They should have all walked out

[senseandsensibility]

About an hour ago, Karoline Leavitt told the White House Press Corps that "There will be no increase in the deficit" from the one big ugly bill.

Since the press has shown a complete inability to do effective follow up, or to support each other when they are lied to, walking out would be the best option here.

The lie was so ridiculous that they look like fools letting it stand. And of course, by now, the administration knows that the spineless "journalists" covering them will let them say whatever they want unchallenged. So what's next?

Believe it or not, the lies and propaganda can get worse, and the press is SUPPOSED to be a guardrail against that.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Is it day one yet?

[BurnDoubt]

22. I don't know for sure, but it IS Yahr Null".

[Seinan Sensei]

35. Well, there is Mikey Johnson's "One-Day Rule"

Which I have never understood

“[it] inserts language into a House rule stating that a calendar day, for the purposes of specific legislation (like the National Emergencies Act related to tariffs), does not count as a day.“

In what universe does this make a lick of sense?

[Ocelot II]

2. They've already evicted most of the reporters who might be likely to say anything.

The WH "press corpse" now consists mostly of right-wing media.

[BattleRow]

43. The suppressed,depressed,repressed presstitutes.

[BoRaGard]

3. The media remains in grovel mode

shameful

[SergeStorms]

18. Until a Democrat is elected again.

Then they'll pivot to "Hunter Biden's laptop" mode in a nanosecond.

[Wounded Bear]

4. I'm still amazed that nobody has burst out laughing when they say bullshit like that...

[senseandsensibility]

5. Yeah, I'm all for a little "rowdy" pushback

too. It would probably increase ratings, but I fear they are more concerned with their corporate owners' interests. They're afraid to get on the "wrong side" of the administration because they want to maintain access. But access to what, exactly? Lies and propaganda?

[JoseBalow]

16. It's easy to conceal a whoopie cushion under your arm in a jacket

Just sayin'

[underpants]

30. I am too. It's such a ridiculous thing to say let alone a lie

I doubt they’d even have laughed at this (and Leavitt leaves this liar in the dust)

[Dave Id]

44. A cat?

Silly, it's a horse's ass holding a picture of a dog.

[MadameButterfly]

37. There was recently an incident

where someone RW said something and everybody in the room laughed. Does anyone recall?
Maybe it was in Europe. Or in Congress. Help my aging brain. I want to savor the moment.

[MyOwnPeace]

46. Well, there was the one time.......

tRump was addressing the United Nations:

They know BULLSHIT when they hear it!

[Martin Eden]

6. They should have asked what changes were made in the bill to reduce the deficit from $3.8 trillion to zero

Of course she would have disputed that it would cause any deficit from the start, but the question would have laid the basis for follow-up questions citing the CBO finding.

[senseandsensibility]

7. That's what serious journalists would do

I agree. But somehow they're incapable of doing what I and my colleagues on my college newspaper could do. They're either intimidated, or have another goal besides informing the public.

[DENVERPOPS]

8. The way I see it

is the White House journalists have reached one of the top positions in Journalism. They are not about to say ANYTHING that Trump or the Owner of their news Corporation would be displeased with and lose their job immediately ............

[senseandsensibility]

9. I agree

Although trump is the king of the narcissists, the elite media has extremely high self regard as well. It seems to be all about their careers.

[MadameButterfly]

38. Keep in mind that the journalists remaining

are the spineless ones. Trump has seen to that. We are looking for journalists in the wrong place.

[calimary]

24. I tried to do that when I was still working.

THAT was the objective, one way or another.

You keep up on the news and keep track of what the celebrity in question has been up to.
Sometimes it’s a new movie or other project.
Or it’s a big noisy something that happened to them or that they’re famous for and you want a fresh quote or comment or recollection or something usable.
Or it’s about someone they’d been or still are working with.
Or it’s about someone they’d been - um - close to.
Or it’s about someone or about something that NO ONE wants to talk about, for whatever reason(s).
Shit - could be ANY NUMBER of reasons! But then you’d have a useable quote or confirmation-of-rumor or whisper that you could USE!

