Vox Writer Launches Attack on Ron DeSantis, Fails Miserably

Many in the press love to trot out the phrase "bad faith argument" as a means of dismissing an uncomfortable comment or question coming from those on the Right. It is almost always used incorrectly, but it is done as an excuse to avoid what is being said. Last night, Rupar delivered a classic case of the term. 

As many are aware, on Miami Beach, there was a serious building collapse, and nearly 100 people are still unaccounted for. On Sean Hannity's show last night, Governor Ron DeSantis made an appearance, and Aaron Rupar was having none of it. 

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BRAD SLAGER RIFFED FROM THE HEADLINES

Hours after a building collapsed in Surfside, Ron DeSantis is on Sean Hannity's Fox News show pic.twitter.com/mNCymwEX61

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 25, 2021

The bad faith, obviously, is that Rupar implies DeSantis was somehow screwing off on Fox News instead of doing something about the tragedy. There is quite a bit Rupar has to overlook in order to posture in this fashion; DeSantis was on site all day, has been updating the media regularly, and declared a state of emergency. His press secretary apprised Aaron of the facts.

Yeah … AFTER he did a press briefing in Surfside today and gave 2 interviews that were on every local TV channel in South Florida this evening. He talked about the emergency on Fox, because people in other parts of the country care about it too.

— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) June 25, 2021

And as far as updating the nation, he will reach four times as many people than were he to appear on CNN.

Stealth Story Evolution – THE NEW YORK TIMES

• Yeah, that bill we were all in favor of? It was really kind of a mess.

Over at NewsBusters, they show that The New York Times, which was in full-throttle support of the attempt by Democrats to take over the voting systems in the country with the massive H.R.-1 bill, now is able to acknowledge the problems with the legislation since it failed to pass. Over a collection of articles, they only now are able to cite the problems. 

With the failure, we are told, amazingly, this was not going to be intended to fix issues that had been claimed to be the goal. 

• "It was a flawed bill that had little chance of testing the limits of what if anything is still possible in Washington….The law, known as H.R. 1 or S. 1, was full of hot-button measures -- from public financing of elections to national mail voting -- that were only tangentially related to safeguarding democracy."

In a different article, we learn of the inherent flaws in the bill.

• "Some supporters of action say Democrats made it far too easy for Republicans to oppose it, by assembling legislation that was breathtaking in its scope, transformative in its implications and very difficult to implement."

Then get a load of this amazing admission. 

• "The provision to roll back voter identification laws across the country went against public opinion. A Monmouth University poll released Monday showed 80 percent support for mandatory identification checks at the polls."

And in yet another piece, they coyly admit how the Democrats were cynically positioning the bill.

• "They planned to use it in the weeks and months ahead to stoke enthusiasm with their progressive base by highlighting congressional Republicans’ refusal to act to preserve voting rights at a time when their colleagues around the country are racing to clamp down on ballot access."

Rather notable that these details, known for months, managed to get overlooked until this week when the bill died its expected death.

Legalized Press-titution – MSNBC

• Nicolle Wallace goes into full throne-sniffing mode with Jen Psaki

You would think that after the scorching Brian Stelter received weeks ago for rolling over like a puppy to Jen Psaki that Nicolle Wallace would have learned from that embarrassment. Instead, she invited the White House press secretary on her show and managed to embarrass herself even more than Stelter had done. 

Where Brian had been obsequious with his conversation, asking Psaki how the press can improve things, Wallace went even further. After fawning over the White House mouthpiece, she actually went so far as to advise Psaki on how to deal with the press. 

Those days of the media actually challenging our leaders and holding them accountable may only exist now in the movies. 

Wallace to Psaki: "You get such high marks from the vast majority of the people in the room. You spar a bit with some of the president’s detractors. I’m sure privately they give you grudging respect. How do you feel it’s going?

"Stand your ground is my only advice for you" pic.twitter.com/oZWfyiJr8V

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 24, 2021

Reporting On The Mirror – CNN

• The newsworthy nature of attacks on the press is determined by the attacker.

While on the subject of Brian Stelter, he detailed a story on an individual who was charged with attacking a cameraman on January 6. The announcement was made on Thursday, and Stelter brought up the story on the same day. 

The DOJ "announced Thursday that it has charged a US Capitol riot suspect with assaulting a cameraman... saying the Illinois man is the first insurrection defendant to be arrested for allegedly harming a member of the media," @devancole1 reports https://t.co/NrO1CzJjTT

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 24, 2021

That timeline is notable here. It seems logical CNN's media maven would show an interest in a member of the press being attacked, except this is the network that exhibited no such desire to do so back in April – when their own cameramen had been attacked. 

Protesters throw a water bottle at a CNN crew member and hit him square on the head. They mock him when he falls down. pic.twitter.com/cBfRN9DJOj

— Nic Rowan (@NicXTempore) April 15, 2021

This was at a Black Lives Matter protest (ahem) in Minnesota, so being overly critical of the event could not be seen taking place.  After that incident, it took CNN four days before they even mentioned the attack, and once they did, it was with a line of excusals. They even went so far as to say they understood the anger from the crowd. 

Not all attacks on the media are created equal.

News Avoidance Syndrome – WASHINGTON POST

• It is only wrong when others ignore the news.

Philip Bump had what he was sure to be a scorching hot take about Fox News. He took a screenshot of the front page at the site and then noted what was absent in the bevy of headlines.

Fox has an exclusive poll showing Biden with 56% approval.

Just go to the homepage, click the link about the lab leak, and scroll down a bit. Hard to miss! pic.twitter.com/DQDBoTJRrz

— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 24, 2021

His point, of course, is that Fox is burying the information. At this point, it is not clear what is the more revelatory detail here; that Bump thinks that the nearly quotidian approval polls are worthy of banner headlines or that Philip is a reader of FoxNews. But while he is eager to play this game, why don't we continue it.

Take a stroll through the front pages of various news outlets – including The Washington Post – and tell us how many are featuring the story of Sheldon Whitehouse being discovered to be a member of now multiple whites-only clubs. 

Pulitzer Prize Nomination – CNN

• If you listen close enough, you can almost hear the faint squeal as he was typing this.

It has long been established that a requirement of becoming a member of the national press corps is to possess an abject lack of embarrassment. Case in point, CNN's White House correspondent D.J. Judd thinks this is not only newsworthy but good news.

Selfies on the ropeline are back, nature is healing. pic.twitter.com/sGfHx8eqzV

— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) June 24, 2021