[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
For whatever reason in the furtive professional development of our professional American journalism cousins they decided the truth about the President’s health and covid-19 condition to be sacrosanct human facts that could never, ever be sullied with lies or obfuscation.
The level of lying from the White House this weekend is just staggering, tweeted the notorious Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, utterly aghast and appalled the White House of course had lied to everyone about President Trump’s covid-19 status, just as they lie about everything.
This naturally from a paper that has been ripped with withering criticism for years for not calling President Trump a plain liar, the New York Times whole posture during the Trump nightmare has been one of baffling, excruciating accommodation and enabling.
Massive reams of text have spilled through the political web and twitterverse on how and why this could be so, Dr. Atrios of Eschaton leading the charge to drop subscriptions to “that fucking newspaper.” Like any good political junkie of course I’m concurrently a media one, I’ve very unhappily watched all the vitriol and kept my subscription.
If it makes you feel any better, Ms Haberman, your selective reverence for the truth is repeated across the journalism spectrum, everyone and their brother with all the love of baby Jesus respectfully requests you apply that reverence to everything Trump does and defend the truth by calling him a plain liar, are you with us on the planet, dear?
I feel so hopeless having to write this, reverence for the truth and applied discipline to never uttering falsehood are established very early on in life in functional families, my god it used to be publicly lying was a terrible bad thing, of course, in multiple dimensions it sets a disastrous course for adulthood that never works.
How I’ve had to live through this rank lying President and his enablers who refuse to plainly identify him I’ll never know. I’m sure it’s taken years off my projected life span. Lying and dishonesty have inflicted absolutely disastrous and tectonically huge smashing forces of destruction upon my own life, you wouldn’t believe the story if I told you, all the stars in the universe save me from another Trump term.
Yes, Ms Haberman, the level of lying from the White House has been so staggering, so crushing in its terrible weight these last four years. Good of you to notice.
As I wrote yesterday our journalism cousins have an excruciating professional genuflect to an instant double standard when it comes to political truth, Democrats are expected to be honest and forthright while Republicans can say anything without any penalty whatsoever.
It gets worse, twisted within this sick double standard is an amazing mental flip to Both Sides, both sides always do whatever one is doing so of course what Trump is currently being a criminal or lying about, well, the Democrats do it too.
No, New York Times, Democrats don’t collude with Russians to cheat an election, then try again with Ukraine. Democrats don’t lie like carpets and don’t enable lying within their ranks. Democrats don’t cheat on taxes or corruptly bill the Secret Service for golf carts. Democrats don’t whistle along with any lie while 209,000 citizens die of covid-19. Democrats don't sabotage the Post Office before an election.
Elementally, again, Ms Haberman is about to find out her quaint demand for the truth is useless if she gets it anyway, no one trusts anything the White House says anymore, lie enough and humans won’t believe the truth when they hear it. You could have figured this out 35 years ago when you were a teenager, Ms Haberman, but better late than never. Right?
Currently the New York Times is on a hold position from its loathing on the left for breaking the smashing President Trump personal taxes story. They’ve been infuriating fools with the truth for four years but someone finally came through with the criminal truth of President Trump and his taxes.
Unhappily, belatedly and resignedly I will keep my subscription to the New York Times, occasionally they come through with something important and I am devoted for life to Dr. Paul Krugman. Now that Ms Haberman has figured out the level of lying from the White House is staggering, why, their political reporting might get better. Maybe.