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The Facts Were Wrong, But the Narrative Was Correct: The Mainstream Media Strikes Again
Referencing the Powerline post, “Media Tale About Clearing of Lafayette Park Collapses.” I’m sure many of you remember the MSM meltdown over the matter.
Long story short/endless: Lafayette Park was cleared of protestors shortly before Trump walked through it carrying a Bible to make a point at St. John’s Church. MSM, who never read the “correlation is not always causation” brief, lost their collective minds. Trump was tarred, probably forever, with the “Nazi-like” specter of having had protesters tear-gassed and dragged away, just so he could show off for his moronic, low-class, and ill-behaved followers. (Many of whom are my neighbors, and with whom I am proud to associate.)
This was a very big deal at the time. Such a big deal that I don’t think it’s overstating the case to say that it was one of the foundational underpinnings to overturning Trump’s presidency. (Not a comment on the election; just on the appalling disinterest of the MSM in uncovering actual facts of the matter when it came to anything related to Trump. If it denigrated Trump, it led. Simple as that.)
Now that Trump’s gone, however, the facts can be revealed: The Inspector General of the Interior Department, one Mark Lee Greenblatt (a career civil servant with no particular bias in Trump’s favor) has “uncovered” the truth: Trump had nothing to do with the clearing of the park, which was a response to unruly protestors, and an attempt to install anti-scale fencing and protect the statues and property therein.
On a personal note, I lost valued friends and social media contacts over this and a few other matters, when it became clear to me that the frothing-at-the-mouth over Trump superseded any attempts at rational conversation, and I’d just like to say, to all and sundry, and to any of those former friends who might be reading this and who were fond of portraying @MollieHemingway as a “tool” of Donald Trump, that it does appear, as Glenn Greenwald pointed out in the Powerline-linked post, that Mollie, like Enoch Powell, “was right,” in this instance (and, perhaps, many others).
I have no way of knowing if those former social media friends are recalibrating their opinions at this point. But gosh, I hope so.
Still, not holding my breath.
FTR, and before anyone suggests otherwise, I’ve always viewed Trump as a lout and a bully. I’ve also always viewed him (and said so on Ricochet, for years and in the face of some of you who’ve called me a Never-Trumper) as a remarkably useful and effective President when it came to actually delivering on the Conservative agenda. I do believe it’s possible to hold those two opposing ideas in my mind at the same time–not so much a comment on my own intelligence (as F. Scott Fitzgerald would have it), as simply a commentary on the practical, in the apparent absence of other alternatives.
Published in General
And, I suspect, the MSM will studiously look away from this story.
“Move along folks; nothing to see here.”
As a news junkie, I’ve spent many hours wondering how a formerly respected institution could sink so low but, although there are many factors, I still can’t understand it. From a media who sought to emulate Murrow to one that now seems to mimic Goebbels. We have always had the Walter Duranty types but now they seem to have taken over.
I thought the recent quote by Bari Weiss (referring to the New York Times) was particularly appropriate: “…activist journalists who treat the paper like a high school cafeteria.”
She could have applied this to 95% of today’s broadcast and print “journalists”.
Is Mr. Greenblatt nearing retirement? Could be he doesn’t know it yet.
That was then:
LOL. Really?
This is now, from the Greenwald link (emphasis mine):
You say: FTR, and before anyone suggests otherwise, I’ve always viewed Trump as a lout and a bully. I’ve also always viewed him (and said so on Ricochet, for years and in the face of some of you who’ve called me a Never-Trumper) as a remarkably useful and effective President when it came to actually delivering on the Conservative agenda. I do believe it’s possible to hold those two opposing ideas in my mind at the same time–not so much a comment on my own intelligence (as F. Scott Fitzgerald would have it), as simply a commentary on the practical, in the apparent absence of other alternatives.
I saw Trump quite differently. But where we both agree is on the ultimate importance of realizing that practically speaking, better a fool and lout who is our fool and lout, than the Chinese Communist Party proxies now in control.
BTW, even going back decades, I found Trump to be delightful, courteous, and well spoken. I never watched Tv show “The Apprentice,” and maybe that is why I didn’t see the loutish side of him.
Here is an encounter from the late 1990’s, among three people shooting the breeze and having fun while doing it.
Roseanne, Michael Moore and Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaILj90OnpU
Do your former friends even *know* what has been revealed about the falsity of earlier narratives?…Given the….selective….reporting of 90% of the media, they may not.
@DavidFoster EXACTLY~ do the people who spent so much energy denouncing Trump even know about this? I understand that some of the media have reported that they were wrong. But, are they shouting it out? Are they running chyrons “Media was wrong about Trump motives”…? Is this the topic being hashed and rehashed and re-rehashed over and over and over as the original story was beaten into the ground?
Of course not! There is nothing to be gained by them touting their error with the same fervor that they attacked Trump in the original story. So…I almost say, “Big deal…” The press will never be able to make up for this.
That’s a feature, not a bug.
We need to rub the reporters’ noses in this; demand they explain why they lied and don’t let up until they admit that they didn’t investigate the claims at the time.
I wish I knew how to accomplish this. Perhaps with Michael Moore-style ambush reporting.
Personally I love the idea of stalking members of the press as they should suffer all that they espouse. Their families and homes are fair game as well.
I was, frankly, gobsmacked that this story was reported on CNBC 24 hours before I posted it here, and that in the intervening day, no Ricochet member had picked it up.
I generally avoid overtly political posts myself, not because I’m fearful of posting my opinions, but because I dislike the nastiness, fallout, and ill-faith that sometimes eventuates.
Still, this seemed important.
The problem is that “the mainstream media is lying” is getting a little monotonous.
Q: What is the difference between a widely denounced conspiracy theory and a news report?
A: Lately, about six to eighteen months.
Yeah. I recognize there’s a significant element of “There you go again.” That’s never stopped me before and it’s not going to stop me now.
I have no intention of quitting either, but I enjoy watching you do it.