After the Labor Day weekend, Joe Scarborough sat on the set of “Morning Joe” and told the Democrats that to succeed in the midterms, it was essential that they somehow repeal “40 years of Reaganism” by passing a massive expansion of government disguised as an “infrastructure” package.
“I remember hearing Biden’s speech back in April and was shocked by how sweeping it was for this supposed moderate guy from Delaware,” Scarborough proclaimed. “This will reverse 40 years of Reaganism, just like Ronald Reagan reversed 45 years of Roosevelt’s New Deal.”
Now, believers in Reaganism would look at the last five years of big spending hikes and suggest Reaganism has not exactly dominated in recent federal budgets. But that’s the framing for anyone now opposing a “historic” expansion of the state.
Scarborough insisted Democrats have to agree to pass something enormous. “(C)ompromise has to be found. They have no other choice. They have to make history or, of course, there will be no justification for them to run for re-election.”
This Scarborough segment was not unusual for TV “news” punditry. There is a tone when Democrats are in the White House and hold a majority in Congress, however narrow. Anchors, pundits and correspondents have a tendency to talk about how Democrats succeed. It’s not unlike, say, the local sports channels on a Washington football team show: How does our team win? What do they need to improve on? In this case, how can they pass some “landmark” legislation and look “historic”? They fawn over Democrats, favor them, coach them and only fault them when the polls falter.
These networks cheered along and gave free publicity to Texas Democratic state legislators when they flew to D.C. to lobby quite hopelessly for Congress to pass the “For the People Act” federalizing election laws. Almost every strategy that Democrats attempt — even the quixotic ones — are promoted and explained by a pliant press.
Obviously, in the Trump years, these TV pundits and correspondents didn’t ask, “How do Trump and the Republicans succeed?” Instead, former President Donald Trump was treated like a horror movie monster threatening everything Americans hold dear. The Republicans were perpetually denounced for refusing to cast Trump out into the political wilderness. Four years ago, Scarborough insisted Trump was mentally unfit, “that people close to him during the campaign told me had early stages of dementia.”
He would never say anything like that about the current president.
In a similar way, Democrats are always presumed to be operating in a “mainstream” of public opinion. They’re almost never “extreme” on anything — never wildly out of touch with the public mood. The media pretends that they can speak for the masses and what they want. If anything, journalists press Democrats to take more extreme steps, such as scrapping the filibuster, to get the win.
But the Republicans receive the opposite. They have been quite routinely described as dangerously extreme on issues, and even largely popular stances, such as standing for the national anthem, are presented as wildly controversial matters that are cynically exploited.
All of this can turn out as the media would like — that they have almost hypnotized the voters into supporting a Democrat agenda. Or it always has the potential to backfire, and the media gives Democrats a false sense of security and popularity. Then, when they lose elections after going ideologically overboard, they have trouble believing that it’s a real result.
Whatever the outcome, our media cannot be expected to resemble a “referee” or a neutral observer. They can’t help but expose their rooting interest, like a streaker on the playing field of politics.
Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
The Media and the Democrat Party are victims in a political house of mirrors. They cannot see themselves for what they are—they get one distorted view after another and they accept it at face value. They then conclude that, since Republicans are the opposing Party—they must likewise be the opposite of what they see themselves as. They play their games based upon these reverse images that they have convinced themselves to believe—and they exert immense effort into brainwashing the American people to believe as well.
passing a massive expansion of government disguised as an “infrastructure” package.
This traitorous socialist Democrat Part has become our country’s most destructive and deadliest ENEMY!!
IF the media loves communism so much, i say fine. SEND EVERYONE OF THESE HACKS to north korea, ONE WAY….
they need to be shut down period.
there indoctrination has to stop.
Who the hell watches any of those left wing commentators, the teleprompter readers and actual jerk-offs like Toobin, and has their day spoiled by that time-wasting experience?
Only those of lesser intelligence watch & believe these communistic broadcasts. As for Trump supporters (ie: intelligent American citizens) we watch the shows that actually give the news and let us decide for ourselves if it’s worthy of our time and attention.