The mainstream media’s bored. I can imagine what it must be like for them. No longer can they start their day’s news cycle by elevating an insulting tweet, an abundance of lies, or some other kind of moral outrage.
I get it. It’s the same for me these days. I wake up now, grab a cup of coffee and see what’s happening in the news. By my second cup, I’m still maintaining my sanity and my blood pressure. How nice it is to have an actual president of the United States after four years of chaos, incompetence, division, and gas-lighting to the millionth degree.
The American people deserve the break. Our collective mental anguish couldn’t take much more. The Former Guy ruled the media universe for nearly five years, and most of us had had enough. The media, however, must have felt like a jilted girlfriend or boyfriend.
What are they to do now that there are people in government who give a damn? No longer do we have the political cronies and sycophants running the show. No longer are the daily press briefings must-see TV. Why? Because they’re a bit boring. The fact-checkers in America aren’t working as much overtime as they did under the previous administration because, quite frankly, they don’t need to.
We’re mainly getting straight talk with the new administration. We know they believe in science and all the other career experts that work within the government. No longer are people looking over their shoulder for the orange menace and his White House lapdogs to pounce when they go against the boss. That’s because the boss in this administration values the people who work for him. They’re loyal to the Constitution – not to him.
And that puts our mainstream media in quite the bind. Most, not all, of the news coming out of the current administration is positive. The recent $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is out the door, with less than two months on the job – quite the achievement given the narrow majorities in the House and Senate the Democrats currently have. The pandemic news is even better, with vaccinations at record highs and cases and deaths going down every day.
So, of course, let’s bitch about Joe Biden having the nerve to spend his weekends in Delaware. How dare he? Isn’t it wrong for him to travel when he’s telling the American people not to travel anywhere if they can help it? How is that setting an example for the country?
Yes, this is what we’re talking about these days. This is the controversy some in our media are trying to create. After living through 4 years of a president spending days on end golfing at his mega-resorts in Florida and elsewhere, we’re going to try and equate some equivalence to Biden’s travels to Delaware.
The Associated Press seems to have a problem with President Biden’s weekend living arrangements. In their article from March 13, the AP headline reads: For Biden, there’s no place like a weekend home in Delaware. What a moral outrage, huh? Let’s let Jen Psaki, the very able new Press Secretary respond accordingly:
“The president lives in Wilmington. It’s his home. That’s where he’s lived for many years. And as you know, as any president of the United States does, he takes a private airplane called Air Force One to travel there. I think most Americans would also see that as a unique circumstance.”
Indeed. Once again, the media is trying to make something out of nothing. And by the way, this past weekend, Biden took the less expensive Marine One presidential helicopter to his home. Perhaps our media might suggest an Uber ride next time? Would that suffice?
As for the public health aspect of the media’s concern for Biden setting a good example, how often have we seen the new president without his mask? That’s right, hardly ever. So when we talk about setting an example, maybe we ought to praise the man for his mask-wearing. And then compare that with the Former Guy. See the difference?
But the real moral and despicable outrage of them all? The one thing keeping Americans awake at night? We’ve yet to have a formal news conference from our new president. How is this not on page one of every newspaper across the country? My God, even the Former Guy had several by this point and time in his presidency.
Again, the media is grasping at every damn straw they can. And the funny thing about it all is that we know why they want the press conference. It’s as plain as can be. We know Joe Biden has a propensity for gaffes — at least in the past, that is. But as of yet, we haven’t heard anything of note. And it’s driving them all crazy.
We need to get him up there on the podium for about an hour – pepper him with ridiculous questions – many about the Former Guy, no doubt – and wait for the big mistake. We know it will happen at some point, but the media is running out of patience. Come on, Joe, do us all a favor!
The folks on Fox News are already calling Biden “senile old Joe.” His mental acuity is questioned nightly, some going as far to say that he’s letting his VP Kamala Harris run the show while he sits in a rocking chair, drooling. Ok, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but not by much.
For his part, Biden indicated he would indeed have a press conference by the end of this month. Of course, it’s not good enough for our pals in the media, but it will have to do. In the meantime, we’ll have to wait for another outrage – like Biden’s dog Major biting someone again. Someone actually asked Jen Psaki if the dog would be euthanized because of it – and they were dead serious.
What we should take away from all of the phony outrage and pearl-clutching by the media, however, is the fact that we have a president and an administration that’s doing their job. They inherited a mess of enormous proportions across the board. Competence has returned, as well as a genuine and honest attempt to solve so many of our most pressing issues.
Indeed, things are not perfect. The border, right now, is a present and looming problem – as it has been since Ronald Reagan was president. It’s not going to be solved in the first 60 days of Biden’s term. The media will be all over him about it, and he’ll have to show progress soon.
But by and large, the biggest ‘scandals’ so far amount to nothing more than the media feeling a bit bored and left out. They do miss the Former Guy. They’d never admit it, of course. Let’s hope Joe Biden doesn’t decide to wear a tan suit anytime soon, though. It might push our media folks over the edge once and for all.
On The Fence Voters 
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