For me, when I was still working, I looked for this stuff all the time! Mainly because the readers/viewers/listeners/audiences we served wanted to KNOW (or we THOUGHT they did)! And at least it might be a safe bet to bring up because you never know, you might make some news or break a story or something.

[senseandsensibility]

10. Ha! Ha! Simon Rosenberg on bluesky:

"They just make shit up all day long. " Yeah, because no one stops them. Edited to add that he was talking about the particular comment in my OP.

[Just Jerome]

11. What was it Bob Somerby

used to call them ( perhaps still does ) ?

The “pampered, powdered and perfumed press corps.”

[ancianita]

12. As Lawrence said last night: "The campaign press corps never reported to voters

that the trump proposed tariffs were completely illegal and unconstitutional... The campaign press corps completely failed the American voter on this issue "

[senseandsensibility]

13. Yes he has the courage to call them out

specifically. He has done that since the election, when the press corps went from screaming and interrupting constantly to deferential and polite overnight. He called the "Trump Rules" and it should have shamed them.

[ancianita]

15. Exactly. Everything you said. He's laid into the press corps's cheap contempt for Biden & its

bootlicking politeness to the felon. Overall, no matter if it's a Dem or felon president, or some action that endangers our people and/or the economy, the performative "campaign" press corps swallows a camel and chokes on a gnat.

[calimary]

26. ABOUT TIME somebody said something!

And I HAVE TO draw awe-filled attention to the phrase about the “press corps swallows a camel and chokes on a gnat.” That deserves some kind of prominent national writing award! What a mental picture it paints!

[ancianita]

28. Right?

I don't take credit for the camel/gnat thing. Jesus said it about the Pharisees. But it still applies to everyone who purposely suppresses and perverts facts and truth.

[MadameButterfly]

39. Cool that this came from Jesus

and you get credit for applying it here

[B.See]

14. Like I've said

Cowardice and complicity. The MSM has (with few exceptions) FAILED America.

[ancianita]

19. When the news hit that WaPo's owner refused to publish an endorsement, over 250,000 subscribers cancelled overnight.

Hundreds of thousands more cancelled subscriptions to the NYT for other reasons, because the priority of profit over contextual reporting has reaped public distrust of corporate media. Corporate media doesn't care about informing humans, just increasing profit.

Boycotts are hard to see, but folks should trust that they have ripple effects nonetheless.

[senseandsensibility]

20. Good reminders

It seems to me that they figure they profit more from tax cuts, etc. than from subscriptions.

[ancianita]

27. We need to

also remember that the wealth of the wealthiest can come more from military non-competitive contracts (Origen Blue for Bezos; Starlink for Musk, etc.) than tax cuts; the 'tax cut' wealthy indifferently buy politicians to make other Americans poorer and less free. But no matter where the money comes from, by contracts or tax theft, it usually makes them feel superior and out of reach of the dangers they create for others.

[Trueblue Texan]

32. I cancelled both subscriptions (NYT & WAPO) right about that time. nt

[ancianita]

34. Same.

Then after the election I also knew I needed the research that NYT is good at, and decided to stick with that one newspaper, since it did endorse Kamala Harris.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/opinion/editorials/kamala-harris-2024-endorsement.html

"...This unequivocal, dispiriting truth — Donald Trump is not fit to be president — should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election.

For this reason, regardless of any political disagreements voters might have with her, Kamala Harris is the only patriotic choice for president.
Most presidential elections are, at their core, about two different visions of America that emerge from competing policies and principles. This one is about something more foundational. It is about whether we invite into the highest office in the land a man who has revealed, unmistakably, that he will degrade the values, defy the norms and dismantle the institutions that have made our country strong.

As a dedicated public servant who has demonstrated care, competence and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution, Ms. Harris stands alone in this race...

While character is enormously important — in this election, pre-eminently so — policies matter. Many Americans remain deeply concerned about their prospects and their children’s in an unstable and unforgiving world. For them, Ms. Harris is clearly the better choice. She has committed to using the power of her office to help Americans better afford the things they need, to make it easier to own a home, to support small businesses and to help workers. Mr. Trump’s economic priorities are more tax cuts, which would benefit mostly the wealthy, and more tariffs, which will make prices even more unmanageable for the poor and middle class...

