We expect or even accept that most politicians will be disingenuous and partisan. Some will even be corrupt. We may not like it, but that is the nature of the beast. However, our expectations are very different with respect to the media.
In order for our system of government to function as the Founding Fathers intended it is essential to have a strong, vibrant, honest and independent media. In particular, we, the people, rely on having the benefit of a media that will ferret out and expose lies, corruption and criminal activities committed by our elected officials. Many of us have been cognizant of the fact that over the last few years most of the media, with few exceptions, has not only been lax in fulfilling its purpose it has been actively biased in its coverage. It has ignored, suppressed, distorted, and outright lied about many stories that would have reflected negatively upon Dems and, in particular, President Biden.
On the other hand, much of the media has perpetuated lies and exaggerations with respect to its coverage of Donald Trump. In at least one case I maintain that the media’s actions likely affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. It doesn’t get more serious than that. I will explain below.
To be sure, there have been other times in our history in which the media has “protected” presidents by not disclosing certain health issues and/or character flaws to the public. In recent history, I can recall three such examples, but I am sure there have been many more:
- JFK was just 43 when he was elected president in 1960. Tanned, handsome, vibrant and athletic he always projected the picture of good health. In reality, he suffered from a variety of debilitating illnesses the extent of which was kept from the public by the media. For instance, he suffered from various spinal problems and osteoporosis that caused chronic pain; he had Addisons disease, which damaged his adrenal glands and resulted in fatigue and other maladies; and he suffered from frequent urinary tract infections. According to historian Robert Dallek he took as many as a dozen medications to deal with these issues. Additionally, he was a chronic womanizer. Did these impair his ability to function as president? Possibly.
- FDR suffered from polio most of his adult life beginning when he was a young man. Basically, he was confined to a wheelchair and could only walk or even stand up with the assistance of braces, crutches or an aide. The media downplayed his infirmities and in the days before the advent of television the public was largely unaware of his condition. Had the public known his chances of a successful political career would have been severely hampered.
- During the last year of his presidency Woodrow Wilson was basically incapacitated due to a series of strokes. Unbeknownst to the general public his wife and his personal physician basically managed the presidency in his stead. The media did not report this. Some might view this as a parallel to Biden’s situation.
So, the media’s protection of Biden is not unique, but the extent of it has been significantly more excessive. For example, for the past several years the mainstream media has acted as a strong advocate for Biden and the Dems. It has suppressed or distorted a never-ending series of negative stories, such as his cognitive decline, Hunter Biden’s laptop, millions of dollars in hidden funds received from China, Russia, and several other countries, his weak and overaccommodative attitude toward our enemies such as Iran, Russia and China, his failure to secure our borders, his poor economic policies, and his failure to address crime. Contemporary journalists have assiduously avoided disclosing or investigating these matters either through laziness or reluctance to uncover anything negative with respect to Biden.
On the other hand, as I mentioned above it has created, abetted, embellished and suppressed false stories against Donald Trump, such as, among many others, “trumped up” impeachment trials, the Russia hoax, FISA warrants, January 6 insurrection, 2020 election interference, the NYC “show” trial, and worst of all Hunter Biden’s laptop. Their intense hatred of Trump is so deep it borders on the irrational, hence the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” They would rather damage America by propping up a cognitively-deficient Biden than see Trump in the White House.
I have discussed each of these, in detail, in previous blogs, and I see no need to repeat myself. The most egregious of these was the suppression of Hunter’s laptop. The Dems, the media, the FBI and various social media outlets all participated creating and perpetuating the lie that it was a hoax. After the 2020 election when the truth was uncovered a goodly number of those who had voted for Biden disclosed that had they been aware of the truth they would have voted for Trump. The election was so close that that may have swung the election. Of course, we’ll never know.
Now the liberal/woke media is trying to gaslight us with two additional preposterous stories.
- If elected, Trump will be a dictator. He will never leave office. Well, HELLO! Trump has already been president. We have seen him in action. He did not act like a dictator, and upon losing re-election he did leave office.
- In view of the SCOTUS’s recent decision regarding presidential immunity they are attacking the integrity of the Court and its members. They are saying that Trump will run amok even employ death squads such as Seal Team Six to assassinate opponents. This is inane on many levels. Those who are predicting this are ignorant, delusional, and merely grasping at straws to inflame the public. SCOTUS acted within its constitutional authority. Its decision limited immunity to “official” acts and left it to the lower courts to determine what is “official” on a case-by-case basis.
