Rhetorical questions obviously! We all know it’s because Republicans are immoral, racist, Islamophobic, callous hypocrites. I don’t know why I sometimes fool myself into thinking they’ve have hit rock bottom in their moral depravity, because they always manage to go even lower no matter the issue at hand. We also know that DC “journalists” these days are (mostly) greedy SOBs who are normalizing fascism & hiding critical information from the American people for book $$ and “access” to right-wing weirdos & fascists who most of us would avoid like the plague.
Case in point: On top of everything else, Republicans are now (surprise!) blocking the Afghan Adjustment Act to grant legal status to the 82,000 Afghan refugees evacuated to safety from the Taliban. The act:
would allow Afghans who have short-term humanitarian parole status — which typically lasts for two years — to apply for permanent legal status if they submit to additional vetting, including an interview.
I don’t know which aspect of the article is more infuriating, the substance of the bill or the continued abject failure of the mainstream media to properly frame what’s going on for the America people, instead allowing themselves to be megaphones for right-wing propaganda & misinformation no matter the real-world human consequences.
First, the substance of the bill & Republican objections. They seem to amount to allegations that the Afghans weren’t fully vetted, which is obvious garbage considering how long it took for them to be released into the US from the initial military bases (there are still many waiting abroad!) And to give weight & legitimacy to that BS “point of view”, they quote Stephen f***ing Miller! I’m sorry, are you f***ing kidding me NYT? Get a f***ing grip omFG! Why are you quoting him people as if he’s totally reasonable & not some creepy far-right fascist?
To add insult to injury, they then quote Sen. Chuck Grassley, who, oh you know was clearly part of the Jan. 6 coup attempt (does the press remember is little “slip-up”?? I do!) Anyway, they give credence to Grassley’s “rationale” for concern about vetting, by allowing him to cite a DHS IG report by, of all people, Joseph Cuffari! You know, the Trump lackey who is deeply enmeshed in the Jan 6 coup & Secret Service coverup. Which the media never even mentions these days while broadcasting wall-to-wall coverage of the British queen quite literally for days on end. The NYT didn’t even bother to name that IG (I had to follow the link to confirm my suspicions), much less inform its readers that Mr. Cuffari is embroiled in an outrageous, very serious scandal.
Anyway! The NYT does not even bother to provide details from that report about how many refugees the IG found out of the 82,000 who were not fully vetted. Was it 5? 10? Was it a sufficient amount to justify blocking permanent legal status for 82,000 refugees? Who knows, NYT doesn’t care! I also dug a bit deeper into the document myself & found that DHS itself disputes the IG report! Hmm, maybe might be worth mentioning considering the press constantly bends over backwards with euphemisms (baseless claims!) to normalize right-wingers.
My god, this is not that hard! No reputable newspaper should be printing quotes from these sources and polluting half of an article with them. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again, the mediocre, smug, elitist press corps is absolutely in love with themselves (and money) but completely decrepit as an institution that’s supposed to help protect our democracy. Instead they normalize & give cover to appalling, truly immoral Republican obstruction & illiberalism. They constantly surprise me with new lows, just like the fascist Republicans that will murder them if they are allowed to install American fascism. They are bringing us all down with them in exchange for book deals. It’s blood money, and they need to STEP UP!