A Newsperson’s Conversation
David Frum is one sour-faced talking head/political columnist who hates The Felonious Guy as much as the next “Never Trump” Republican. Absent that, I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with anything he’s ever written or said on the flat screen. But as Shakespeare wrote: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows”.
So with that, I will reproduce for you a theoretical conversation that Frum wrote on social media. A conversation between a theoretical Democratic partisan and an archetypal professional journalist. The partisan’s comments are italicized.
Donald Trump tried to overthrow an election by violence.
That’s old news, we already reported that.
As president, Donald Trump directed tens of millions of tax dollars to his own pocket.
Old news.
Russian intelligence helped elect Trump by illegal means. Trump welcomed the help.
Russia Russia.
He was proven in court to have raped a woman.
Civil proceeding, not criminal – and sexual assault, not rape. Besides, old news.
Two dozen women say Trump attacked them. There’s literally a recording of him boasting about it.
Old news, we litigated all that in 2016.
There’s new news just unsealed about Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
Salacious gossip. Beneath our editorial standards.
You don’t have to focus on the sex stuff. There’s more evidence that Trump gave a seat in cabinet to a man for no good reason other than to thank him for the Epstein cover-up.
Arrant speculation. Also old news.
It’s not arrant speculation that Trump’s family falsified receipts to cheat the government out of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.
Old news.
It’ll feel like new news because you ignored it all the time.
We gave it a day.
Trump used the same trick – false records – in all his many civil frauds, and also in the hush-money case that got him convicted of 34 felonies by a jury!
Complicated technicalities. You’re boring me.
You want simple? Someone bravely defied a non-disclosure agreement to go on the record that Trump used the most vicious racial slurs on the set of The Apprentice.
Doubtful source.
The ‘suckers and losers’ quote comes from an impeccable source.
Old news.
But Trump denied the ‘suckers and losers’ quote only last week during the nationally televised presidential debate. He lied to the whole country.
Not our job to fact-check every word he says.
But you personally know it to be a lie.
Maybe we do, maybe we don’t.
OK, look. Let’s do it your way. What does interest you?
Indications of cognitive decline.
We’ve got millions of examples of Trump obviously off his rocker.
Right. He says crazy things all the time. Not news.
Are you telling me that the more often a candidate for president says addled, senile, crazy things – the less news it is?
Not exactly. We also need a lot of background quotes about how his party is worried. If the party is cool with his dementia, we’re cool with it.
These rules don’t seem on the level.
We’re not the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court isn’t on the level.
Oh, now you’re undermining confidence in our most sacred institutions. How is that different from Trump.
Oh, for God’s sake, the wives of two Justices supported – and one conspired in – Trump’s Big Lie. I don’t understand why you sat on this story for two years.
Leave families out of it.
Biden’s family, too?
We have to cover that. Trump’s made a campaign issue of it.
I give up. Talk to me like I’m eight years old. How the hell do you explain what you’re doing?
We have to report equal numbers of bad things about each side.
But what if they aren’t equal numbers?
That’s our job, to make sure that there are.
Sadly, that about sums it up.
1You could substitute almost any media political mouthpiece/writer for David Frum and the narrative would fit. Their obsession with tearing down Biden while ignoring the flawed personality, criminality and craziness of trumpf is so glaringly obvious. What is with them not wanting to piss off magats but having no problem with alienating democrats.
2And there it is, in a nutshell. That last sentence: “That’s our job, to make sure there are.” And if the craziness isn’t equal on both sides, make stuff up. Gotta have a horse race; it’s what makes money.
3Back when I wrote a blog, it was called Restating the Obvious. I was being sarcastic. While everything I wrote was blindingly obvious, it was seldom a restatement.
I kind of wish I still had the blog today. If I did, would point out that the same pundits who are demanding that Biden withdraw are the ones who said Macron was a fool for calling a snap election.
4Here’s another good take from Xitter, by David Roberts:
“So, say Biden stepped aside in favor of Harris tomorrow. How long until the vapid gossips we call political reporters find something wrong with her, some alleged flaw they just have to write 192 stories about? How long until the hopped-up mediocrities we call pundits find some “counter-intuitive” reason that the new Dem ticket is flawed after all? How long until the irredentist left gets over the temporary thrill of its new Harris memes & remembers that she’s a cop & turns on her? How long before the ambient racism & misogyny in the US. lead center-leftists to conclude that, sure, they’d support a black woman, just not *this* black woman? In other words: how long before everyone reverts to their comfortable, familiar identity & narratives? About 30 f’ing seconds, is my guess.”
5You didn’t include it in your list, but there is a more pervasive MAGA response to objections to Trump, most popular with the over-40 MAGA crowd: Clinton.
If you nail them down with facts or logic they will simply resort to saying Clinton (doesn’t matter which one if they even know) did much worse and you were OK with it. So you are just suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and I am voting Trump no matter what you say.
You don’t see that in print or pixels much, but I can guarantee you that’s what most of them think.
6Alan,
Yes that’s exactly what my Republican Sister replies with when she’s out of other responses, “well, the Democrats do it too.”
Never mind the vast false equivalency required in pretending it’s a comparison.
7The most effective political strategy for Democrats is repeatedly running the video clips of Republicans vigorously condemning
8Dump right after the insurrection. It should be running several times daily until the election. Those “party before country”
Magas dismiss reality when it is presented by Democrats. A steady diet of listening to their own condemn TFG could drive it home for anybody with half a brain.
I went to do a favor for a disabled family up the street last evening. After I did it, I walked through the living room to go out, rather than a longer distance around the house. They had Faux Spews on the TV and there were pictures of who I hope becomes the 2024 elected VP with one of the liars spewing something. [The TV was muted.]
9One more tidbit from yesterday. I went in the afternoon to do a favor for a female [NOT a lady]I had done work for before. She had a new addition on her house, a desecrated US flag with a blue stripe through it. I whispered “I don’t like that flag because I served 25 years in uniform with the real flag on it” She shouted “You’re a Democrat, get off my property”. So now, every time I see one of those flags, I know they support a convicted felon who was documented to tell 30,725 lies in his 4 years in office.
Larry, surprised that desecrated flag you described hasn’t flown over Alito’s properties yet, or maybe it’s in his houses.
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