Globally, Ms. Harris would work to maintain and strengthen the alliances with like-minded nations that have long advanced American interests abroad and maintained the nation’s security. Mr. Trump — who has long praised autocrats like Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban and Kim Jong-un — has threatened to blow those democratic alliances apart. Ms. Harris recognizes the need for global solutions to the global problem of climate change and would continue President Biden’s major investments in the industries and technologies necessary to achieve that goal. Mr. Trump rejects the accepted science, and his contempt for low-carbon energy solutions is matched only by his trollish fealty to fossil fuels...

Most dangerous for American democracy, Mr. Trump has transformed the Republican Party — an institution that once prided itself on principle and honored its obligations to the law and the Constitution — into little more than an instrument of his quest to regain power. The Republicans who support Ms. Harris recognize that this election is about something more fundamental than narrow partisan interest. It is about principles that go beyond party.

In 2020 this board made the strongest case it could against the re-election of Mr. Trump. Four years later, many Americans have put his excesses out of their minds. We urge them and those who may look back at that period with nostalgia or feel that their lives are not much better now than they were three years ago to recognize that his first term was a warning and that a second Trump term would be much more damaging and divisive than the first.

Kamala Harris is the only choice."

[MadameButterfly]

40. As frustrated as I am with the NYT I too

Last edited Sat May 31, 2025, 02:19 AM - Edit history (1)

have continued to support because of the endorsment. And some reporters on staff I support like Ezra Klein. We can't throw all of them away. We might be nostalgic for them someday.

[ancianita]

48. Understood. But Rachel's right. One has to support journalists, not necessarily their corporate owners.

I have a strong feeling that the New York Times isn't going anywhere for a long time. Neither is Reuters or The Guardian (which I also subscribe to, since the foreign press often has a more objective perspective than our domestic ones; they have equally good journalists who, now that the felon's in office, just might have access to intel that our journalists don't.).

[Iamscrewed]

17. Yep

[BurnDoubt]

21. Edolph did his own research and crunched the numbers. Three trillion & change...

turns out to be his "tip". Poo Tee Weet!

[TheProle]

23. She is a liar

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/as-house-gop-grinds-ahead-new-cbo-report-says-trumps-big-tax-cuts-bill-will-add-to-deficit

[Festivito]

25. Okay. What's the debt to be. NO DEBT LIMIT INCREASE above that.

[MadameButterfly]

41. Trump is where a debt limit would be useful

except for what he would cut to meet it

[vapor2]

29. pretty much have lost the media

[senseandsensibility]

31. And they should play such an important role

in saving our democracy. It's tragic, really.

[republianmushroom]

33. Shades of lying Suckabee.

[Wiz Imp]

36. It's not too late. Someone can still ask a question about it at the next briefing (I know, they won't, but they could)

Someone should ask if it doesn't raise the deficit, then why does it include a debt limit increase? If there's No raise in deficit, no debt increase would be necessary. Rand Paul has loudly stated that he won't vote for the bill as it stands now BECAUSE it includes the debt limit increase. Also, Ron Johnson has been very loud about the bill not just increasing the deficit, but doing so significantly. What's her response to that? And it's not just Johnson and Paul stating the truth about the bill significantly increasing the deficit, Rick Scott, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee have also acknowledged that truth. Not to mention Elon Musk. Oh and the CBO and every single other nonpartisan organization who have evaluated the bill agree it will add significantly to the deficit - the only disagreement is by how much it will increase it. Hell, Trump himself hasn't even tried to claim such lunacy. So does Karoline Leavitt think everyone else in the world is stupid and only she is smart enough to understand? It would at least be entertaining (and likely quite painful) to hear how many knots she would twist herself into to try to justify her ridiculous lies.

[live love laugh]

42. The guardrails were removed decades ago and it is getting worse daily.

[poozwah]

45. walk

walk? where? the press is controlled by the oligarchs and the bullshit yhey report is the bullshit they are ordered to report.

[quakerboy]

47. all 4 branches are fully under rw control

All major press is currently wholey owned and run by people mostly friendly to trump.

Even that one you like, that says some things you like or has that host you like. They are still being worked to undercut democracy. Some more subtly than others