiple occasions. The media ignored it.
Trump called his wife, Melania, “Mercedes.” The media ignored it.
Trump identified E Jean Carroll, his rape victim -- who he said wasn't his type -- with his ex-wife, Marla Maples. The media ignored it.
Trump repeatedly called Nancy Pelosi “Nikki Haley.”
Trump looked Tim Cook in the eye and called him "Tim Apple."
Trump constantly refers to fictional cannibal Hannibal as if he was a real person, worries about being electrocuted by a lithium-driven boat engine or eaten by a shark, has claimed windmills cause cancer, wondered why we couldn't drop a nuclear bomb on a hurricane, suggesting ingesting bleach to cure Covid-19, claimed the Americans captured the airports over 100 years before airplanes existed, called for “termination” of the Constitution in a Truth Social post -- the New York Times put it on Page 13 -- and on and on and on.
While the substance of president Biden's press conference last night was solid -- even if you disagree with him, Biden gave the kind thoughtful, substantive answers that Trump is incapable of providing -- the media will only focus on, and amplify, his verbal gaffes.
While nearly every economist in America predicted a recession during the Biden years, the Biden administration instead fashioned the strongest economy in the free world.
But the media sharks cannot be stopped. The chum is in the water.
Doug Balloon of The New York Times Pitchbot, not Megan McArdle, is right in his satire:
Opinion | I side with Biden on abortion, Social Security, the environment, gun control, federal judges, and international alliances. I side with Trump on debate performance and golf skills. November's election will be the hardest decision of my life.
I also saw this fitting summary:
Biden: Here's a 20 minute analysis of complex statecraft in the middle east.
Trump: I've never heard of NATO.
Media: Clearly Biden isn't fit.
So it goes.
No. of Recommendations: 7
"Biden: Here's a 20 minute analysis of complex statecraft in the middle east."
What’s with all the policy wonkery? Why didn’t Joe Biden talk about the scary sharks, the batteries, Hannibal Lecture and what a fat pig Chris Christie is!
LOL
No. of Recommendations: 2
Trump called president Biden, “Obama,” on multiple occasions. The media ignored it.
Trump called his wife, Melania, “Mercedes.” The media ignored it.
Trump identified E Jean Carroll, his rape victim -- who he said wasn't his type -- with his ex-wife, Marla Maples. The media ignored it.
Trump repeatedly called Nancy Pelosi “Nikki Haley.”
Trump looked Tim Cook in the eye and called him "Tim Apple."
How do you know about all these things if the media didn’t cover it?
No. of Recommendations: 13
I love it when a supporter of an adjudicated rapist, 34-count felon, charity thief, white supremacist, neo-Nazi supporter, Hitler quoting insurrectionist, and pathological liar lectures other people about the truth.
Physician, heal thyself.
No. of Recommendations: 5
What’s with all the policy wonkery? Why didn’t Joe Biden talk about the scary sharks, the batteries, Hannibal Lecture and what a fat pig Chris Christie is!
Different audience and different goals.
Biden's in a formal policy setting trying to convince people he's still technically sharp.
Trump's at a pep rally reinforcing to his base that he and they are part of the same in-group by using a lot of references to things they mutually understand and care about. That strengthens the bonds they have with him.
Ironically, the more the out-group attacks his use of those references, the more effective his rally becomes at achieving that goal. It just reinforces the message he was trying to convey, which is that Trump is a part of the in-group with his voters and his critics are not.
No. of Recommendations: 3
It’s worse than this.
They covered up Biden’s decline because they’re hopeless partisan hacks. Hiding his dementia was only part of it - they went along with the White House’s gaslighting of the public on the border, on Afghanistan, the economy, name it.
Traditional media outfits are broken beyond repair. They deserve bankruptcy and every single Learn To Code joke they get.
No. of Recommendations: 3
I love it when a supporter of an adjudicated rapist, 34-count felon, charity thief, white supremacist, neo-Nazi supporter, Hitler quoting insurrectionist, and pathological liar lectures other people about the truth.
Physician, heal thyself.
Being a good Christian I forgive all President Trump’s past transgressions.
Sign, MAGA
