We have previously discussed how NBC News anchor Chuck Todd uses questions to express extreme condemnations of President Donald Trump and his supporters. While Todd realizes that he would be fired for saying outright that Trump supporters “just want to be lied to,” he can make the same point by asking another person if they “just want to be lied to.” Todd returned to his feigned neutrality in asking presidential candidate Joe Biden if “there is blood on the president’s hands.” Not to be undone, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has declared that “as the president fiddles, people are dying.” At least Pelosi had the integrity to make the statement outright.
During the interview with Biden, Todd asked “Do you think there is blood on the president’s hands considering the slow response? Or is that too harsh of a criticism?”
Even Biden had to balk and say that it was “a little too harsh.”
Todd has a reputation for using others to make such biased attacks. In addition to Trump, he has been roundly condemned for his bias against Bernie Sanders. As with his earlier comment on Trump supporters, he was criticized previously to quoting someone else to say that were part of a “digital brownshirt brigade.”
For Trump and Sanders supporters, Todd’s record further erodes their faith in the media. The bias shown in these interviews is clearly supported by the network. It would be better to have hosts drop the pretense of such quotations or questions to ask least be open about the agenda or bias with viewers.
There will no doubt be an investigation once this is over and everything and everyone that played a role will be looked at. Now is certainly not the time to make conclusions over a war that is ongoing. The MSM coverage reminds me of what I saw during the Vietnam War. Body counts and opinion pieces centered on a war of our choosing. However, we didn’t choose this current war. We didn’t detect it on radar as it landed on our shores. We didn’t give it a visa to enter our country and train on flying into our communities. The best example we have for modeling the response to this pandemic is the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. And it took years to analyze everything about the H1N1 pandemic. It will take years to analyze this one.
The politicization of this pandemic, less than 3 months in, will certainly be part of the after-action studies. As it is highly likely the reporting out of China has been completely controlled by the government, it will be even more important to reaffirm the importance of a free press and their responsibilities that come from such a right. The media’s response should be evaluated to determine how their coverage impacted our response. The most irresponsible thing the media could be doing at this point is drawing conclusions without all the data. Couple that with the Democrat’s despicable hog pile on the recent funding bill and one thing is abundantly clear; they will stop at nothing to influence an election. From what we’ve seen over the last 6 months, Russia will certainly be rewriting their American election interference playbook. They are amateurs compared with the Left in our own country.
Given that the media immediately ignored Birx’s plea to report responsibly and not unnecessarily frighten the public, and instead peddled an apocryphal tale of Michigan hospitals leaving patients to die, it seems likely that something more than the good doctor’s scalpel-like dissection of the false reporting is needed. Trump learned that long ago, which is why the president instead wields a fake news hatchet.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/28/nations-coronavirus-lead-demands-corporate-media-stop-scaring-americans-with-lies-about-ventilator-shortages/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d1a11d1634-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d1a11d1634-79248369
The contrasting comments on this page show the clear disconnect between Trump supporters and facts.They are denying things that he said on national TV, which we have tape of, and they are insisting that he took actions that he did not do. It is ridiculously frustrating. One can not have a civilized discussion about such important topics if one side denies facts. And please before one says “But Dems do it also!”, yes they do, but it is like 90% Trump supporters.
Molly, they don’t know any better because they listen to only Trump approved sources. See the completely ignorant comments around this site about Pelosi holding up the $2 trillion Virus bill. The House passed it 2 weeks before the Senate, then would have approved the marked up Senate bill by “unanimous consent” if not for GOP objection, and even then cranked it out in 2 days.
They listen to Fox and Paul listens to whatever Youtube idiot will tell him what he wants to hear, and then don’t know anything they are talking about.
What a load of hogwash. The House passed no such bill two weeks before, in fact the Senate got it done first and then the GOP senators went into quarantine and the Dems in the senate derailed the bill and nancy rushed one over the weekend that included institutionalizing voter fraud and launching the Green New deall.
People in the USA have access to news, you can’t blatantly lie.
Wrong, oh suck puppet, used your imagination in your spiel not so much with the name.
