It was the press conference seen round the world. Laughed at round the world. Laughter not directed solely at the star of the proceedings - a wrecked, decrepit, decomposing pumpkin standing in his equally sad, dark, desperately-in-need-of-updating-and-lots-of-Febreeze golf palace - but guffaws targeted at the assembled "journalists" who sat for it.
I couch that word in quotation marks because the media present had been hand selected by Trump's woefully inept team the day before. Chosen for the certitude that they would not ask anything relevant, riveting, or important, and certainly not push for an actual substantive answer.
Which brings us to the sad state of what passes for journalism in this country. If it were fabric, it would be the cheapest linen, with more wrinkles than a topographical map of Tibet, burn holes, underarm sweat stains, and buttons missing. A shirt that can barely be called a shirt anymore. Ill fitting, pulled from the closet floor where it has been balled up for months.
In short, our press needs pressing.
Since Trump's announcement to run in 2015, media outlets have whored themselves out, taking a prostitutial knee, as it were, for access. Maggie Haberman of the NYT is a prime example. She has practically lived up his loose colon for almost 10 years now. News channels gave up the word news in order to get viewers. And they knew that given Trump's constant stream of verbal gaffes and outlandish outbursts, the more they kept the cameras on him, the more clicks and ratings they would garner.
Just as video killed the radio star, access journalism killed the news business. The honest reporting of who, what, when, how, where was kicked to the curb in order to script a reality show for viewers. Handpicked, chyron hyped, and completely partisan. Walter Cronkite, who?
Think about that. At one time, Cronkite was called "the most trusted man in America" because he reported the news of the day to viewers. The facts. Not the spin. That is what news once was. Trusted bodies that worked to gather, interview, hold accountable, and report what was happening in our world. But as dollars and drama became more important than Dan Rather and deep, insightful news gathering, we got clowns like Glenn Beck and his blackboard.
One wrinkle in the fabric of journalism begat another wrinkle and so on and so on. Like the Faberge' commercial from the 70s, it multiplied before our eyes. We all chose our camps. Conservatives who loved being frightened and fed conspiracy via batshit Beck flocked to FOX. Liberals who longed for actual news and to see things called out headed for CNN and MSNBC.
And then the biggest wrinkled came along and there is not an industrial steam presser big enough to get it out. The billionaires bought the news. Television and print and web. Murdoch, Bezos, Redstone, Jobs, Adelson, Musk and on and on. Once venerable institutions like the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, etc became nothing more than blatantly partisan outlets shilling for their favorite politicians. News sharing sites like Twitter were bought, throttled, shadow banned and Nazified into a white supremacy wetdream called X where Elon Musk caters to the Andrew Tates and Catturds of the world.
And just as Trump brought eyes to channels he brought sales to print, both on the streets and online. Cash is king, as the saying goes. So the press anointed Trump, vilified all who got in his way (Hilary's emails, anyone?), looked past his obvious shortcomings, ignorance, avarice, and criminality and 2016 saw him installed in the Oval.
Their bootlicking only grew. Access was everything. (Again, see Haberman.) Any organization who dared to call him out, report truthfully about him and his administration were blacklisted, called fake news, and the flow of access was immediately cut off.
Thinking that they would iron themselves out after he was ousted was folly. Their cameras and microphones have stayed steadily trained on the human shitshow because he never fails to deliver. And their thirst for ratings and the promise of more beyond 2024 is why we are where we found ourselves yesterday.
Screwed for actual coverage. Honest reporting.
One subpar debate performance by President Biden and the press went apeshit for weeks. A constant flow of articles, headlines, pundits and political players filled every outlet questioning his health, his mental acuity, his age, his age, his age. Nonstop, wall-to-wall coverage of every sneeze, step, oration. It was as obvious as it was shameful. A full court press designed to grab ratings while pushing one man out in favor of elevating a felon who guaranteed endless soundbites.
Age? Fine. Talk about it. Mental sharpness? Absolutely. Must be considered. OF BOTH CANDIDATES. Yet despite Trump's advanced age, obvious mental decline, and abject stupidity on any subject, the spotlight never strayed from Biden. Until the rally where shots were fired and we all learned Trump has an ear that regrows as fast as a Chia pet.
