Eric Boehlert: The media have no idea how to cover increasingly deranged GOP

[babylonsister]

The media have no idea how to cover increasingly deranged GOP
Off the rails
Eric Boehlert
56 min ago

snip//

In normal times, if the public sacking of Cheney for lack of fealty and the public support for insurrection had happened in the same calendar year it would be been considered a shocking turn of events for a mainstream political party in this country. The fact that both events happened within hours of each other this week only highlighted how radical, dangerous, and anti-democratic the GOP has become, as it hurtles far beyond the mainstream and into the abyss.

Unfortunately, the Beltway press has no idea how to cover this story. It still refuses to use the proper tools and language to put the troubling actions of the GOP in context via its straight news coverage. Hiding behind Both Sides journalism, timid language, and purposeful naïveté, news outlets still aren't being honest about the dire threat Trump Republicans now pose to the country.

Watching the party maneuver itself to be able to invalidate future elections — by passing voter suppression laws, installing local election boards that refuse to certify wins, empowering state legislatures to refuse to certify their state tallies, and electing a Republican majority in the House of Representatives that deny the Electoral College count — means the United States faces the most entrenched, internal political threat since the Civil War. That's no exaggeration, considering the defining loyalty test for the GOP today is backing Trump's claim that the 2020 election was stolen, which in turns positions the party to question all future election results.

The GOP and its followers have become consumed in deliberate lies, yet the press still views the party as a serious entity whose views deserve to be treated respectfully.

"It's time the media stop covering the GOP as a political party - it's not," tweeted SiriusXM radio show host Dean Obeidallah. "Today's Republican party is a white nationalist, fascist movement and those exact words need to be used by the media so everyone gets the threat the GOP poses to our nation."

more...

https://pressrun.media/p/the-media-have-no-idea-how-to-cover

[spanone]

1. K&R

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Fascist? That's kind. It's an insurrectionist rabble looking for opportunity. /nt

[Wounded Bear]

23. But there is an institutionalized unifying force behind the "rabble"...

If it was just the Proudies and the Boogaloo Boyz running around flashing their weaponry, I would agree...they are not really well organized. The fact is, though, that the Repub Party has provided real political power to their chaotic militia war games. And it runs all the way to the top of the party.

So yeah, fascist works well for me.

[erronis]

50. Oh, I was sure you were going to call out the oligarchs and plutocrats of the US/USSR

The repug party is just a big lobbying arm of the real powers. The Kochs/Mercers/Murdochs/etc. As well as the foreign interests seeing the USofA crumble.

[wnylib]

54. You mean like the nationalist military brass and

wealthy industrialists who backed German fascism in the 1920s and '30s in order to benefit?

[Wounded Bear]

56. Well, fascism is a melding of gov't and big business...

At least that's my simplified definition of it.

[wnylib]

69. Yes, it is, but it's much more than that.

It's militaristic, authoritarian, misogynistic, nationalistic to the point of being xenophobic. It thrives on "us versus them" mentality, with religious, political, ethnic, and/or racial enemies to unite insiders and define and exclude outsiders. Its members focus on a cult leader who promises to restore them and "their people" to an idealized time of past glory and greatness.

[DENVERPOPS]

78. And believe me, the Media knows

exactly what to do, they just won't do it.........They are no better than PRAVDA, often much less........

And don't forget that 80+% of all U.S. Media is owned by uber wealthy Republicans....What do you expect they would say.......

I call it the Republican Party the: Corporate Fascist Tyranny.........and they are 99% there already..........

[soldierant]

59. The word "fascist" needs to be used.

"Insurrectionist" has too many syllables and is less familiar to the poorly educated For thst reason it has less power.

And it's not like "fascist" is in any way inaccurate.

[Poiuyt]

73. Esteemed historian, Robert Paxton, is now saying fascism

I've Hesitated to Call Donald Trump a Fascist. Until Now

I resisted for a long time applying the fascist label to Donald J. Trump. He did indeed display some telltale signs. In 2016, a newsreel clip of Trump's plane taxiing up to a hangar where cheering supporters awaited reminded me eerily of Adolf Hitler's electoral campaign in Germany in July 1932, the first airborne campaign in history, where the arrival of the Führer's plane electrified the crowd. Once the rally began, with Hitler and Mussolini, Trump mastered the art of back-and-forth exchanges with his enraptured listeners. There was the threat of physical violence ("lock her up!&quot , sometimes leading to the forceful ejection of hecklers. The Proud Boys stood in convincingly for Hitler's Storm Troopers and Mussolini's squadristi. The MAGA hats even provided a bit of uniform.The "America First" message and the leader's arrogant swagger fit the fascist model.