You have access to news but apparently don’t read it.
Bills involving money (tax revenues by the constitution, spending by tradition) originate in the House:
Mar 14:
“House passes coronavirus economic relief package with Trump’s support
The bipartisan vote sends the legislation to the Senate. It includes paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, free testing, money for food stamps, and more….”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/03/13/paid-leave-democrats-trump-deal-coronavirus/
Mar 16:
“Senate to take up coronavirus package after House passes revised bill
Mitch McConnell says the House bill is only the start.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/senate-coronavirus-emergency-package-131465
See post below (only 2 links per post)
Mar 26:
“Senate passes massive $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/white-house-senate-reach-deal-massive-2-trillion-coronavirus-spending-n1168136
Mar 29:
“House passes $2 trillion coronavirus package — but not without last-minute drama
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie threatened to delay passage of the bill.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/27/house-vote-2-trillion-coronavirus-package-deal-150869
Aren’t you conflating two different bills?
no
btb – Is there Wasteful Spending in the Coronavirus Stimulus Bill?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2020/03/26/is-there-wasteful-spending-in-the-coronavirus-stimulus-bill/
Why yes there is!!!!!
i heard kennedy center got their 75 million and fired the musicians anyways. that’s impressive chutzpah
the grant for sunscreen studies sounds like abuse too
i should like to see hangman’s nooses readied for the Congresspeople who make so much hay out of these emergencies. they’re traitors to the nation
but why be mad at them,. why not be mad at representative democracy itself?
this work describes the “Crisis of parliamentary democracy” in the face of crisis. as perennial as it was under the train-wreck that was Weimar Republic in 1923 nearly a century ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crisis_of_Parliamentary_Democracy
Chuck Todd has no integrity. He is a graduate of George Washington, but actually isn’t. It’s the same school where Michael Avenatti attended law school but actually isn’t a practicing attorney. He sits in jail.
Both men have had tremendous impact on society. Avenatti makes society suspicious of the integrity of lawyers and Todd suspicious of bias in journalism. Then we have those on this blog that love and emulate both of them without having put in time and effort.
Ahh! The grievance politics of extremist left and right have finally found their home and Turley neatly fits in the middle of it.
Yes, Trump does have blood in his hands. His relentless downplaying of the threat caused this. So it is fine to say he has blood on his hands.
Lamebrain comment. So Pelosi sandbagging the relief bill is OK though i’m sure….and the Kennedy Center not paying musicians after a $25M gift from the taxpayers is just fine I bet. Just gotta love the liberal ethics and moral superioirity…and idiots like this bozo will never let you forget it either.
Pelosi did not sand bag the relief bill. She got it passed in the House 15 days before the Senate did, then ramrodded the Senate version through the House in 2 days. Would have been 1 if a GOP Rep from Kentucky didn’t hold it up.
Quit watching Fox news. You’re getting a load of BS.
What a load of hogwash. The House passed no such bill two weeks before, in fact the Senate got it done first and then the GOP senators went into quarantine and the Dems in the senate derailed the bill and nancy rushed one over the weekend that included institutionalizing voter fraud and launching the Green New deall.
People in the USA have access to news, you can’t blatantly lie..
The bill was agreed to earlier and then Pelosi did a job on it and the American people. A bill to help the people and the economy suddenly became a bill to pass the ‘green plan’ and the leftist agenda. Most of that was removed over the next week or so leaving some of the craziness of the leftist provisions because sensible people didn’t want to deny Americans relief.
If one carefully looks at the details of what went on and the provisions Pelosi wished to include then one realizes that in 2020 the Democrats must be defeated in the House, Senate and for the Presidency. I am in favor of more than one party in control but we need to see the present craziness of the Democratic Party totally defeated.
Nice fantasies. Facts just above.
What can I add that most thinking people already know? You are a liar and you can’t even be honest with your aliases.
No doubt the left must be permanently crushed with a message to them we will not tolerate their unamerican policies let alone their thoughts. They are enemies of the people/America at this point. Let Doomberg and Soros spend all their money this year trying to get rid of Trump. Thank God everyone except total loons are ignoring their BS.
