Eric Boehlert: 'Dems in Disarray' -- the press targets Biden [View all]

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/dems-in-disarray-the-press-targets

'Dems in Disarray' — the press targets Biden
Concocting controversy

Eric Boehlert
1 hr ago


Did you know President-elect Joe Biden has badly "botched" his cabinet picks? That a criminal probe "hangs over" his presidency, "potential family conflicts" may be a problem, and that party "factionalism" is threatening to doom his work? As Biden's orderly transition unfolds on track — in stark contrast to the previous four years of discord and confusion — most Americans wouldn't think that Democrats are in disarray. Yet that remains the press' preferred, long-running narrative about how Democrats are in a constant state of confusion and forever outsmarted by Republicans.

It's jarring that after covering the Trump White House for four years, where incompetence and lies were the hallmark, where staff turnover never paused and Trump tore up his staffing chart because he didn't like what someone said on Fox News, that the press is now leaning into the idea that the new Democratic administration is struggling to take shape, and that some kind of civil war has broken out inside the party.

The coverage clearly represents a desire by some outlets to create news; to create controversy where none really exists with the incoming administration. Addicted to the adrenaline rush of non-stop news during the Trump years, as he ransacked the White House and obliterated norms, the press seems hungry to continue that same news cycle pace. But Biden, like No Drama Obama, won't cooperate in terms of generating screaming headlines on a daily basis.

snip//

And there was this extraordinary Times passage [emphasis added]:

Even if Hunter Biden is ultimately not found to have violated any laws, the investigation could be problematic for a new president promising a clean break from the many conflicts of interest under his predecessor.

Talk about heads you lose, tails you lose. Trump's politicized Justice Department is investigating Biden's son, but even if no wrongdoing is found it's all bad news for Biden.

This is the kind of pretzel logic the press embraces when it's searching for Dems in Disarray storylines.