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Chris Cillizza Does Not Pick Sides. He Reacts to Both Sides in Wildly Different Fashion.

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jul 15, 2021
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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.

07.15.21

Both Kinds Of Standards – CNN

  • Maybe Chris Cillizza needs to start reading his own tweets.

As the Texas Democrats continue with their Flee-ibuster and deliver to D.C., the last thing that town needs – more politicians – two things are emerging. One, these dolts only continue to embarrass themselves, and second, the press continues to undermine themselves as they support these children during their field trip.

Eddie Zipperer notes that Chris Cillizza, in his warm appraisal of the TX-Dem snit-trip, had previously taken a more stern approach to the idea of politicians running away from their duties.

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This is a shocking dose of hypocrisy from Mr. Cillizza. He has previously assured us of the completely balanced and unbiased stance taken by those in the media.

Gilded Reframe – REUTERS

Recall throughout 2020 when we were told to shutter in our basements out of fear of spreading contagion, but the press saw no problem whatsoever when thousands were protesting shoulder-to-shoulder for Black Lives Matter?

Well, it turns out there is a dividing line with their permissiveness. When Cubans are fighting for basic services while being attacked by government forces, it turns out that they are being really risky by not double-masking before they are carried off to nondescript jail cells.

Blue-anon – CNN

CNN is all in a bluster about the shocking-breaking-exclusive bombshell that Gen. Mark Milley was prepared to fight back against any attempt that President Trump would make to use the military to remain in power. What they describe as a "chilling implication" arrives from an upcoming book, "I Alone Can Fix This," and it describes the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff preparing for a showdown with the president. 

- "America's top military officer feared Donald Trump would try to order the armed forces to stage a coup is not how close the nation came to a post-election disaster last year. Mark Milley was so shaken by Trump's refusal to concede defeat that he feared he might attempt a coup or other illegal gambit to stay in power."

Um...this is all concerning what Gen. Milley worried about might transpire?

- "In the end, Trump did not seek to turn the military on the American people or stage the most alarming showdown in living memory between a modern commander-in-chief and top military brass. But that seasoned military officers thought it was a real possibility and hatched a plan for rolling resignations to thwart Trump's autocratic impulses underscores the ex-President's extraordinary instability."

Er, no – what it underscores is the press having a pathological inability to self-analyze that they are still wholly affected by derangement, even as the man they obsess over has no political office.

Stealth Story Evolution – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

  • All of a sudden, the word "nepotism" carries zero import for the media.

Quick refresher. Recall over the past four years that the press was in full-throat outrage that Donald Trump, Jr. had too much influence, that Ivanka Trump did not deserve to have an administrative office, and that her husband was unqualified to have any national position? Well, all of a sudden, journalists have declared that it is unseemly to be critical of the benefits a family member of the president may enjoy.

In responding to a Fox News headline about Hunter Biden, David Folkenflik of NPR – you know, the news source that proudly announced it would refuse to cover the laptop scandal – shows that those four years of familial outrage are all but a memory.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – THE ATLANTIC

Hot on the heels of the news that The Atlantic had surging subscriptions last year and still found a way to lose tens of millions of dollars, that same outlet provides us with a peek as to why that happens.

The always reliable David Frum offers up this ill-thought-out think piece on the rise in fascistic violence in the country as a result of Donald Trump. Now, do not concern yourself with informing Mr. Frum that there has not been widespread violence seen as a result of the Capitol riot. He will ignore that reality, just like he ignores all of the widespread mob violence seen last year.

Prose & Contradiction – CNN

The Britney Spears melodrama continues to play out in the courts and press. Bemoaning this second aspect is A.J. Willingham, who writes at length about the obsessive media attention on the likes of Spears, calling it "the cruelest celebrity gossip era," describing a media machine that was overly attentive to these celebrities. 

Case in point, the CNN "Reliable Sources" newsletter today, dedicating no fewer than TEN PARAGRAPHS to the Britney soap opera. 

…and so on.