+ 10
👍🏽
“Just gotta love the liberal ethics and moral superioirity…and idiots like this bozo will never let you forget it either.”
+10
👍🏽
Chuck Todd said that about Donald. I don’t believe it.
Fox News spews pro-Republican continuously, regularly airing debunked conspiracy theories and playing loose with the truth. And NBC is the one to get JT’s ire? Why JT, is it ok by you for the Republican to have a whole news network, but NBC can’t have an anchor who gives his opinion?
Molly, it is wonderful that you don’t have to turn on the Disney channel to fantacize.
I think that your comments and questions are unfounded. There is a difference between a news anchor and a professor of Constitutional Law. The problem here is that many in the mainstream media are not drawing a line between “opinion” and “news”. Journalism is supposed to be the Fourth Estate. Journalistic standards have plummeted to new lows. The Fourth Estate, as we knew it, has been lost. I think that Professor Turley is just illustrating how one media host uses a manipulative technique to elicit a desired result. Chuck Todd = Too Cute by Half! 🤣
+1
That +1 is for Molly’s post
How much longer can JT sell the scam that he’s an honest ref calling balls and strikes? I think “Fair and Balanced” is the line he’s looking for.
btb – I think you need to get your facts right.
https://youtu.be/d0Xu4mIecfY
Let me know what you know are facts, not opinion.
Paul, I don;t have 20 minutes, nor do I get my news from “timcast” as you apparently do. State your case or cite something reputable and in print please.
btb – take the 20 minutes. Tim Pool is a liberal and uses liberal sources which he puts on the screen
Paul, I don;t have 20 minutes, nor do I get my news from “timcast” as you apparently do. State your case or cite something reputable and in print please.
btb – I stated my case. You need to take the time to watch it.
Paul, you did not state your case, and no, I don’t waste my time on 20 minute videos from anonymous sources recommended by other anonymous sources.
btb – Tim Pool is not an anonymous source. He does 5 broadcasts a day 7 days a week
No doubt compiling reporting from his news desks around the world.
Your self parody here is priceless Paul. Thanks.
btb – he doesn’t get his marching orders from any of the political parties. He is so much of a fence sitter, he has worn a hole in his jeans. BTW, I have not done parody in years, however I do do satire. 😉
Anon, you have an advantage. Turley can’t lie and then change his name. He also doesn’t make up new names in order to have a supply of agreement.
JT is a lifelong Democrat who voted against Trump you idiot.
Chuck is still mad he is not president Hillary Clinton`s press secretary. the man is die hard liberal democrat. so I would call him a very dangerous person with no future in sight.
“he can make the same point by asking another person if they “just want to be lied to.”
Correct answer:
Chuck, if I wanted to be lied to, I’d turn in to Main stream pressitutes like you.
CHUCK TODD/NBC/MSNBC HATE TRUMP and their Hatred brings out the worse in these people. They are cheering for Trump and US failure against Coronavirus and hope for bad economy. They serve no ones interest but their own and The Dem leadership.
CHUCK TODD should be taken off the air but, NBC will not
Main Street Media ratings are sinking and people don’t trust them, except the Trump haters.
Tim Russert is turning.
Three weeks ago on March 10, Mayor DiBlasio stated at a news conference, ““If you’re not sick, you should be going about your life.” Dine out, the virus does not transmit through food and water.
At least Cuomo wanted New Yorkers to shelter in place.
But alas, it’s Trump’s fault.
Let us not forget Dr. Oxiris Bardot is The Governors Dr. Fauci
These type of statements by the Press are parrotting the Democrat/Nancy Pelosi talking points. The Administration multiple times during December and January confronted China, but the Dems were too busy holding mock trials. President Trump declared a national emergency EXTREMELY early in the spread of the disease, shut down access to the US from the source, assembled an A+ task force to deal with it and has overseen a tremendous response to this. He recognized the dramatic impact to the American public (economically, socially, emotionally and health) and was rightfully worried. Watch for continued massive layoffs and the Press, of which 90% just parrot the same lines should be the first ones let go. If you don’t think you will be affected by the economic crisis, I suggest you graciously give your job to some of the millions who have already lost theirs and the millions who will this week. If we want to point fingers about Blood on Hands, maybe the Democrats who were playing their impeachment violins while China was burning should take be the first ones at line at the sink.
