Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept. - Media's Enchantment With Wingnuts

From this morning's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle:

Having read coverage in other media outlets about Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst’s right-wing politics, I was disconcerted by The Post’s front-page profile of her in the Oct. 27 paper [“Joni Ernst, once a long shot, hopes to take ‘the Iowa way’ to U.S. Senate”]. The article depicted Ernst as a “biscuit-baking, gun-shooting, twangly, twinkly farm girl,” a “hugger” who wants to show the federal government “the Iowa way,” rather than as someone who, if elected, would be one of the most radical members of the Senate. 

The Post’s report never questioned or challenged what Ernst means by “the Iowa way” — it’s loosely defined: something about Iowa values, “thrift, self-reliance, lack of pretension.” The Democratic opponent, Bruce Braley, was depicted as hanging out with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) “in more liberal Iowa City,” and it’s implied that he somehow lacks Iowa principles. 

Other than two sentences acknowledging that Ernst proposed dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency and supported a “personhood” amendment, her political views were not explored. These views include support of antiabortion legislation that would ban many forms of contraception and of legislation that would allow local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement the Affordable Care Act . She has endorsed the impeachment of President Obama and opposes not only raising the minimum wage but also the very idea of a federally mandated minimum wage. One of her political ads shows her at a shooting range and states: “And once she sets her sights on Obamacare, Joni’s going to unload”; in 2012, she defended her right to carry a gun to defend herself against anyone, including the government. 

The Post’s readers deserve a balanced account of Ernst’s political views and those of her opponent, not a piece that depicted Ernst as warm and fuzzy, rather than the radical she is.

Grace Morsberger,
Chevy Chase 

As we've noted with depressing frequency, the "mainstream media" is heavily invested in the twin "Democrats face doom" and "Republicans aren't so mean" narratives in their mid-term reporting.  The once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle has played a not-insignificant part in plumping these narratives.  In recent weeks, it has run feature fluffers on Ernst, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and others, either in the national news section or in "Style."  The point of all of these soft-focus features was apparently to humanize these demagogues.  While the editorial board generally goes with endorsing Democrats (with some foul exceptions), the national news staff seems to have been recruited right out of the "journalism" school at Regent University.  At least they're in step with the Bugle's Reaganite publisher.

"Liberal media" my ass.