REALITY BITES
Our working press has run out of excuses for failing to properly cover the most lethal attack on America since the Civil War
I learned long ago as a cub reporter at a weekly newspaper in New Jersey that there are realities in this world, and there are political realities. Realities are, well, real. Political realities are shaped by people in little rooms Inside the Beltway who live in a world detached from reality.
“They’re eating the dogs … They’re eating the cats … They’re eating the pets of the people that live there …”
Our working press used to be pretty good at separating reality from political reality, but these days with partisan noise blasting in from every corner on the Internet, and too much incompetence littering our newsrooms, our press in far too many cases no longer knows the difference between the two, or just doesn’t care.
Take just this past insane week in American politics, for instance ...
On Thursday, while paddling around to all my likely news sources, I came across a headline in one of the few journalism outposts I still trust, the Associated Press.
Here it is:
US and Iran Exchange More Attacks Across the Mideast, Threatening Ceasefire Deal
Read that again.
Anybody want to tell them?
Apparently, despite the cold, hard fact that the U.S. and Iran are still bombing the bejesus out of each other, AP has settled for the Trump regime’s political reality that we are in a ceasefire.
This would be laughable, if it wasn’t so pathetic and dangerous.
Just a day earlier, Trump crashed into a NATO summit in Turkey at full speed with one plane and left the place in another. Go ahead and hit the hyperlink for that insane story at your convenience, but it’s what happened on the ground that has me particularly furious.
And I’ll get to that in minute because breaking news entirely relevant to my heated rant this morning has just come across the wires. The New York Times has reported that the Trump regime has come after its reporters who published a story on this “plane” truth.
Here is the chilling quote from their top newsroom lawyer, David McCraw, in response to this authoritarian attack on a free press:
“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects.”
I believe this case will only see a sliver of the light of day, but the implications of this brazen attack on the Fourth Estate should shake us all to the core. This is exactly what we fought against in 1776.
It is the mad king’s latest attack on the truth.
“Democrats stole the 2020 election, and I won it.”
Again, Trump is trying to turn his warped political reality into a reality …
So back to Turkey where he was busy wreaking havoc on our nation’s friends. While there, Trump did that weird thing he does when he puffs out his ample ass, grabs hold of the podium with one hand, while pointing his little finger with the other, and assaults anybody or anything he can get his squinty eyes on. In this case, he proceeded to accost our NATO partners who have been with us for decades, and through too many of our wars and not enough peace.
It was a performance unbefitting a U.S. president. Even a constipated clown would have behaved better.
Here’s what this nuclear-powered insult machine said about Spain alone:
"Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don't participate. They don't pay. I don't want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits… I don't want to do any more trade with them. All right, take it immediately."
And about NATO:
“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran.”
Listen to me, if any other president comported himself like this on the world stage, the media would have been rightfully hyperventilating, and calling for said president’s head. Except here was a headline from the newspaper Wednesday, which was just assaulted by the Trump regime last night:
Democrats can’t go on like this …
Understand, this wasn’t a one-off from one of their editorial writers. This was the venerable New York Times editorial board deciding to scold Democrats for the Graham Platner fiasco. I had planned to touch on this sore subject one more time today, but will shelve it due to this breaking news, except to type this:
Platner had to go, but his message lives. Tens of thousands of Mainers supported him and that message while making him their nominee. They are now coming to grips with the fact that the man they voted for — and in many instances worked for — is no longer on the ballot. They are going to need a minute with this. But here’s what they don’t need: Pearl-clutchers on the Left scolding them for their choice. I supported Platner until I just couldn’t anymore. If you disagree with me on that, I understand completely. If you want to take shots at me and the people who supported him: back up. Because trust me, if you want to play that dirty game, I’ll bury you with shovels full of your own hypocrisy. So how about we bury the hatchet, the shovels, and the haughty, put aside our differences, and work together to beat the fascists who have it in for all of us?
-Thank you in advance
Anyway …
While Trump was burying NATO with his own shovels full of authoritarian screed, the NYT editorial board was burying Democrats.
The newspaper that intentionally shirked their responsibility of covering the most violent attack on our Democracy since the Civil War, was going to pour barrels full of ink attacking the party defending it.
Two days later, the tyrant attacked them.
The revolting White House Correspondents Association dinner is in two weeks, after being rescheduled because of yet another fiasco attached to the fascist Trump. So I’ll make you a bet: Despite being attacked by the dark forces who want to end us, The New York Times will be there hat in hand kissing Trump’s ring, because they see things through the dirty lens of political realities.
But here’s the reality: Either you stand with the people of America who believe in a free press, and free elections or you don’t. Either you stand with democracies around the world, or you don’t. Either you understand that Trump is the most dangerous man in the world, or you don’t.
Any press organization struggling to grasp these realities are complicit in our demise.
They are out of excuses.
(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.)
“I became a journalist because I did not want to rely on newspapers for information.” - Christopher Hitchens
I miss Hitch.
Thanks Earl, for keeping us posted on one of the media sites that keep us posted, and the many that do not keep us posted. The previously reputable New York Times is clearly in the latter category, and it has been that way for quite a while. In fact, it caused me to cancel my subscription well over a year ago. Here's what I told the Old Gray Lady at the time:
To Whom It May Concern:
At the outset, I note the irony of my salutation, for the main reason I have canceled my subscription is that there does not seem to be anyone operating the New York Times who is the least bit concerned about much of anything. That has been obvious to me for some time, but as I viewed my recent bank statement (and saw the recurring monthly payment to your previously reputable publication has crept up to $23 a month), I find I can no longer in good conscience continue to line the pockets of the people who run The Times, especially its nepo-baby publisher. If I want "news" like you have been providing since Trump darkened the doorway of our White House once again, I could just tune into Fox or read the claptrap they post online for free.
The first time I should've canceled my subscription was when it became well known that A. G. Sulzberger ordered that any article about Joe Biden remind readers of his age. Sulzberger denied that, but we know better, now don't we? The second time was on inauguration day of the convicted felon, Donald J. Trump. On that day, The Times actually published a news article with this headline: "Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation About the Meaning of a Hand Gesture.” Only a moron (or someone fearful of potential consequences being imposed by the "dictator only on day one”) would report that as anything other than what it was, a Nazi salute. Twice. We know that because you are not morons, plus the New York Times has in its archives actual footage of and reporting by responsible journalists of Mussolini and Hitler doing exactly what Elon Musk did. Musk did that for the same reason as Hitler, because Elon is a Nazi. And you know that too.
The third reason I canceled is your complete abandonment of responsible reporting in favor of transcription and stenography of anything Trump says. Look at your ridiculous coverage of the tariffs. The lead story in The Times by Swanson and Romm parroted Trump's ludicrous claim that these tariffs are “reciprocal” and were imposed on "dozens of other countries who had treated the United States unfairly.” Please tell us how the penguins that inhabit Heard and McDonald Islands have treated the United States unfairly. In fact, perhaps you can also tell us about what must be a very intricate and unique inter-species economic relationship. Perhaps I should rethink my position on whether you are morons. Maybe your ignorance is owing to the fact that Paul Krugman isn't around to tell you how stupid you are. But it really doesn't matter, as the stupidity of Trump is now matched only by your sycophancy of him.
One other thing. When I called to cancel my subscription, I was asked by the man on the other end of the line why I was canceling. After I told him about the Nazi salute thing, he suggested that I provide my specific reasons for cancellation to this email address. The ultimate irony of that is that among your stenography of Trump and repetition of his ridiculous claims that his tariff policies will return jobs to the United States, there was no mention of this fact: the people who man your phones don't live in America, but rather in the Dominican Republic.