Trump spent many valuable weeks downplaying, ignoring, and lying about the pandemic. He should have been ramping up testing, stockpiling supplies, and telling the public the truth. Had he done that then we would look more like South Korea and less like Italy. And his “A+ task force” was lead by Pence, who has a history of messing up health emergencies. You are parroting Trump talking points.
Molly G – Italy is reporting any death in a hospital with a coronavirus patient a corona death, hence the high body count.
Paul, if you are trying to run the numbers one has to consider specificity. Are all deaths recorded associated with a positive Covid test?
If so then the death numbers are far lower than they actually are and I suspect that could be happening all over the world and is almost definitley happening in china.
Allan – China’s numbers are not to be trusted. They reopened their theaters and then closed them a week later, however they are not reporting any new cases. They are also shipping faulty equipment to other countries.
China is a ‘wonderful place’ according to a large number on the left. The Epoch Times apparently has a lot of people in China reporting anonymously and some of the reporting is documented by satellite and video. They believe the crematories are functioning non stop burning bodies which will never be tested for the Covid virus. They also point out that 21 million phone numbers over a short time period were deactivated and they questioned whether deactivation had to do with a lot of deaths.
Some on this blog criticize the Epoch Times which is reporting and not concluding. The Epoch Times leaves that type of faulty news to the birdcage liners (hat tip DSS) the Washington Post and the New York Times.
As always, Alan is still stupid. And, yes, the left does agree Alan is still stupid.
That is encouraging. As long as you and the stupid left disagree with me I know I am on the right path.
Simone Gao, pretty and smart!
NBC should send him over to MSNBC and give him a 3:00am time slot. They should……but they won’t.
And Martha Nelson: Would you care to cite some specific examples of the president’s obliviousness?
Sorry, Jon. While the timing of Todd’s charges might be atrocious since we are indeed in a crisis this exact second, the sentiment isn’t wrong.
Basically, it’s the wrong time to focus on tossing out blame right now. It’s an all hands on deck moment. But in the aftermath, Trump’s awful response to Covid 19 needs nothing less than a full on 9/11 commission level investigation with possible resulting charges.
Also, the nation needs to examine immunity and what can be done to enhance it in a way it never has before.
And as far as network political bias goes, NBC isn’t the first one to come to mind, professor. Just saying.
For now though, let’s just get through the day. Seriously. All best to each of us.
Turley may be correct in calling out Chuck Todd for asking a leading question, however at this point, is there any doubt that Trump DOES have blood on his hands. Given the lies, misleading remarks, trivializing and politicizing of this pandemic, how can there be any other conclusion?
Trump could not have stopped the pandemic from happening. That is also inarguable. But he COULD have and SHOULD have acknowledged it from the very first intelligence reports. He COULD have and SHOULD have been honest, upfront and factual. He COULD have and SHOULD have allocated more time to protecting Americans and less to protecting his upcoming election.
In making this argument, Turley is staying true to legal arguments by making “have you stopped beating your wife” questions and arguments. There is no good answer…perhaps it’s the wrong question and/or argument in that while charging Todd with bias, Turley let’s Trump walk free of his obviously bungled political mishandling of this epedemic…and the needless bloodshed and lives that are and will continue to be lost.
Given the lies, misleading remarks, trivializing and politicizing of this pandemic, how can there be any other conclusion?
None of this exists outside your imagination.
It is not my imagination that is hearing Trump utter these things, though I wish it were. It’s out there. All over. Just go look for it.
– ‘Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion’
– ‘It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle – it will disappear’
– ‘Anybody that needs a test gets a test. We – they’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful’
– ‘I’ve always known this is a real – this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. I’ve always viewed it as very serious’
– Americans will have access ‘to vaccines, I think, relatively soon’
Spend 1 minute and look. It’s there.