But these are matters of surface decor. How did Trump relate to more profound social, political, economic, and cultural forces in American life? Like Hitler, among the first political leaders to master radio, Trump mastered electronic media like Twitter and won the support of America's largest television chain, Fox News. Like the fascist leaders Trump understood the deep disaffection of parts of society for traditional leaders and institutions, and he knew how to exploit a widespread fear of national division and decline. Like Hitler and Mussolini he knew how to pose as the only effective bulwark against an advancing Left, all the more fearful because it took on cultural forms unfamiliar to provincial rural America—feminism, Black Power, gay rights.

--snip--

Trump's incitement of the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2020 removes my objection to the fascist label. His open encouragement of civic violence to overturn an election crosses a red line. The label now seems not just acceptable but necessary. It is made even more plausible by comparison with a milestone on Europe's road to fascism—an openly fascist demonstration in Paris during the night of February 6, 1934.

more--

https://www.newsweek.com/robert-paxton-trump-fascist-1560652

Robert Paxton is not some left wing, hair on fire pundit. He's written several books on fascism and on dictatorships in Europe. He's an authority on the subject.

[DENVERPOPS]

79. And,

call January 6th exactly what it was, not insurrection, but TREASON..........

[essaynnc]

3. npr the other morning

had a guest on...fuzzy details... but I was shocked how many times the words lies, liar, insurrection and other "harsh" words were used.

Keep it up !!

[KS Toronado]

4. MSM is trying to figure out how to make their coverage a rating boom

without losing any viewers. So far they have zero answers otherwise they'd be reporting on this.

[gab13by13]

5. Don't you think if the MSM

did what this thread suggests it would be earth shattering news?

No, the MSM caters to the right because that's who owns and controls it.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

6. Can't have a free press

When it's owned.

[luvtheGWN]

33. "Can't have a free press if it's owned"

Well then, the US alternative might be a state owned and managed press. So, depending upon which party is in power, that's the information you will get. From the earliest broadsheets and yellow journalism, somebody has financed them.

Even PBS and NPR have been caught catering to their major donors.

It's the "standards of journalism" that are suspect in US media. Here in Canada, we do have strict standards whereby licences can be revoked if lies are told. And we do have laws governing hate speech. You once had something called the Fairness Doctrine. Maybe it's time to ask your congress critters to bring it back. Might help.

[erronis]

51. "Can't have a free press" when it's pwned (note the difference from owned)

An owned press is something we think of with the normal publishers supplying the capital to run a press. The editorial side does want to make the owners happy so the bent is usually in line with said owners.

A pwned press is where the news and opinions are co-opted by malicious forces, outsiders or insiders, with agendas. Misinformation is the message. Double speak, propaganda, innuendo, false stories. Stuff like the Murdoch empire and the current USSR is well known for.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

57. I think you. wrote what I meant

In my op. Thanks.

[ms liberty]

70. This. Particulatly the second paragraph. n/t

[KS Toronado]

9. I agree 100%, it's really about the money/greed.

[lookyhereyou]

7. the msm is enabling not hobbling or

even questioning the corporate business agenda.

BUY THE PEOPLE

[acg]

8. American Taliban - The New Republican Party

AMERICAN TALIBAN
By Al Garcia

First, let me begin by attempting to explain as succinctly as I can, the Taliban.

The Taliban is an ultra-conservative militant organization, attempting to spread and enforce its religious and political views on those around them. They have been known to “excommunicate” or kill those who do not follow their radical views. In other words, it is a dictatorship. Its followers are not free to practice or live by their own views or beliefs, nor can they criticize the Taliban’s policies or practices. The Taliban is 10% about ideas and ideology, and 90% about power and money.

Now, let me try to explain the new Republican Party.

The Republican Party is an ultra-conservative Right-wing organization that is becoming militant in nature, with no direction or focus other than to obstruct and to divide, and even overtake or overthrow. It is attempting to spread and enforce non-existent political views with inflammatory rhetoric to rouse long-simmering racial, ethnic and religious fervor. They have been known to “excommunicate” members of its party for nonsensical, irrational and ludicrous reasons – like telling the truth, and wanting to practice long-standing Republican ideals that propelled them into national power and prestige generations ago. In other words, the new and rapidly expanding Republican Party is losing its coat of conservatism, nationalism and patriotism, and exposing its true nature and complexion -- an autocracy in the making. Its followers are not free to practice or live by their own views or beliefs of the party they once belonged to or believed in, nor can they criticize the Republican policies and practices of outright falsification, obstruction, or manipulation of truth and reality. The Republican Party is now 10% about abandoned ideas and ideology, and 90% about power, greed and money, at whatever cost, even democracy.