Now in the wake of Biden’s disastrous performance in last week’s debate his cognitive decline, which most of the media has been hiding from voters, has become undeniably evident. Those voters who have been getting their news from Fox News were not surprised. Fox has been reporting this for years, even before the 2020 election. It is now obvious to all who watched the debate that all of Fox’s expose stories over the last several years are true, and those who denigrated them have been exposed as either partisan liars or incompetents. On the other hand, those voters who have been getting their news from other media outlets were shocked. Even media outlets, reporters and so-called Dem insiders professed to be shocked, although most should have known or at least suspected.
Now, that we have all seen that “the emperor has no clothes,” so to speak, numerous Dems and their allies are piling on, to wit:
- The staffers who prepped Biden for the debate are being blamed for not having prepared him properly. Biden never fires anybody but expect some or all of them to be relegated to a lesser role or reassigned.
- Carl Bernstein who, along with Bob Woodward, exposed the Watergate scandal in the 1970s has been a staunch supporter of Biden. He has consistently denigrated any stories of Biden’s cognitive decline and exaggerated Trump’s issues negatively (often characterizing them as “worse than Watergate”) playing on his Watergate fame to give credence to his opinions. Now, embarrassed that he missed this issue, suddenly he is piling on. For instance, he advised CNN that Biden’s horrendous debate performance was not unique. He claims that there have been “15 [-] 20” similar occasions in the past 18 months. Nice of him to exposé this now after the whole world has seen it with their own eyes. Clearly, Bernstein is not the same reporter he was during Watergate. Probably, other reporters who cover the White House knew as well. Too bad they did not exhibit the professional integrity to tell the American people earlier.
- Biden-excusers such as the NY Times, Axios and Politico are suddenly reporting on Biden’s weaknesses such as lack of stamina and limited schedule. Too little, too late. Where were they four years ago? According to Axios Biden is only “dependably engaged” from 10 am to 4 pm. If true, that is most frightening. Being president is a 24/7 job. Crises can and do occur at any time.
- Various Dem congressmen have called for Biden to “step aside as the presumptive nominee.” Those running for reelection are particularly concerned (as they should be). Biden’s “coattails” have morphed into “anchors.”
- Multiple “former officials” in the Biden Administration have “expressed doubt” that Biden could go “toe-to-toe” with the likes of Putin in his “present condition.”
- Politico has reported that Biden refuses to take advice from all but a small, select group. Moreover, he cannot abide bad news. He is prone to tantrums and to chewing out staffers who bring him any. As a consequence, they rarely and reluctantly tell him anything negative. Obviously, this impairs his ability to make informed decisions even further.
- Comedians on late-night talk shows have begun to mock Biden as they used to do with other presidents.
- To me, all of the above are indications that the Dems realize he is losing and want to replace him.
- One of the few exceptions is “Morning Joe” Scarborough, a leading sufferer of TDS. He has forfeited the last shred of his integrity by declaring “this version of Biden intellectually, analytically is the best Biden ever.””
CONCLUSION
The mainstream media’s lack of integrity has been disgraceful. At times, its sycophantic behavior has more closely resembled what we see in an autocracy rather than in a democracy. They have allowed their blind, irrational hatred of Trump to prevent them from fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities.
Now, the Dems are in a major quandary. They are panicking because their presumptive nominee has been exposed as not medically competent to be president. A faction of the Party would like to replace him even though to do so would effectively disenfranchise the millions who voted for him in the primaries many of whom still support him.
Biden has steadfastly refused to withdraw voluntarily. His wife and family are supporting this for their own selfish reasons. However, the pressure is mounting.
Based on the primary results Biden controls virtually all of the delegates. These delegates are staunchly loyal to him. Getting them to support another candidate would be a very cumbersome, if not impossible, process. Each state has its own election laws and procedures to navigate. Moreover, it is almost unheard of for even one delegate to renege on his pledge on the first ballot, much less a majority of them. Also, Biden controls a substantial amount of campaign funds. The only replacement candidate to whom these funds could be transferred is VP Kamala Harris. Unfortunately, she is very unpopular with most Party insiders, donors and voters for reasons that I outlined in my last blog.
In my estimation, none of the other possible candidates would do any better than Biden. History tells us that it is still early in the campaign, and things could still change. But, at the present time, it appears that the Dems are stuck with Biden for better or for worse.
One final comment – Ignore the often-published national poll numbers, which have consistently reported a narrow percentage point difference between Biden and Trump. It’s the Electoral College that matters, and my analysis has disclosed that if the election were held today Trump would garner 310 electoral votes to Biden’s 195 with 33 in a tie. That is why the Dems and their supporters have been so panicked.
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 