Most of all, remember. The COVID virus cares not about all of this. In fact, more deception, lies and ineptitude make COVID stronger, not weaker.
A cogent, articulate and honest response WOULD have reduced our current level of contagion.
No, it’s not there. Circumstances change rapidly,. Normal adults understand this. You do not.
Imperial College in London made a forecast of the extent of spread and deaths of 1-2 million without containment measures, and that was in JANUARY. It was broadcast by media back then. Trump lied yesterday when he said no one could have foreseen the extent of spread: “I’ve never heard numbers like this’. A complete lie. Now, what he’ll do is if we don’t have 1-2 million deaths, but only 100,000 to 200,000 deaths, claim victory for a job well done. He keeps praising himself for doing a good job, starting with the claim when there were15 cases that would soon be 0 cases, and said yesterday that if there were 100,000 deaths, that would be a good job. I honestly don’t understand how Trumpsters can stand the stench of his narcissism and lying.
Michael is correct: if the Commander in Chief had told Americans back in January that a pandemic was coming that could kill 1-2 million of us because it was extremely contagious, that there is no vaccine and there is no effective medicine, and, most important, no herd immunity, and that the only way to limit the spread was to close schools and churches, ban large gatherings, and all other large groups, it would have made a huge difference. How many states are just now getting around to banning public gatherings and closing schools and churches?
And, no, Ti317, none of the Democrats is responsible, and Trump has had 3+ years to plan and replenish the stockpile. It’s not a matter of being mistaken or overly optimistic. The office of POTUS is a bully pulpit, not an outlet for attention and adulation. Citizens have the right to expect the truth from the President. Trumpy Bear was also told that the economy would take a nosedive, so he tried to bluff and bully his way out of this crisis, thinking he could stave off the market free fall. Spreading false hope and downplaying the risk is not just wrong–it is immoral. I guarantee you that no physician told him that 15 cases would soon be 0, or that there would be a vaccine and effective medication “very soon”, or that there was no shortage of tests or PPE. This is just Trumpian lying, and it should piss you off. He should be ashamed to show his orange face in public, but he isn’t–instead he is co-opting the daily briefings, by scheduling them for the same time slot as local news, by speaking first, by posing in front of the USNS Comfort with a bevy of American flags for a campaign photo-op, while pretending to be POTUS, and lying. He is disgusting.
By your logic, anyone who was mistaken or overly optimistic about this virus and was in position of power or influence, has blood on his or her hands.
The list includes:
Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, WHO, and Bernie Sanders, all of whom condemned Trump for banning travel from China.
The WaPo and NYT were dismissive of the threat early in its development.
Andrew Cuomo, Bill Deblasio, and a host of New York HEALTH officials, encouraged people to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations.
A point conveniently ignored by those of you who seek to use human tragedy for political advantage, is that every scientist I have seen, attributes the much reviled travel ban as an important move to buy us time.
The travel ban was a result of Executive action, the SNAFU with the testing was a bureaucratic foul up involving the self same scientists we are told to obey unquestioningly. Are you saying that Trump should have overruled the scientists?
And NO Trump did not disband the bloated Obama era pandemic task force, and YES Obama left us woefully under resourced in our national stockpiles despite having experienced 2 pandemics.
This may have also helped: “If you like your doctor you can try and catch that last boat filled with your cash on the way to Iran.”
Yea because that makes sense. This must be an OLLYISM because it reeks of whataboutism.
Michael, if one wants to judge the President all they have to do is look squarely at his actions. While the Democrats were focused on impeachment he focused himself squarely on the virus and unilaterally provided us with the Chinese Traveller Ban. (I heard reported that 10,000 Chinese citizens were travelling in the US every day.) That bought us time and saved a tremdendous number of lives but bought himself hate from the opposition. The Democratic response was that he was a racist, stupid and xenophobic. Perhaps you were one of those providing that type of rhetoric. A short while later the President’s impeachment trial ended and he was found innocent.