There is no difference between the Taliban and the Republican Party, other than head coverings and location. One is attempting to take over the Middle East, the other, attempting to take over and end our American Dream.

Our American Taliban, in coats and ties, out to destroy our heritage and our legacy, and to make Americans crawl and grovel before the golden statue they have already created.

[KS Toronado]

13. Welcome to DU acg !

Look forward to your posts.

[Pepsidog]

16. And that my friends describes perfectly the Republican Party of today.

[abenavraham2020]

17. ACG Is there a link to this article?

[acg]

22. It's My Article

This is one of many of my articles which I post daily on my Facebook Page: facebook.com/algarcia.pv

They are all original writings, and I post two to three such writings a day. I had thought about deleting my Facebook page because only a few friends were viewing and reading it. However, I have decided to continue writing in the hope that it catches on.

Hope you'll take a moment to visit my Facebook page.

Thank you. Appreciate your interest.

[lagomorph777]

40. Your thoughts deserve a more worthy platform than Fascistbook.

Bravo for your clear and cogent writing.

[acg]

42. WOW!

Thank you. Never expected such a reception from readers. I do enjoy writing down my thoughts. I've kept them to myself for a long, long time, and started posting them on Facebook. Unfortunately, Facebook readers have a very short attention span I found out, and so many of my lengthy posts go unread or totally ignored, and for a writer, it deflates our passion to some degree. So thanks for taking the time to read my post and understanding what I was trying to say.

[erronis]

52. Thank you for this post. Please post elsewhere also. Many of us are FB averse.

Gives us hives and worse.

Or course posting on DU is always welcome!

[acg]

53. WILL START POSTING ORIGINAL WRITINGS ON DU

Thank you, and I fully understand and appreciate your feelings regarding Facebook.

I will start posting my original writings on DU in various categories. Hope others like you will read them and understand them.

Thanks.

[Shoeless Louis]

66. I can't/won't do FB, but would recommend and appreciate following your posts. Can you

Let us know if you choose another platform. I refuse to join social media sites but I know that Twitter allows me to at least read what others post. Good luck Al and thanks for your service in Nam.

[acg]

68. DU Exclusivity

I hope to use DU as my exclusive platform for all my writings/posts -- essays, opinions, poetry, etc. I have deleted my FB account, and according to their policy, it may take up to 30 days, but I will no longer be posting on FB. Thank you for reading my post(s) and for your comments. Most appreciated.

[niyad]

19. Welcome to our DU family.

[bronxiteforever]

25. +1 brilliantly written

Welcome to DU!

[acg]

27. Thank You

Appreciate you reading my post. I was about to stop writing my daily posts on my Facebook page until I found this site. You made my day. Thanks

www.facebook.com/algarcia.pv

[ariadne0614]

28. I shared your well-expressed FB post with my little sphere of influence. n/t

[acg]

30. And I thought I Was Alone

Last edited Fri May 14, 2021, 02:38 PM - Edit history (1)

. . . and I thought I was alone in my thinking and my thoughts. Thank you. You and others on DU have reignited my passion to continue posting on my Facebook page. I was about to give up until I came across this site this morning. Thanks again!

[ariadne0614]

41. I'm glad you found DU.

Based on what I’ve read so far, we’re the better for your presence. The DU community is a diverse lot, but you will find support and kindred spirits here.

[uponit7771]

36. +1,

[certainot]

39. dittohead taliban. it was the party of limbaugh for better part 30 years and that's why boloert and

msm can't figure it out. that's why it's such a mess now - limbaugh croaked and the media that lives in cities and has ignored rw radio for 30 years has no clue how important that was - they can't replace him - they're doing reruns!

the russians have been using him/rw radio since at least 2008 (manafort- limbaugh -palin). they increasingly used talk radio to radicalize the formerly establishment GOP until they used trump, who basically took limbaugh mainstream, to take it over completely

with limbaugh gone the 600 stations they used to centralize messaging from the 1500 is now all over the place and the dumbfucks don't know what to think or what's too radical or too moderate. the biggest political correctness and cancel culture cop in the country is now gone

trumpism is starting to rot, like the master rationalizer is now. unless they embalmed him and are hoping he'll rise again

all democrats and liberals have to do is use artificial intelligence and the MIT model to automatically record, transcribe, and analyze huge samples of rw radio, do some boycotts, and protest the 87+ universities that are broadcasting sports on it, and the radio ad industry will have to break up the monopoly or lose most of their advertisers.

then liberals and media will stop ignoring what's been kicking their ass/confusing them for 30 years, the american taliban will be shamed back into its cave, democracy can work again, an we can finally get serious about global warming

[NBachers]

46. Hi Al- American Taliban is spot-on. I went over to your Facebook page. I hope you continue posting

here. You are a welcome contributor. I even went over and skipped around a bit and checked out Edinburg- it looks like a nice community. Do the hurricanes that hit Galveston or Corpus Christi ever make it inland to you?

