Tweets Of The Day -- "But Her E-Mails," 2020 Edition

 

Biden is again asked why voters don’t deserve to know his views on court packing. He responds: “The only court packing going on right now is going on with Republicans packing the court right now ... I’m going to stay focused on it so we don’t take our eyes off the ball here." pic.twitter.com/E9H5rIXMX2

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 10, 2020

 

I’ve seen more journalists complaining about Biden not indulging hypotheticals than I’ve seen cover Trump’s recently uncovered massive tax fraud. https://t.co/7Wojg9ofMH

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) October 10, 2020

 

From 2015 to 2017, Mitch McConnell refused to seat any of Obama’s 100+ federal judges. Then he raced to fill them after Trump was elected. They did the same with Merrick Garland’s seat.

Don’t @ me with your “court packing.” Let’s talk about court UNPACKING.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 11, 2020

 

Can we at least recognize that “Court Packing” at all levels of the judiciary has been the Republican playbook for decades? Asking for Merrick Garland.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) October 11, 2020

 

I love how all these ppl are projecting what Republicans have been doing for 4 years and using that projection to demonize the Democrats for what they *might* do in the future, if elected.

— Athena's Daughter (@AltAnonB) October 10, 2020

 

When it comes to the Supreme Court, the balance of media attention between something Democrats could possibly, maybe do one day if 10 different things line up and something Republicans are doing right fucking now, seems a bit off.

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) October 11, 2020

 

Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept.

As you read these letters from today's Washington Post, keep in mind two things: the sole motivations of the Republican Party are to afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable, and to piss off libruls just for the sport:

I was amused to read in the July 2 front-page article “Red states try to make blue cities toe the line” that Republican state leaders want to rein in cities committed to maintaining tree-lined communities, bestowing dignity on transgender neighbors and ensuring trust with immigrant residents. Yet at the national level, Republicans argue for giving states “flexibility” to reduce health-insurance benefits and restrict Medicaid eligibility. 

It would seem Republicans are quite selective in holding to the principle of subsidiarity — making decisions at the lowest possible level of government. On second thought, for anyone concerned about the people who will be impacted by all of these policies, it’s not amusing; it’s infuriating. 

Marianne Comfort, Takoma Park

The article the letter links to is worth a read.

Then, on a related note:

In his July 3 op-ed, “Everybody’s mad at somebody,” Robert J. Samuelson seemed dismayed that so many Americans are angry, but he didn’t seem to care about the reasons for this. That’s a morally vacuous position. 

Sometimes anger is justified. 

Democrats are angry with Republicans because they’re slashing lifesaving programs to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, because they’re rolling back civil rights and because they don’t seem to care about Russia working to install a B-list celebrity in the White House.
Republicans, on the other hand, are angry with Democrats because we get in their way. 

Rose Kelleher, Gaithersburg

Samuelson's op/ ed is, as usual, not worth the time to read -- you'll never get those moments back, as they say. It's also instructive that right- wingers like him have only "noticed" the anger abroad in the land now that Republicans are fully in charge and the righteous anger is directed at them. Curious.

Anyway, well said, Ms. Comfort and Ms. Kelleher.

Li'l Chuckie Todd Had A Bad Night, Too

NBC's Press the Meat host Chuck "Not My Job" Todd was sure up to some expert punditry in the wake of Hillary Clinton's de- balling of neo- fascist bully Donald "Rump" Trump.  Feeling the irresistible force of "both sides! false equivalence" tugging at his Van Dyke, Todd came up with these "impressions."  First there was this hot take:

.@chucktodd: #debatenight exposed Trump's lack of preparation, but Clinton seemed over-prepared at times.

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 27, 2016

The responses came fast:

Yeah who would want that in a President? https://t.co/qfFfZ8uJ8E

— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) September 27, 2016

Wait. WUT? @chucktodd thinks "overprepared" is somehow a negative?

