Well THAT didn’t take long, did it? Trump’s honeymoon, if one could call it that, last all of, oh, six seconds with the mainstream media. I’ve been watching this stuff since I turned 18 (and very intensely the last 10) and it’s like Groundhog Day. It just seems that once a Republican enters the Oval Office, there is a renewed vigor (and no small amount of snark and anger) to what seems to be a long period of somnambulance, the MSM realizes that it should be asking the tough questions and doing the in-depth reporting once again.
Ha! Who am I kidding? They don’t – they just switch modes off and on and after watching them intensely for 10 years, it is clear that the Rs get the more attitude and persistence as well as an entirely different crop type of questions. Slow pitch softball vs fast pitch baseball (with spikes. Out of a bazooka). These dolts in the MSM just don’t seem to understand that every time they act this way, they aren’t being the Fourth Estate, they’re just confirming the bias that most of us see daily. Remember, it isn’t just how they cover the news but WHICH news they cover – and what film they leave on the floor. They still think that they are the gatekeepers and the ones to “interpret the news for us”. After all, they are the edumacated ones in the who, what, when, where, and how, right?
Er, no. Those basics were supplanted a long time ago with the famous phrase by Glenn Reynolds (the Blogfaddah and owner of Instapundit):
Democrats with bylines
The Sunday Shows –
hosts George Stephanopoulas (Clinton WH wonderkid), Chuck Todd (Senator Tom Harkin (D), and his wife still is a Dem operative), and Face the Nation (John Dickerson, “declare war on the Republicans” might as well have been one) – make it clear that as much as they profess otherwise, it is clear that they are no fans of “objective” reporting. Clear, it was, that the switch has been thrown on today’s talking heads.
So, what did they talk about? Executive orders, legislative plans, nominations as measured by time? Er, no – it was the LEFTY ONLY Womens’ March of yesterday (which Kimberly has covered here and here; Susan here; and Steve here). And that it was WORLDWIDE! Yes, newsworthy, but wall to wall?
When I saw the AMOUNT of coverage both domestically and international, and the “spontaneousness” of how they “organically” arose (hint: Soro’s money), all I could do was remember back to the 80s and how the media treated Reagan and all of the anti-nuke protests at the height of the Cold War. I’m not going to replay it over but suffice it to say, the Libs were all about “Better Red than Dead” (and if the Soviets had won, both things would have happened) – and remember that US Senator Ted “The Swimmer” Kennedy actively asked the Soviets to intervene in our Presidential campaign (Democrats – without double / triple standards, they’d have none). All over the world, especially in Europe, marches were de rigeur on a regular basis and large. Later, we found out that they were, in part, Soviet instigated. And just like Conkite in wrongly declaring that the Viet Nam war had been lost (it wasn’t militarily), the media excoriated Reagan at every turn with absolutely everything they could throw..
Now it’s Trump’s turn.
The problem for them is everything that they have done during this campaign season. It is CLEAR that the MSM was way over the line partisan.
They say they aren’t – legends in their own minds, I guess, because it is clear that they aren’t paying attention to their low approval ratings (14% last time I looked), stock prices, and newsroom staffing. They’ve lost credibility themselves – WHY should I (or you) listen to them?
But there is a silver (gold?) lining in this. It is clear that Sean Spicer (WH Spoksflack) isn’t taking any of it. And even TMEW (who hardly EVAH pays attention to my Sunday obsessions) was impressed with Kellyanne Conway in her dual with Chuck Todd this morning – she sliced, she diced, she poached, and she boiled him:
pwned. Nice to see them playing MMA back instead of sticking to the usual Marquis of Queensbury rut they’ve been in for years.
(video H/T: Conservative Treehouse)
UPDATE: OK, a few more links from others that have seen the same thing
Another Trump Lesson For Conservatives: Do Not Give Your Critics An Inch.
It Didn’t Take Long for the Media to Compare Trump to ‘Hitler’s Rise’
Chuck Todd: Trump Needs to ‘Erase the Asterisk’ of His Election.
MSNBC Panel: Bush Gave Warm Greeting to SCOTUS Justices Because They Got Him Elected.
Valerie Jarrett’s daughter will cover Justice Department for CNN.
In no particular order, here are some of the most embarrassing media moments from this week.”
Mainstream media screams in pain as Trump becomes president (they know he beat them, too)
ABC News’ Terry Moran: Trump Inauguration Speech Had ‘Anti-Semitic Overtones’