I will keep an eye out for your posts.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

47. +100

[Boomerproud]

55. Bravo! To the Greatest Page.

This needs exposure.

[smirkymonkey]

60. +1000

[FakeNoose]

61. Correct - and the American news media will never make this distinction

GOP = Greedy One Percent

[BarbD]

62. Chilling but true comparison.

[Shoeless Louis]

63. ACG's 'American Taliban' article deserves more exposure, imho.

I found Al’s article very powerful and insightful. It was buried in responses and I had trouble finding it a second time, when I wanted to share it. am a novice here and I probably just need to learn the ropes in getting around in this forum. I have been reading DU for a long time and appreciate the quality of the discussions. It appears that ACG (Al) is or may be new here, but his profile says that he has been writer/journalist for sometime. I read some of his other comments on this site, and I’m sure we will all enjoy what he brings to the table. Welcome Al.
And thanks for the ‘American Taliban’ article.

[gopiscrap]

81. welcome to DU

[East-A-Squared]

10. Call them facists.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. How about starting with "GOP in disarray"? . . . nt

[gab13by13]

14. It looks to me like 99% of them are on the same page.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. If the 3rd Democrat (Whip Clyburn) stated Biden lieing, headlines would be "Dems in disarray"

5 percent of House Republicons voted to impeach tRump.
Dissension among Republican members of the public is high.
The GOP is losing voter registrations.

[NewHendoLib]

12. media is caught between profit$$$ and truth.

[gab13by13]

15. I disagree,

The more eye catching story would be the truth.

[RVN VET71]

18. Thank you for this.

I picked up on the excruciating threat to our society posed by the fascist-wannabes in the old GOP by reading Heather Cox Richardson and watching MSNBC. I have Rachel Maddow on DVR and check her out when I can in the mornings. I read Prof. Richardson daily emails, which are always superb and extraordinarily well sourced. And I find Ari Melber to be excellent, as well as Chris Hayes. I also like Joy Reid but just don’t get more than an infrequent chance to watch her.

But the general media at large don’t seem to get it -- or don’t want to tell it. What the current GOP is doing is plotting in broad daylight to disenfranchise the majority of American voters and seize governmental power for itself in perpetuity. Trump, whom I refer to as Flubbo, is not its future though. Even if he is alive and upright in 2024, the GOP is going to be looking for the next authoritarian dictator to put in his place, and so America’s republic will devolve into a corporate empire.

(And what a humiliation for America that will be! Rome lost its Republic to Julius Caesar. America will have lost its Republic to Flubbo.)

[bonniebgood]

20. You mean they (the Media) refuse, can't and won't tell the truth in plain English language

about white privilege racism, fascism and all the isms? Number the media and journalists NEVER uses the word Anti-facist, they use the word ANTIFA. Shame on them all.

[jalan48]

24. The MSM shapes public opinion. It's not neutral to start with.

It’s conditioning Americans to the radical changes taking place in our country. Soon most Americans will have forgotten what went before and will blindly accept the new normal

[gab13by13]

29. Exactly,

What happened to the 2 members of the FEC who abstained from voting to pursue charging MF45 for his role in the Stormy Daniels hush money? I thought there was going to be an investigation as to why 2 of the members failed to vote? That lasted 1 day and was buried.

It isn't about money, it is as you so rightly stated, it is about shaping public opinion, it is about pushing the far right narrative.

If it were about ratings and money, wouldn't calling the GQP un-American insurrectionists be front page sensationalism?

[uponit7771]

37. +1,

[bronxiteforever]

26. Kick and recommend.

[tenderfoot]

31. The media looks out for #1 - their board members and those just like them (top 1%)

It's why absolutely NOTHING has changed for the better the past 40 years.

[MissMillie]

32. LOL Give them a microphone

They can't help but say something incredible STUPID.

[NH Ethylene]

34. So true!

Our democracy is in danger right now and it should be reported in giant CAPS!!

[uponit7771]

35. M$M thanks they will be around in kind if Republicans get back power

[Jon King]

38. Media bosses need to look at their kids and grand kids.

If the Repugs realize their plan then America is done. Autocracy, destroyed climate, a country with no future.