This demonstrates the deriliction of duty of almost all Democratic legislators and Senators along with the media and supporters of the Democratic Party. At the same time it demonstrates a focused President who against the odds carries out his duties and succeeds.
Trump was not focused at all on this till at least mid-late February. Trump did ignore it, and minimize it, and lie about it.
How can anyone take you seriously when on February 2 the China Traveller ban was instituted?
That was one action, and too late. He needed to be ramping up tests, stockpiling supplies, and telling the truth to the public. He had intelligence reports in January about how bad it was. Every week mattered and he wasted many.
Molly look at the country as a whole. The Democrats were against the ban on travellers and perhaps many Republicans were as well. Not only that but the Democrats had tied the Presidents hands so he could do very little. Even after that ban they attacked the President for banning certain European countries.
Then look at the Governors espcially Governor Cuomo from New York and Governor Newsom from California. They were both caught with their pants off and are being rescued by Donald Trump.
Who do you think was looking at the “Chinese Virus”? WHO an organization that leftists love. WHO trusted China. What did they do? Our CDC was looking and preparing in the usual fashion which has been inadequate for decades. Much of our money spent to protect us was used to promote studies such as the fictitious ‘smoking habits of monkeys after sex’.
I will leave it up to you what you have been proposing for the past couple of decades. Let us hear what you thought and when? Trump was far ahead of the curve. That doesn’t mean all of his actions are correct. That would be impossible unless one has already read a script of what will happen in the future.
Trump was far, far behind the curve. He was doing all he could to downplay the threat well into early March. He still downplays it now.
Molly, you can repeat yourself endlsessly which is a waste of time. Alternatively you can deal with what Trump did on Feb 2nd which was quite early in the game.
Low information creates responses that fall flat.
Of course if he had done anything in January, YOU would have been posting comments about how he is trying to distract the country from the impeachment.
The Chinese government and the WHO both put out the story that there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission. Now, health experts all agree that if the Chinese government had been honest 95% of the current cases could have been avoided.
When the president banned travel from China against the advice of his senior advisors and some health officials YOU and your ilk labeled him racist and xenophobic.
Then there is this: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/pandemic-neglect-how-us-health-care-failed-heed-warnings-supply
The Chinese government and the WHO both put out the story that there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission. Now, health experts all agree that if the Chinese government had been honest 95% of the current cases could have been avoided.
__________________________________________________________
What is not honest about saying there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission? They did not know what they are dealing.
The Central Chinese govt has a much better system
The Central Chinese govt has a much better system of detecting epidemics than any other country, but it still takes time to figure out what you are dealing with and how it is spread. They reported what they knew when they knew it. The initial theory was that it was being spread by animals in the large open market where the first cases were coming from.
The Chinese told the world what the virus was and how it was spread long before it showed up in other countries.
Jinn, wumao army member? CCP did suppress the truth. Or didn’t you hear the story of Dr Li.?
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/08/opinions/coronavirus-bociurkiw/index.html
(CNN)In their botched handling of the tragic death of Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who sounded the alarm on the Wuhan coronavirus, authorities in Beijing seem to want it both ways.
On the one hand, officials have expressed their sorrow over his death and encouraged people to tell the truth about the outbreak. On the other hand, government censors are hard at work scrubbing online posts that call for freedom of speech in the wake of Li’s death.
When millions of people are denied the opportunity to grieve collectively over someone widely regarded as a hero, their trust in government can only further erode. As Li recently told the Chinese magazine Caixin before his death: “I think a healthy society should not only have one kind of voice.”
Li is credited with being the first medical professional to sound the alarm on the Wuhan coronavirus weeks before he contracted the illness himself and died. In late December, he messaged his medical school alumni group on WeChat, informing them that seven people from a local seafood market who showed signs of a SARS-like illness were quarantined in his hospital in Wuhan. When screenshots of his post went viral with his name in plain view, Li said, “I realized it was out of my control and I would probably be punished.”
As he told CNN, “I only wanted to remind my university classmates to be careful.”
