The Washington Post is becoming disordered!

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022

Won't report what Trump has said: It has long seemed clear—Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) seems to be somewhat disordered. 

Yesterday, in the Washington Post, Felicia Sonmez and Mariana Alfaro reported the latest evidence. Headline included, their report started like this:

Rep. Madison Cawthorn calls Zelensky a ‘thug,’ says Ukrainian government is ‘incredibly evil’

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) recently called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” and said the Ukrainian government is “incredibly evil,” in remarks that are at odds with the broad bipartisan support for Ukraine among American lawmakers and the public amid Russia’s invasion.

“Remember that Zelensky is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt, and it is incredibly evil, and it has been pushing woke ideologies,” Cawthorn told supporters at a recent event in North Carolina, according to video published Thursday by Raleigh-based TV station WRAL.

Ukraine "has been pushing woke ideologies," the youngster weirdly said. But at that point, the weirdness begins to shift to the Post. Its report continues like this:

SONMEZ AND ALFARO (continuing directly): Cawthorn, 26, is on his first term in the House and is a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump, who has recently praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s handling of the invasion as “genius” and “savvy.”

On the bright side, the highlighted statement can be described as technically accurate. Less than three weeks ago, Donald J. Trump did say that Putin's initial handling of the invasion was an act of "savvy" and "genius."

Since then, Trump has changed his tune. On February 26, he referred to the invasion as an "atrocity" and "an assault on humanity." On March 2, he described it as "a holocaust."

Last night, in an appearance on Hannity, Trump said the war on Ukraine "truly is a crime upon humanity." The Post's report predated that latest remark. But Sonmez and Alfaro continued the Post's ongoing practice by citing Trump's initial statement about Putin, then failing to mention his subsequent denunciations of the invasion.

Repeatedly, the Post has failed to report Trump's comments denouncing the war. In this latest report, Sonmez and Alfaro continue this highly selective practice.

In and of itself, this constitutes a remarkable case of journalistic misconduct. Incredibly, though, Sonmez and Alfaro were even willing to publish this claim by the DNC, a claim which is simply false:

SONMEZ AND ALFARO: Democrats quickly seized on Cawthorn’s town hall comments, with the Democratic National Committee noting that “the overwhelming majority of the party sided with Trump when he tried to withhold military aid from Ukraine.”

“It’s only natural that a Republican Party led by Donald Trump, who regularly praises Vladimir Putin as a ‘genius’ and ‘savvy’ as he launches an unprovoked and unjustified war on the Ukrainian people, would evolve to attack the democratically elected president of Ukraine who has shown true heroism in the face of Russian aggression,” DNC spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.

Has Donald J. Trump "regularly praise[d] Vladimir Putin as a ‘genius’ and ‘savvy’ as he launches an unprovoked and unjustified war on the Ukrainian people?"

Actually, no—he hasn't. In fact, Trump's rhetoric has gone well beyond the milquetoast language used in that DNC report. He has called the war an assault on humanity and a holocaust—and now, a crime upon humanity.

It's embarrassing to see the DNC issue a statement which is flatly false. It's even worse to see two Post reporters who are willing to put the inaccurate claim in print, without a word of comment.

Beyond that lies the wider war in which Sonmez keeps refusing to report the full range of statements  by Trump. Meanwhile, the Post's Aaron Blake is turning himself into a pretzel, on a daily basis, by refusing to report the actual things Trump has actually said. 

(Regarding Blake, we'll only say this: Keep Storyline alive!)

Almost surely, Donald J. Trump was our most disordered president. As our journalism continues to slide toward the sea, the Washington Post is becoming disordered too.

Rather plainly, Trump's remarks are being disappeared by the Post. In our view, Cawthorn isn't the only one who increasingly seems disordered.


6 comments:

  1. "Repeatedly, the Post has failed to report Trump's comments denouncing the war."

    Trump's history negates his current word games. Credibility is gone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somerby’s credibility is gone on the topic of Russia and Ukraine.

      He promoted the Putin-friendly idea a while back, pushed at the time by Republicans, that Ukraine had meddled in our election. He did so in a series of utterly disingenuous posts. He overlooked Trump’s attempts to extort Zelensky by withholding aid in order to get dirt on Biden. Remember that? How Trump was impeached over that, and how Somerby’s reaction to the impeachment was to attack liberals for supporting the impeachment?

      Remember how Somerby scoffed at the idea that there was anything improper in Trump’s dealings with Moscow? And how he was silent when Trump went about trying to destroy NATO, a goal that just happens to be Putin’s?

      How Somerby ignored and continues to ignore Trump’s constant praise of Putin (praise that was echoed by a number of Republicans and right wing media figures)?

      And ultimately, remember Somerby’s go-to defense of Trump: he’s crazy and doesn’t know what he’s saying. “Poor Donald” and all that shit.

      And how so far Somerby’s only mention of Putin’s war in Ukraine, with its attendant suffering, is to defend Trump and tell us about Trump’s latest self-serving 180 with regard to the war and chastise the media for being unfair to poor Donald?

      Somerby is approaching the level of useful idiot for Trump and Putin.

      Delete
  2. "The Washington Post is becoming disordered!"

    Meh. The scumbag neocon publication is perfectly 'oriented'.

    Nah. We feel that in this case you're unfair, dear Bob. Establishment-approved pomposities like "assault on humanity" are not newsworthy, while "genius" and "savvy" -- not to mention calling the Kiev's clown "thug" -- certainly are.

    And that's all there is to it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mao's storyline is breaking down.

      66% of Republicans blame Mr. Putin for the current situation between Ukraine and Russia. Those are your fellow "humyns". Do you blame Putin?

      70% of Republicans say we should support democratic countries when they are attacked by non-democratic. You?

      80% of Republicans want additional sanctions against Russia. You?

      By 81% to 19%, Republicans feel the U.S. “should not buy oil or gas from Russia during this conflict, even if it causes American gas prices to increase.” It’s 80% to 20% among all voters. How about you?

      Surely you are still with your fellow humnyns on these issues!

      Delete
  3. There is no reason why Trump should be given credit for calling the war atrocious when he has refused to repudiate Putin, even when pressed to do so by Sean Hannity. It would be misleading to repeat Trump's statement about the war, which he then went on to blame on Biden and the stolen election. His statement almost wasn't about the war at all, but whining about what we all get for not reelecting him.

    But it should be very revealing that Somerby would go to such lengths to make sure Trump gets undeserved credit for saying what a normal human being would say about war.

    And there is no equivalence whatsoever between the kind of disordered president Trump was and the way the Washington Post writes its stories, which I do not consider the least bit disordered at all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Same as above, download and install the Netflix application on your LG smart TV.Using the browser, visit the link Netflix.com/tv8. Then go to the Apps store and open the Netflix application.Open the browser of that device.
    Netflix.com/tv8

    ReplyDelete