So sure they make money now, but their kids and grand kids would live in a waste land. To me it makes more sense for the media bosses and the corporate titans to destroy the GOP. Their kids and grand kids will have great lives if the Dems are in charge or if the Repugs are forced to re-emerge as a moderate party.

No one, even the rich, wins if the Repug plan works.

[CrispyQ]

43. The media is only as liberal as the conservative corporations that own it. bumper sticker

I like Dean Obeidallah & he is spot on.

[DallasNE]

44. Follow The Money

Do that and you will understand why the media is so intent to follow the "both sides" argument. Advertising dollars and ultra conservative ownership determine how the news gets covered.

Even before the ownership change and news divisions being converted to profit centers it wasn't the media that said to Joseph McCarthy "have you no shame". The media, after all, doesn't make the news. They report the news in a manner of their choosing. Example: Fox News. Thus, complaining about the media will do no good as they are big business making decisions based on corporate ownership interests. And we are seeing that play out in social media as their role as news organizations expand.

The result is legislative deadlock so things like the Fairness Doctrine will not be coming back anytime soon. We are left with the status quo. We know what it takes. It takes the person standing up on the tank like the Square in China, the naked girl in Vietnam or someone with the guts to say have you no shame. It will happen. We just don't know if it will be in a court room (if it doesn't fit you must acquit) or in the streets, it will happen.

[BobTheSubgenius]

45. I am astounded that the ouster of Drumpf from the WH has not diminished the crazy AT ALL.

In fact, it's grown worse, in some ways. When it was one person center stage, ranting on Twitter, at rallies, or occasionally directly to the press, it took the lion's share of the attention and perceptions. In those days, ridiculous assertions from underlings was somehow diminished...written off as self-protection from the madman.

I think one could be forgiven for assuming the circus monkeys would calm down, once the hysteria of the election had passed. Who could have expected what did happen...that the lunatic ravings and savage behaviour would actually get WORSE???

[New Breed Leader]

48. The horse is out of the barn now.

IMO, the only way to calm these lunatics down is to ARREST TRUMP. They cling to him because he's popular, but also because he's untouchable. If you indict that MF finally, they'll run for the hills.

[BobTheSubgenius]

49. That is entirely possible, even likely...but it could also create a large backlash.

His arrest won't bring more loons on board, and might well diminish their numbers, but I see it as hardening an already reality-proof shell for many.

[maddiemom]

71. As far as I can discover, Trrump has never run for any elected office other than POTUS.

He's obviously never paid much attention to how the U.S. government is supposed to work. He obviously didn't care to learn, once elected. He NEVER has won the popular vote at any time he ran. Whether or not Nixon was a crook, he knew how government functioned and wanted to be considered a success as POTUS. Trump IS A CROOK, no question. I wonder if he has "the goods" on all the major Republicans. (Dick) Cheney/ Halliburton, etc. has long been out in the open. Probably no leverage for Trump.

[sprinkleeninow]

77. This what you have expressed echoes my recent thought re: 'their' outrageous behavior in

word and deed.

Although, while attemping to stay positive, I do admittedly have trepidation about our near and distant future.

The craziness has not been tamped down by 'his' removal/by 'him' vacating the Oval Office.

[ananda]

58. Disagree. The media knows exactly what they are doing.

Rghtwing shits.

[Nevilledog]

64. Boehlert is always a must read for me.

[FlyingPiggy]

65. For God's sake! How about they just call out their lies

And report the truth. If they are lying make a note of that. Sen. says this today. However in 2017, he said this instead as you can see by this video we are about to show you. It’s not that hard.

[hay rick]

67. They are afraid to call a traitor a traitor.

Reporting the truth deferring to the need to keep advertisers and eyeballs.

[ecstatic]

72. Yes, but they're also taking cues from Democrats in Congress

I don't hear the right sense of urgency coming from them either. Especially with regard to making sure all Americans can have their votes included and counted. Just my opinion, as someone who is currently disenfranchised.

[Martin68]

74. Well.....duh! Who would know how to cover a batshit crazy mainstream political party? This is new

territory for everybody. Give the media a break. We have a two-party democratic system, but one of the parties has jumped the shark. We have had to to invent entirely new approaches to reporting politics. Remember, it used to be verboten to state in print that a politician had lied. Trump revealed the necessity of calling out lies. It used to be assumed that the president had the best interests of the nation at heart. Trump totally negated that. The media has done a great job considering the challenges. But give them credit. They have responded with new approaches and entirely new assumptions.

[woodsprite]

75. Then don't cover them! nt

[Corgigal]

76. If you listen to podcast,

this week I heard two mention this issue.

Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen, also

The Meidastouch podcast.

Both informative, and scary.

[elleng]

80. How about The Emperor Has NO CLOTHES!