The Washington Post Editorial Board finally wakes up to reality

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/5/7/2096662/-The-Washington-Post-Editorial-Board-finally-wakes-up-to-reality

The Washington Post Editorial Board finally wakes up to reality
Dartagnan
Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)
Sunday May 08, 2022 · 2:57 AM EDT


The title of the Post’s Editorial page says it all:

Jan. 6 was worse than you remember. It must define our politics.

Yes. This is not a dream. It’s not a Facebook Post. It’s not a dystopian fantasy.

It’s reality.

From the Editorial page of the Washington Post:

The attackers did not behave like “tourists”; they were not unarmed; Jan. 6 was not a normal protest that got out of hand; the attack was not staged by far-left agitators posing as Trump supporters. Instead, it was a coordinated and concerted effort on the part of pro-Trump zealots, riled up by then-President Donald Trump himself, to reverse a presidential election by intimidation and force.

mm-hmm. No, it wasn’t a “cartoon,” either.

William Todd Wilson led a North Carolina cell of the Oath Keepers, a heavily-armed far-right radical group. According to the Justice Department, Mr. Wilson admitted that “he agreed with others to take part in a plan to use force to prevent, hinder, and delay the execution of the laws of the United States governing the transfer of presidential power. He and others used encrypted and private communications, equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer a call to take up arms.” The goal was “to stop the transfer of power by disrupting a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.”

Emphasis on the word “led.” And fascinating that they’re just now realizing this.

Jan. 6 should have been a turning point in our politics. Voters must recognize that where politicians stand on democracy is more important than tax rates, inflation, gas prices or any other policy issue. Lawmakers who see the threat that growing illiberal forces pose to the nation must secure its democratic institutions.

You don’t say! Damn. where have I heard this before?

Oh wait! It was on DailyKos!

[sprinkleeninow]

1. GQP lawmakers refuse to appear before the Jan. 6 Cmte.

On MSNBC Live now.

[Septua]

10. As Charlie Sykes said about Giuliani's last minute cancellation...

..to appear, that was the least surprising news of the day.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Erecting a gallows, having the materials handy (and tools) to make this? This was all ...

preplanned and lined up w/ everything they needed to try and pull off this insurrection. No peace, no rest for any of these thugs, who numbered in the perhaps thousands, being overwhelmed by us voting by the 10s of millions for Pres. Biden. No contest.

Jan. 6 will go down in American History as the day that trump's thugs attacked the rule of law, the Constitution and those of us who voted for Pres. Biden. I just wish that Garland would go after rump. Anything. So many have been charged being part of that crowd of Jan. 6, why not the ringleader? They always go after the ringleaders, don't they?

[sprinkleeninow]

3. "...that Garland would go after rump."

No.1 instigator.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. "Lawmakers who see the threat ... must secure its democratic institutions." How?

You impeach some dope twice, a handful on the other side vote to convict. You can't impeach a SCOTUS judge, even if they lie their asses off. You can't pass voting reform. You can't protect women and freedom. You can't limit 2A. You can't regulate business, only women's bodies are eligible for State regulation and constraint. You can't have logic on fake news channels, they won't allow it, and wouldn't recognize it if they heard it.

WAPO Editorial Board is afraid of one thing: being replaced by MAGA PRAVDA.

[kwolf68]

5. This kinda nails it

We are in a very dark time in this nation, not that anyone has to say it.

[uponit7771]

9. +1, a fact standard consortium fixes that IMHO. We can't enact fairness doctrine but a standard ...

... of facts and who sticks to them and doesn't twist them or under report them should be told to people so the average person knows who to ignore.

[Lonestarblue]

6. Every now and then the Post seems to recognize that this country is under attack from within.

Fortunately, they have some good reporters, but they have too many right-wing opinion authors who publish nothing but dreck. And, for heavens sake, when will they just kick George Will to the curb add sat enough, old man, you’re a part of the problem. He hasn’t had an original idea in decades, if ever. And the fact that they still publish Hugh Hewitt’s columns says a lot about their attitude toward honesty.

The Times is little better. Today they has an article with a headline that made me cringe, as in abortion drove women to the workplace. Drove, as in forced? How about saying that access to abortion (and birth control) freed women to pursue economic opportunities through work! I’m assuming that these writers are not clueless, thus such phrasing is deliberate and intended to make it appear that access to abortion has been bad for women.

[hadEnuf]

7. The "excuses" made for the 1/6 coup are beyond preposterous. A five year old can figure that out.

Problem is we have a large portion of the nation literally brainwashed daily by right wing media and a 24/7/365 propaganda channel that successfully passes itself off as legitimate news. Even people who are not really politically involved start wondering after they hear the same lies over and over again.

We have generations that were glued in front of their TV sets and AM radios and subsequent generations that are now glued to social media and the internet.

And the right wing has targeted all of those venues aggressively and they continue to do so.

The Fairness Doctrine was implemented in 1949 because it was realized what damage could be done if the power of television was left in the hands of a few with an agenda.

And here we are 35 years after it's repeal....

[Wednesdays]

13. Reinstating the Fairness Doctrine would not touch Faux Noise.

Nor the Internet.

[hadEnuf]

16. Of course it wouldn't. It was implemented in 1949,

when TV was b&w and there were about 3 channels - if you could even afford a TV back then.

I'm saying that they saw the persuasive power of broadcast media 73 years ago, especially if in the hands of people with nefarious intentions, but we have done nothing since to keep those nefarious people away and here we now are.

Our side needs to build a media platform as strong or stronger than the current right wing propaganda platform that is helping to destroy our democracy. Either that or we need to find a way to even the playing field through legislation or something.

We are not far from Fox becoming our "official" news agency, in a matter of speaking.

[Hortensis]

8. After tRump was elected they added a very dark slogan to their masthead:

"Democracy Dies in Darkness."

I think if you check their reporting you'll find this is not a new awakening, or a new call to wake up.

[reACTIONary]

11. On oct 31, 2021 WaPo published ...

....“The Attack: Before, During and After,” an investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and its aftermath, which declared "The Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol was neither a spontaneous act nor an isolated event".

https://wapo.st/392q5vo

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/jan-6-insurrection-capitol/?itid=lk_inline_manual_8

I think whoever wrote this hasn't been keeping up with the news.

[Mr. Sparkle]

12. In most other countries,Trump would have been jailed or killed by now trying to overthrow a gov.

Its quite unbelievable whats happened since Jan 6th

[Achilleaze]

14. Republican traitors deserve justice

Gather the evidence. Charge them. Convict them in a court of law.

Then lock their treasonous KGOP Republicon asses up,
and thereby protect and defend America.

[pecosbob]

15. Remote islanders in the unreachable depths of Papua New Guinea knew it was coming

We made popcorn at my house that day. Anyone who claims to have been unaware is guilty of willful ignorance.