Eric Boehlert: Trump's crowning disgrace -- how the media enabled four years of terror

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/trumps-final-disgrace-and-how-the

Trump's crowning disgrace — how the media enabled four years of terror
What a sad chapter

Eric Boehlert
1 hr ago

snip//

Trump has been at war with an unraveling America for years. The parallel reality has been that the American press corps has not figured out how to deal with that frightening scenario. It hasn’t' properly grappled with the idea that our commander-in-chief would purposefully try to harm America's security and undo its democratic traditions.

It's hard to think about what might have been if the press had carried out its duties differently over the last four years — if the press had shown more courage and not allowed itself to be bullied by a mad man.

• What if the press had taken Trump's coup attempt more seriously over the last two months, instead of waving his strategy off as "performance art" and "bad sportsmanship"? What if news dispatches had regularly used “sedition,” “treason,” and “coup” to accurately describe the unfolding crisis? What if news that Trump had discussions about imposing martial law with advisors in a West Wing meeting had sparked banner headlines and widespread media calls for resignation?

• What if national media outlets had refused to play any role in the GOP's attempt to denigrate the election process by denying a platform to Republican members of Congress who refused to say Joe Biden had won the election?

• What if Trump's pronouncement in September that he might not peacefully give up power if he lost the election had generated huge headlines across the country and network evening news coverage, instead of sparking crickets from the media?

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• What if the press had told the truth about Trump's unhinged and demented presidential rallies, instead of politely calling them "fiery"?

Wednesday's insurrection was Trump's crowning disgrace. And over four years, the press helped him get there.

[CatMor]

1. What if the media ..

had not broadcast trump 24/7 in the campaign of 2016. They basically ignored Hillary except to tsk tsk and do eyerolls about those emails. They are much to blame for his being in the White House.

[thucythucy]

2. What if they'd denied him more than a billion dollars in free air time in 2016?

What if they'd pounded him on his tax returns, his debts, his ties to Russia and the mob? His family's various criminal enterprises? His many lawsuits? The charge that he raped his first wife, not to mention the twenty some odd other credible instances of his sexual predation?

What if they hadn't obsessed on Hillary's e-mails?

What if they'd followed up on his various absurd and obscene behaviors and opinions, from the Access Hollywood tape to claiming that Ted Cruz's father assassinated JFK?

Our "news" media are far more interested in entertainment than reporting. What is it the then head of CBS said? "He may be bad for the country, but he's great for CBS" or words to that effect?

Journalism in this country is a hollowed out husk, thanks to corporate conglomeration and buyouts of outlets all across the country.

[lostnfound]

3. Oh it's the Chuck Todd rule

When the GOP does atrocious stuff, draw attention toward the most NON-conservative elements in a situation and name the reasons to blame them for what happened. Failing that, find an outside institution to blame.


I know people who like Obama but nonetheless repeat the idea that Obama failed us by not preventing trump from taking over.

People complain that the democrats “aren’t even doing anything” to stop the republicans.

Chuck Todd was flailing yesterday, watching the riot, unable to point the finger at liberals or even say “both sides do it”. He was like a car that had just run out of gas, sputtering to a stop. Then it occurred to him he could blame the capitol police for not doing their job. And his power of speech returned.

The reverse never happens.