Gawd these people are deplorable. https://t.co/IBQ3bg7jQT

— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) September 27, 2016

Fuck. You. https://t.co/Df0uG3kg9I

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 27, 2016

She is running for President, you fucking idiot. https://t.co/qBStSxkzZj

— ValerieAnn (@ScullyBully) September 27, 2016

Then, Todd stepped on his tiny dick again:

Chuck Todd says 'American public' might be tonight's big loser. #Decision2016 #debatenight https://t.co/yKuD6kyVyO

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 27, 2016

Because Clinton and Rump were "talking about themselves..."  (Hmmm, it's almost like they needed a moderator to ask policy questions and keep things on track!)  Also, see the wisdom at the top from Todd, wherein he chafes Clinton for being "over- prepared at times."  Now, if Secretary Clinton had spent 100% of her time detailing her policies, you can be damn well sure that Todd would have come back with "She bored us with her over- prepared policy details!"  Of course, this creampuff also has a need to do this because one of the Established Media Narratives that must be maintained is "politicians not addressing the needs of the American pipple!!"

Charles Johnson has the appropriate response to that bit of asswhistle Beltway conventional wisdom:

I was wondering if he’d get even worse after that “over-prepared” remark. Yep, he did. https://t.co/3fOKHyUWYV

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) September 27, 2016

(Image:  the unsurpassed Driftglass)

Gut Check Time For Media

Following the latest outrage to human decency and American democracy perpetrated by neo- fascist existential threat Donald "Rump" Trump, maybe the "false equivalence" "both sides" media need to do some serious self- examination about their role in covering this election.  Here are snippets from two articles worth a longer look.

Nicco Mele and Marvin Kalb:

It is at this moment that the news media — American journalists — must embrace a measure of courage and ferocity in order to bring a measure of order and understanding to the chaos. It is time to re-shape our news values to understand the dangers of false equivalency — and to get back in touch with everyday Americans. We need courage not only in our news media, but in our business and civic communities. With the collapse of the newspaper advertising model and the economic pressure on the television news model increasing, we need new business models to create and protect local news. 

This is no time for timidity or delay. There is an urgent need for the media to boldly call a spade a spade. It takes no genius of special courage to see the looming threat to American democracy. Its name is Trumpism.

Alicia Shepard:

After the 2016 presidential election is over, it will be studied and written about ad infinitum in an attempt to understand it. Key to the voluminous research will be scouring news media coverage. Scholars are sure to ask the journalists, producers, videographers and commentators one soul-searching question: 

Are you proud of the way you covered Trump? 

Rump is an abnormal candidate, completely beyond the pale in terms of temperament, judgement, knowledge and self- control.  To willfully soft- pedal or ignore those disqualifying attributes would be a stain on the profession.  Who will we see standing up?

BONUS:  Here's one amoral POS that won't be standing up.

BONUS II:  You can remain seated, too, NBC, New York Times and CNN.  Jesus, what assholes.

Letter of the Week

"In his June 13 op-ed column ["Waiting for 2013"], Fred Hiatt struggled to find both political parties at equal fault for the debt stalemate. After the release of Republican Paul Ryan's long-term budget plan, Mr. Hiatt wrote, 'the president has stuck to the position, belied by his own budget numbers, that his vision of government is affordable without raising taxes on anyone but the rich.'

"In fact, as The Post reported, the president, in an April 13 speech on the national debt, released a deficit plan that targeted $3 in spending cuts for every dollar in new revenue.

"President Obama can be accused of many things, but failure to meet the other party halfway on the budget is not among them. The vast majority of Republicans, meanwhile, have sworn an oath to raise no additional revenue, a position wholly at odds with any serious attempt to fix the deficit.

"So why the equal treatment? Time-honored journalistic convention lets a writer assume a position of neutrality by sharing blame equally between disputing sides. But at moments of deepening political asymmetry -- as in this country today, with a rising radical wing on the political right -- that approach misses the mark."

-- Letter to the editor, WaPo, June 17, from Richard N. Mott of Arlington, VA. My only quibble with this spot-on analysis is that I suspect it's journalistic cowardice rather than convention that motivates Hiatt and his fellow Villagers. They're ignoring the biggest political story of the last 25 years: the radicalization of the Republican Party.

"What Jon Stewart Missed"

We did notice one clinker in the otherwise sublime "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," and Taylor Marsh nails it. In watching Jon Stewart conflate the fact-free, vicious rantings of Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, et al, with the occasionally over-the-top (but truth-based) rants of Olbermann and Schultz, we're reminded of Robert Frost's (!) description of a liberal:

"A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel."

These are times when one should not be fearful about pushing back against and calling out the lies and liars of the fringe Right. There simply isn't an equivalence between what's going on in the Rethuglican/ tea party/ Fux New Nutwork/ hate radio noise machine and the push back on the left. There isn't. And Jon Stewart should be aware enough to know it.