(What? I'm not supposed to use all caps because it seems like I'm shouting? Well, I am shouting!)
My problems can be explained quite simply -- by this headline in the Washington Post:
Senate rejects further revamp of how Pentagon handles sex assault cases
And the article's first sentence, the lede, is:
The Senate rejected a proposal Thursday that would dramatically overhaul how the Defense Department handles assault and rape cases involving military personnel, voting down a proposal that would remove military commanders from the decision about whether these cases should be prosecuted.
This is a perfect example of how lame the media is, and why the Dems have such a problem getting their message out.
What's wrong with that headline? What's wrong with that lede?
Follow me past the orange squiggly:
The problem is that the Senate didn't "reject" the amendment! In the fourth paragraph of the story, we finally get an accurate description of what happened:
The proposal fell five votes short of the 60 votes necessary to clear a procedural hurdle...
Hello? Media? Why isn't
that the lead? The GOP
blocked the bill -- it wasn't rejected Do you know how to spell "filibuster"? (As we don't expect you to use "cloture").
So casual listeners think Congress stinks and both sides get blamed. And, for those just reading the headline and the lede -- I don't blame them for thinking that.
I blame the lamestream media.
And it's not just WaPo -- here's the headline from today's NYTimes:
Senate Rejects Blocking Military Commanders From Sexual Assault Cases
From Reuters:
US Senate rejects bid to overhaul how military handles sexual assault
From the LA Times:
Senate rejects stronger military sexual assault bill
From Slate:
Senate Rejects Military Sexual-Assault Bill After Emotional Debate
Even here at Kos! The first hit that came up on a search was:
Senate blocks justice for military sexual assault survivors
Laura Clawson, I love your stuff, but, what were you thinking?!
I mean -- WTF?!?
Stop me from banging my head against the wall!
Dems -- you need to get your message out -- go over the heads of the media: this was GOP obstructionism!!
WTF: The conversation has been dumbed down. GOP obstructionism is the new norm -- so much so, that when it happens, the media doesn't even notice anymore, and even here are Kos our best writers can't get it right.
So how do we expect the low-level-knowledge voter (who comprise over 90% of voters) to know what's going on?
Take it to the roofs -- the Senate had 55 votes for this measure!
Media? Hello? Is this mike on? Anybody listening.
Arggghhhh . . . . .