An assassination attempt. HUGE news. Or it should have been. Yet where were the reporters, the investigative journalists finding out what, who, where, how? Where was the push for medical records, hell, a press conference with the treating physician? Where was the thirst to get the story, break some news? There simply was none. The press took the position of that balled up shirt at the back of the closet. Content to lie there, be ignored, passed over.
Shameful. Once upon a time, a presidential candidate calling a media blackout over something this massive would have resulted in a free for all of reporters vying for information, scoops, FACTS. Radio silence was not simply accepted back in the day. But again, access. Fear of not having it kept them all at bay. Which is exactly how Trump wanted it so he could continue to script the narrative of manufactured bullshit.
And manufacture it he did. His entire RNC week consisted of him wearing a Kotex over his ear to better bring home the seriousness of his wound and his warrior-like resilience. Pardon my incredulity here, but give me a fucking break. Everything he and his team would have us believe about his injury is completely belied by what we can see with our own eyes. But no matter. Look! All his cultists are wearing maxipads on their heads in solidarity. Report on that!
JFC...
Even falling for his "new tone" bullshit. I can't. Same man as he ever was. Filled with hubris, ego, and arrogance aplenty.
Then what happens? RNC is over. They are still harping on Biden's age and debate performance, secure in the knowledge they will once again nonreport Trump to the Oval and...
Biden announces he will not seek re-election, throwing his complete support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. And the crowd goes wild!
But the press doesn't. HUGE wrinkle for them. Wait, wut?!? But we had our entire script written!
Harris becomes a juggernaut. Donations, endorsements, excitement. The press scrambles for anything they can throw that may stick. Where are the Obamas? Oops, shit, there they are. Is this even legal? Well, crap it is, the delegates have not voted yet. Snoop Dogg could get the nod and it would be legal. Then the desperation, with on screen anchors suggesting Biden must surely be on his death bed. Dammit. Primetime from the Oval Office.
Even Trump's campaign, faced with this unexpected turn of events, does not know what to do besides whine foul! Like the media, there entire angle was to continually beat the drum of Biden's age only to be left holding the saggy ballbag of the oldest candidate to ever run for the presidency.
As Harris continued to pick up steam, important endorsements, and campaign cash, the press stayed skeptical. Trying in vain to find the chink in the armor of the grassroots excitement and momentum. Ari Melber pulled all manner of rap out of his cringey ass to try to downplay the reality. FOX heads disparaged Harris in every way. Despite what has been happening, they still desperately need this to be a horse race for their ratings. (And note, just because your cable news allows their anchors to drop words like shit and damn, it doesn’t mean that they are truth tellers, or edgy and going after the facts. It just means that they have more latitude to cuss because you pay for the channel.)
Then Tim Walz was chosen. And the press autopsy of him began. Good luck with that. 24 year veteran, teacher, father, GOOD GUY. As he and Harris began their campaign travels, Trump literally fell off the face of the planet. Yet no breathless headlines or chyrons. A paucity of campaign field offices. Nothing. Biden had COVID and the press set their hair on fire with speculation for a week. Trump disappears and nothing? (Rick Wilson did ask, Where's Weirdo?)
The actual pressure on Trump and his minions came not from the media, but from an onslaught of online criticism from larger voices and a lot of smaller ones. And so, the announcement yesterday morning of a press conference set for 2pm at Mar-a-Lago. A press conference decided upon on Thursday when his campaign handpicked the reporters to be invited and the questions to be asked.
Anyone knowing that part knew that what was to take place was not a true press conference where a candidate stands for actual questions, answers, pushback and clarification. Rather it was set to be a coddle sesh in which Trump could stand in his safe space and expound on whatever synapsis misfired through his rotting cerebellum.
We all know he thinks himself to be the Grand Poobah of taste and elegance, but that place, that room just screamed "I'm as tired, worn out and, quite frankly, smelly as the guy standing in me!" And he looked like as bad as the drapes and cushions. Haggard, drawn, out of date, redolent with the ghosts of omelette bars past.
