Eric Boehlert: Biden's Covid relief triumph -- how the press botched the story for a year

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/bidens-covid-relief-triumph-how-the

Biden’s Covid relief triumph — how the press botched the story for a year
Wallowing in Both Sides
Eric Boehlert


snip//

Over the last twelve months, Republicans sabotaged all Covid relief negotiations, including Trump who routinely, and publicly, gave wildly contradictory statements about the need for assistance. Yet since last April, the press tagged Both Sides for failing to pass a relief package that was universally seen as crucial to the country's economic survival. ("Capitol Hill's failure to compromise" is hurting America, CNN emphasized.)

Fact: House Democrats in May passed a massive $3 trillion Covid relief package. To win over Republican support in the Senate, they then agreed to pass a smaller $2 trillion version. They were then ready to sign off on a further reduced $908 billion proposal. Republican leaders wouldn't even agree to that, yet the press consistently blamed "Congress" for not being able to meet halfway and pass much-needed assistance.

CBS News wondered, "Why hasn't Congress done more at this point?" The Congressional Covid failure represented "an institution gripped with paralysis," the Times stressed, while the Washington Post claimed the lack of legislation was due to "bickering."

Last summer, journalists claimed "Congress" was to blame for weekly $600 relief checks being cut off. Wrong — the payments were ended because Republicans forced them to end. In October, CNN's Wolf Blitzer launched into a heated argument with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, demanding to know why she wouldn't accept a White House relief proposal, even though Senate Republicans didn't support it, which meant the White House proposal would never be voted on.

Twelve months ago, the Beltway press echoed GOP talking points by loudly claiming Democrats were "blocking" the first Covid relief bill, which was eventually signed into law under Trump. The Times stressed that Democrats "risked a political backlash," by lobbying hard for additional unemployment aid, as well as more money for hospitals, healthcare workers, and local governments. (Democrats won, and improved the bill.) Today, there's very little media coverage of Republicans "blocking" the recent Covid bill, or facing "political backlash."

Republicans never supported a second Covid relief bill, yet the press spent the last year pretending otherwise — insisting that of course GOP leaders urgently wanted to aid struggling Americans, where there was little evidence that they did.

The country will be well served by the American Rescue Plan, but the slow-motion train wreck of Covid relief coverage represented a distressing failure of journalism.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. The m$m routinely blames that generic "Congress" rather than calling out the owned GOP.

[Cha]

3. Such Idiots.. miss their big Chance at

Accuracy in Reporting!

I know.. what a Concept.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. They're scared of losing advertisers, eyeballs, and tax cuts for the rich.

[Cha]

2. The Lazy, Manipulative, Manufacturing US Media Always Botch

Thank Goodness for Social and Online Media.. more of a chance to learn the FACTS!

So Pres Biden & Dems BEAT the "press" & the gQp magats!

[Grokenstein]

4. WSJ wants Dim Donald and "Operation Warp Speed" given credit for Biden's success

https://www.wsj.com/articles/operation-warp-speeds-triumph-11614728552

President Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. should have enough vaccine supply for every American adult by the end of May. Last week the Food and Drug Administration finally approved Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, and this week J&J struck a deal with Merck to manufacture the single-shot J&J vaccine as well. With the Moderna and Pfizer shots already going into more than a million American arms each week, thousands of lives will be saved.

It’s important to appreciate what an achievement this is. Critics scoffed when President Trump set a target of having a vaccine approved by the end of 2020, and Kamala Harris suggested she might not take a shot recommended by the Trump Administration.

The Biden-Harris Administration has now changed to full-throated encouragement—though not before continuing to trash the Trump efforts. White House aides have suggested that they inherited little vaccine supply and no plan for distribution. Both claims are false.

Those of us who watched the Warp Speed fiasco unravel in real time can only shake our heads at this revisionist horseshit.

[Cha]

10. TS.. the Traitortrump VIRUS gets

NOTHING!

[Blue Owl]

5. The ol' 'Librul Media' again, eh?

[OMGWTF]

11. I always say that the media is only as liberal as its corporate owners.

[Blue Owl]

14. True dat!

In other words, not liberal at all -- in fact ultra-conservative and protecting the 1%...

[AZ8theist]

6. Hitler had this right....

He called them "Lügenpresse", or "Lying Press"

Only he launched his attack on reporting the TRUTH about his sadistic, racist attack on his enemies. Today, our "Lugenpresse" is the so-called "Main Stream Media" attempting to blame Democrats for the constant, continual, pathological lying of the Republican Party in our nations politics.
The "both siderism" is the most ridiculous abdication of journalistic responsibility in history.

Someday, hopefully, Americans will wake up and realize that Republicans don't give a flying fuck about them.....they only care about their OWN POWER AND PRIVILEDGE.

[hay rick]

8. American media bows to the commercial self-interest of not offending consumers and advertisers.

They are begging to be discarded.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. I imagine they miss Don the Con. Non-stop entertainment. An exhausted America is tuning out,

for their sanity's sake.

[Prof.Higgins]

12. Extremely sad truths. Same MSM gave Huckabee-Sanders a Farewell party. n/t

[DanieRains]

13. Trump Killed 500,000 Plus Americans

Starting with pulling the scientists looking for pandemics out of China.

I haven't heard anyone mention this fact for almost a year.