Li was later called to a police station, reprimanded for spreading rumors online, and forced to sign a statement acknowledging his “misdemeanor” before he was allowed to leave. Weeks later, China’s Supreme Court vindicated him and other “rumormongers” by saying, “It might have been a fortunate thing … if the public had listened to this ‘rumor’ at the time…”
Not just a statistic
On Friday, Li became one of more than 700 casualties of the Wuhan coronavirus. But he is much more than a statistic.
While Li may not be immortalized to the same degree as the lone protester who faced off against a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 anti-government protests, his “normal guy” persona, and sense of duty has transformed him into an overnight hero — and his death has unleashed an unprecedented tsunami of grief and anger that probably has not been seen since President Xi Jinping rose to power.
Beijing seemed caught off-guard by the response to Li’s death, and the Chinese government initially directed state-controlled news outlets to say that he was still on life support and in critical condition, according to the BBC. These news outlets later acknowledged Li’s passing, but his time of death was changed from the evening of February 6, to the early hours of February 7, the BBC reported.
This was a rare show of confusion from the Chinese government, as well as a stark reminder of the extent to which it is willing to exert control over the narrative.
And to many Chinese people, it was a tipping point, given that manipulation and suppression of information is what allowed the wide spread of the novel coronavirus in the first place. Anger expressed on online forums is intense, with even prominent officials, academics and executives expressing grief and outrage. In online posts and in open letters, demands range from an official apology and admission that the government had made a mistake, to a state funeral for Li and even a US-style whistleblower protection law.
In an apparent effort to appease the masses and quell the backlash, central authorities announced they are dispatching a team from the country’s top anti-corruption agency to Wuhan to look into “issues related to Dr. Li Wenliang.”
The crisis in handling the outbreak, coupled with the botched rollout of the news of Li’s death, is “as close the an existential crisis for (Chinese President) Xi and the (Communist) Party that I think we have seen since 1989,” wrote Bill Bishop in his Sinocism newsletter.
Maybe if the democrats had not been “all hands on deck” over impeaching Trump, a little more attention could have been given to all these other things. As it was, Trump took action even in the midst of the idiocy going on in DC, as SBG noted above.
But we get it – there’s nothing that will ever be enough to satisfy you people.
Always someone else’s fault, poor victim. Who knew that a stable genius couldn’t walk and chew gum?
Faith in the media is dropping, faith in the President is rising.
News flash! The word-merchant sector is chock-a-block with people whose quantum of integrity is just about nil.
I agree that honest opinions are needed on all sides. Trump who seems oblivious to the seriousness of this disease hopefully out of ignorance would benefit from honesty on the part of his staff. At least Fauci follows that model and it seems to have finally worked
Trump is no Lincoln but the consistent thread with his critics is that they feel they have to distort, misstate, and take out of context, Trump’s statements and actions. They don’t even want to show him speaking but would rather tell us what he said.
If you have to prevaricate to demonstrate the unworthiness of your opponent, you might not have a good case.
In contrast, the most damning case against Biden and Pelosi is simply to play their unedited remarks.
Ti317 – excellent point.
Trumps unedited remarks are atrocious. And they get played all the time. The Trump attack ads could be nothing more then his footage and it will be damning. He lied often it is ridiculous.
No one has to misstate nor distort his comments, accept at face value and realize they are beneath normal human interaction little on presidential. When someone presents himself as a fool accept it.
YNOT, I asked a couple of Trump supporters if they would welcome a person like Trump into their social circles at home: a known liar who constantly bragged about himself and came up with infantile nicknames. They wouldn’t answer.
On a human level, we ll know the Schiff was right:
“You know you can’t trust him.”
If someone truly does not know that, they are seriously lacking inthe kind of awareness necessary for basic human interactions. He’s an a.shole and they know it. He’s their a.shole is I guess the reasoning.
They wouldn’t answer.
The proof is in the archives that you are lying. The question was answered, you just didn’t like the answer. I’ll leave it for you to find the thread and prove you’re telling the truth.
Has Xoris Bardow changed her opinion and is now honest with her staff?