By Baxter
The inside-the-Beltway hypocrisy about Bob Dole continued today, and yes, we know that President Biden took part. We're fond of Biden, but it doesn't mean we agree with everything he does. (Just most of the things he does.) Since Dole checked out on December 5, he has been lionized as a figure of bipartisanship. As we cats have noted, we beg to differ.
The Dole coverage (even by our hero Paul Krugman, alas) is just one example of the recent failings of the Fourth Estate. Here's a list of our latest grievances:
The economy — By all accounts, the country is in a Biden Boom. GDP, job growth and wages are all skyrocketing. Unions are empowered like they haven't been in years. But all the press can focus on are gas prices (going down, not that they've noticed) and inflation (temporary, by the judgment of most economists). We're in a global pandemic, folks. And nobody in journalism can bother to point out that no Republicans voted for any of the recovery measures — which, by the way, are working.
The midterms — Talking-head pundits are handing both houses of Congress over to the Republicans in 2022 without so much as a howdy-do. Yes, redistricting is worrisome. But "predicting" a GOP sweep is lazy commentary by mostly straight white men who don't want to consider what effect a SCOTUS decision on reproductive freedom, plus any of the other hot-button issues of the day, will have on passion and turnout.
The insurrection — Mark Meadows handed over to the January 6 committee a jaw-dropping PowerPoint presentation that (with bad-to-nonexistent graphics) outlined exactly how Team Trump intended to commit treason and overturn a fairly conducted, hassle-free 2020 election. (Just the Presidential election, mind you. Republicans were fine with all the House and Senate seats they won.) Why is the existence of this PowerPoint not a screaming headline everywhere???
Kamala Harris — Our extremely capable and appealing Vice President has been the subject of ridiculous coverage lately, from buying cookware in Paris, to pronouncing the word "the" wrong, to her preference for wired headphones. (In case you don't know, wired headphones are more secure than Bluetooth.) These stupid stories are just maddening reminders of the most successful right-wing ploy of the last 50 years: convincing the press that they need to show they're not really "the liberal media." It makes us cats sick, and we HISS.
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