Aside about his appearance. There has been much reporting, from outlets overseas, that he has been on the Ozempic train for some time. His droopy face would ironically prop up that assertion. Ozempic face is real. And on an old man, even realer. And his suit appeared to be wearing him. He did seem less orange - that could have been the poor lighting or his ego's response to the endless criticism of him being Mango Mussolini, the Melon Felon, or as I called him yesterday, Canteloupe von Diaperload. His croquembouche of hair not as ornately spun. (That is truly the best description of his coif I have ever run across.)
He immediately embarked on a ramble about World War 3, the crash of 1929, all manner of fearmongering. With him, of course, as the answer to all of the impending doom. (They want so badly for the market to crater, but the reality is that while he was speaking, the markets were all up, in fact the S&P had its best day since 2022.) He went into the weeds about Harris calling her weak and dangerously liberal. He did not seem to even know her running mate's name, referring to him as "her new friend". On and on he went, inevitably ending up at crowd size, his favorite focus.
Anyone with eyes has seen the incredible crowds showing up for Harris and Walz this past week. Yet there he stood asserting he has had crowds of 100,000, and that his January 6th crowd outstripped that of MLK's I Have A Dream speech attendance. Seriously. Someone get Will Smith to keep MLK's name out his damned mouth.
Lie after festering lie. Lie after easily refutable lie. Lies that no one corrected, no news station pushed back on in real time. And the questions. Oy. No microphones for the reporters so we were left to gather what was asked based on what he responded. Responses that were often delayed by him needing things repeated.
Another aside. His hearing. He is old. Hearing loss happens. It just does. But it is more and more obvious his is in serious decline, which also contributes to an increase in dementia progression. Yet where are the experts and stories about this? Shit, Biden made it possible to get hearing aids over-the-counter. But Mr. Ego cannot be seen with such frailty accessories in his ears. Speaking of which - he claimed yesterday to have been hit in the lobe. While touching the top of his ear. Man doesn't even know his basic anatomy. But hoo boy, that ear, that Chia Pet-fast-growing-regenerate-like-a-lizard-tail ear.
But I digress.
On and on he went. His support is 75% of the country! Doing great with white men! Nobody was killed on January 6th! (Paging MAGAt madonna Ashli Babbitt...) Barrels of oil up to 7, 8, 9 dollars! (We wish) Abortion is not a big issue anymore! (Seriously.) Responding to questions with irrelevant answers, no answers, diversion, and obfuscation. Hand accordion playing at full speed. Breathy, sniffly. With zero pushback from the assembled wrinkled mess that is our media. Trump is a super spreader of lies and disinformation and our media is the apotheosis of enabling.
No real-time fact checking by the networks carrying an old man shaking his fist at the clouds. It’s not a matter of a normal person speaking off the cuff and who might draw a date wrong from memory, or paraphrase a quote, not getting it exactly right. That’s not what Trump does. He is a pathological liar, an incurious man who does not have a even a slim base of true information or history or intellectualism to draw upon.
All cameras trained on a babbling, lying mess of a man, no cameras on Kamala Harris giving an incredible speech to the UAW. Make it make sense.
Again, shameful. Because correcting him when he is freewheeling like that is when it matters. When people are watching. Doing it after the fact is worthless. Someone needs to be willing to risk access and fact check this blindingly stupid farce of a candidate to his rapidly decaying face.
Last night, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell did what no one with a big platform has done so far - he held the media accountable. He called them out, including his own network. It is worth your time to watch.
If you watch one thing today, please make it this from @Lawrence.
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) August 9, 2024
I implore you. Absolute fire. 🔥pic.twitter.com/cFTmNZZ0bf
The press has an obligation to the public, or at least it did. Back before it chose entertainment over hard hitting journalism, it set out to get the story, to research it, to fact check it thoroughly, and then only when it was dead certain, report it to the public. What we have before us is reality TV "news" - created and curated for the specific audience, targeted to keep people tuning in, ignoring that which is inconvenient or risks a repercussion from the subject.
And for the record - the only true and honest headline to emerge came from across the pond, not here within our borders.
O'Donnell heated up the iron last night. With democracy on the line, and everything we can see with our own eyes, it is time to begin pressing the press to do their jobs, get off the closet floor, and work out the wrinkles in the sad state of affairs we call journalism.
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