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The political media yawns while our democracy slips away. Worse, they are aiding and abetting the demise. It is amazing to me that after covering this lunatic for eight years, the escalation in his threats are just “old news.” I think these deeply cynical journalists actually like taking down dems with relentlessly petty coverage because they don’t like them (“pretend dogooders”) and admire the Machiavellian ruthlessness of the GOP. (“That’s just who they are.”)

They and more importantly, their editors, know exactly what they are doing. When Americans believe we are in a recession and that the economy was better under Trump; that Biden and Trump did the same thing with classified Docs; that Biden is frail and mentally unstable while Trump is vigorous, that our borders are “open”--among many other misconceptions--it is the media’s fault. They have failed in their basic job:to inform. They are ultimately doing the bidding of the Right, who have worked the refs for years, even as these “neutral” journalists deny it.

It used to be the NYT set the trend for the day’s coverage. While that still holds true to some extent, they are now played by RW media and the GOP. When Fox bangs on about a “story” you can be sure the Times picks it up--they don’t want to be seen showing favoritism--and the rest follow. I will give them a bit of credit though; they have refrained from giving blaring headline news to the ridiculous GOP led House committees; no Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi this time around.

There is still good journalism and sources of info out there. Follow Dem leaders you like. Read a variety of sources--David Rothkopf in the Daily Beast (he’s also great to follow in SM); Charlie Pierce in Esquire; Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC, Jennifer Rubin and Dana Milbank in WAPO; Sheldon Whitehouse on SM and Dahlia Lithwick in Slate for SCOTUS (and ProPublica); Margaret Sullivan in the Guardian and here on Substack; the Bulwark (Tim Miller JVL, Anne Applebaum); Tom Nichols in the Atlantic, Rachel Maddow. And Brian, Dan Pfeiffer, and Ben Rhodes.

Excellent entry, Brian. One quibble--their attitude does color the story; the threat against the former top general should not have been 20 graphs in. And now the Times wants to dumb down its coverage because people can’t read or pay attention. But I digress.

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What else would you expect from a media largely dominated by plutocratic ownership?

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Are you able to provide transcripts easily? I can’t do videos. Actually not can’t so much as I don’t like them. I much prefer to read …

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Going forward I may be able to.

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If you watch it on YouTube there’s an robot-generated transcript.

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I think the media is doing this deliberately. Democrats doing their jobs doesn’t sell papers. JOE BIDEN HAS ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE AND THE OTHER ON A BANANA PEEL does. They needed this race to be tight to keep people watching/reading; if Trump wins, the world may burn, but they will have LOADS of material.

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To grossly oversimplify, coverage as described is actually harmful to society. If the “perpetrators” don’t know that, and I’m they are, well...

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