writing their own story
The media’s games with White House are by design
Anyone who has been tuning in to the televised press briefings has heard White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany refer to “journalistic curiosity” — or more specifically, the lack thereof.
But make no mistake, the press is far from lazy or uninterested.
In fact, the media has never been sharper.
Don’t let their constant “mistakes” fool you.
Whether it is a Washington Post retraction or a blue checkmark’s Twitter correction — those errors are not the result of a sloppy press.
They are the result of a determined one.
The media knows exactly what it is doing. And if you’ve been paying attention, then you do, too.
If reporters are failing to dig deeper into certain issues, it is not due to laziness.
On the contrary, when the news outlets bend over backward to ignore a story, you can rest assured they are extremely interested in it.
For example, if we were living in a normal, non-President Trump world, the unmasking of Gen. Michael Flynn would be a massive story.
The FBI framing a four-star general as part of a plan to overthrow a duly-elected president … well, it makes Watergate look like child’s play.
Instead, the press puts on a weak performance for their dwindling Trump-Deranged audience.
Rather than veer from their Get Trump narrative, they pretend they don’t understand what all the fuss is about.
In May, CBS News Radio correspondent Steven Portnoy asked the press secretary, “What the president calls ‘Obamagate,’ what is it? What are the elements of that crime?”
As convincing as he might be, furrowed brow and all, this reporter is far from a dolt.
Portnoy likely knows far more than most about Obamagate.
But his question is effective for his base. It reaffirms the idea that Trump is a paranoid nut in the White House who is obsessed with made-up scandals.
Unfortunately for the “confused” Portnoy, McEnany had no issues breaking down the criminal elements of what took place in the “scandal-free” Obama administration.
“Look, there were a number of questions raised by the actions of the Obama administration. The Steele dossier, funded by the Democratic National Committee, an opposition political party to the president, was used to attain FISA warrants to listen in on conversations of people within the Trump campaign. There was the unmasking of the identity of Michael Flynn.”
She later went on to say, “We know that the identity of this three-decade general was leaked to the press — a criminal leak to the press of his identity in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.”
Is it any wonder that McEnany finished off her response by informing Portnoy that his question was only the second she received about the topic?
In law, the rule of thumb is that you don’t ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.
In today’s media, it is a bit more sinister … Don’t ask a question you don’t want the American people to hear the answer to.
It is the same reason the media can whip themselves into a lather over the number of scoops of ice cream the president is eating but has little to no interest in Tara Reade.
Their job is deciding what stories are considered important in the mainstream.
Right now, nothing is more critical in the minds of Chuck Todd and Jake Tapper than taking down Trump.
So they write their think pieces about Russian agents and fake dossiers. They obsess over Stormy Daniels and how Trump drinks his water.
And by avoiding asking real questions, they never get real answers — thus avoiding some big problems for their preferred candidate.
Speaking of, when Joe Biden finally drifts his way over to a podium, the press gives him an open mic to remind America that Orange Man is indeed still bad. Journalists wield a powerful tool. They can bring scandals to the forefront of America’s news cycle.
But perhaps more powerful than that, they can shove stories into the background.