"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage on the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation. We'll look to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
09.30.21
Legalized Press-titution – POLITICO
This cannot be entirely considered a puff piece because they allowed Dowd to speak for himself – never a good idea. Matthew Dowd announced that he will be running for office in the state of Texas for lieutenant governor. The loud Never Trump pundit will be on the Democratic Party ticket, a surprise to almost no one. When asked why he would not be challenging incumbent Lieut. Gov. Dan Patrick in the GOP primary, Dowd had this explanation.
- "The Republican Party, as all of us knew it, is gone. It's no longer a small 'D' democratic party. It's an autocratic party."
This is the same man who has been full of praise for Joe Biden, the man who has challenged the Constitution repeatedly in his brief eight-month tenure as president. He also gave this assessment of his chances of running in Texas, a state known for a certain resistance to Democrats; the one time political strategist says, "I'm undefeated running Democratic campaigns in Texas." As the Politico interviewer noted, Texas voters have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office in decades.
Plus I talk to @matthewjdowd about his run for Texas Lt Gov https://t.co/AUjJLIu4u8
— Renuka Rayasam (@renurayasam) September 30, 2021
Pre-Written Field Reports – MSNBC
- Chris Hayes has the definitive hot take on the debt – but creates a new policy problem in the process.
Designated heavy thinker at MSNBC Chris Hayes, about to be passed over to be Rachel Maddow's replacement, has come out with a scorching hot take on the national debt and why we do not have to be concerned about it, whatsoever.
I’d go further and argue not only is debt not bad, it’s actually in current circumstances *affirmatively good.* As the world’s reserve currency, have a moral obligation to do what we can to help power a global economic recovery from Covid and lead the way on climate investment.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 29, 2021
Well, this is certainly a load off our minds! This also means that those people coming out of college do not have to regard the decades of crippling debt in front of them as bad news – and, by extension, we then see no need at all for the government to bail out these same individuals, as Joe Biden is proposing.
Anti-Social Media – BuzzFeed
Last night was the annual congressional baseball game, where the two parties field teams of congressional members in a traditional symbol of reaching across the aisle. Addy Baird of BuzzFeed took a look at this event and saw a problem. A few problems, actually.
First, Rep. Marjory Taylor Greene was on the field. But more than that, Baird seems to have an overall issue with the concept of this game being staged for the purpose of bipartisanship. She looked at this idea, and she couldn't even.
- "But isn't it strange, I've been asking Democratic lawmakers, to play against Greene in a charity game about bipartisanship — given, you know, all of it?"
Like, where do they get off trying to act decently toward each other when there is a member on the field that Addy totally does not even like!
She seems to not latch onto the fact that she was actually in the minority of those who participated in this fun event and enjoyed it, rather than chose the time to be contentious and angry.
- "But members of the Democratic roster largely seemed miffed that I'd wondered if politics could get in the way of a bunch of politicians playing baseball."
I tried to write something fun about baseball and politics, but in the end it was just kinda sad again https://t.co/u5VCmV7Zrk
— Addy Baird (@addysbaird) September 29, 2021
Reporting On The Mirror – PUCK
Dylan Byers in his Puck outlet announced that CNN titan Jeffrey Zucker was going to remain at the head of the network well into next year. There has been some questions on his future after the Warner Brothers-ATT merger with Discovery. Zucker will now remain to oversee the upcoming streaming rollout of CNN+, and the completion of the merger.
What is odd is that the Byers report, citing anonymous sources, was touted by CNN fixture Brian Stelter, who went on to say this "breaking" story was something that Zucker himself announced last week at a CNN town hall.
DNC PR Firm – ASSOCIATED PRESS
As the budget battle continues to occupy the press in overheated fashion, the AP comes out with a detailed update. We learn that "The White House struggles to sell the public" and also that "anxiety has risen among congressional Democrats." Also, we hear from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, David Axelrod, a public opinion analyst from Harvard, and half a dozen White House aides on the deeply important and monumental spending bill.
Not heard from about this – anyone from the Republican Party…
President Biden’s plan for a massive expansion of social programs is being framed by supporters as “too big to fail.” It also may be too big to describe. The White House is struggling to sell the public on the wide range of initiatives in the package. https://t.co/OQNzwmhlNu
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 29, 2021
Anti-Social Media – POLITICO
- Policing Gold Star family members in the name of pandemic safety.
There are still some journalists who feel the need to play Hall Monitor in the nation's Capitol these days. Enter Heather Caygill, who not only felt the need to socially report on a group she saw going maskless in The Rotunda, but even when informed they were family members of fallen Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, she was still in full Karen-mask-police mode.
President Biden’s plan for a massive expansion of social programs is being framed by supporters as “too big to fail.” It also may be too big to describe. The White House is struggling to sell the public on the wide range of initiatives in the package. https://t.co/OQNzwmhlNu
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 29, 2021
