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KJP Is Challenged By One Reporter, MSNBC Declares Biden 'President of the World,' and Cher Eschews Cheese

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 22, 2023
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

09.22.23

Legalized Press-titution – MSNBC

  • The man who cannot manage a teleprompter will run the planet?

It has been an embarrassingly bad week for Joe Biden from a performance standpoint. His speaking, actions, and other comments he made reveal his decline is probably accelerating. On Wednesday, he met with the president of Brazil and was repeatedly seen in a condition that should concern most. This followed his performance at the United Nations on Tuesday, where his diminished faculties were on display. More slurring, more fractured syntax, and nonsense like saying he wanted to work with China on "accelerating the climate crisis."

Despite all of this disqualifying behavior, on MSNBC, Peter Alexander was parroting the words of the administration. He strained to sell us on the concept that Joe Biden on display at the UN would be a power grab moment and that the absence of other national leaders meant this was the time for Joe to rise to the level of President of the World. Just unreal, this undiluted fawning on display.

News Avoidance Syndrome – WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS

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  • When one reporter in the room has the stones to challenge the administration.

Karine Jean-Pierre makes it a habit of walking away from the White House Press Room podium during tough questions, and many times this is a result of Peter Doocy pressing her with uncomfortable queries. In the latest, she attempted to deflect his line of questioning about the border to the Republicans, and when he would not allow it, she shut him down and moved to another reporter. 

As Joe Concha points out, it would be a normal move during previous administrations for others to step up and try to continue the discourse, but these days the press room is content to follow her lead and move on to more comfortable topics.

Gilded Reframe – THE BULWARK

  • Saving lives by making the ability to end them more available.

We have drifted from covering the saps over at the Bad Ship The Bulwark since they have rendered themselves as little more than a perpetual Republican gripe machine. All pretexts of that site straining to deliver a conservative viewpoint have been completely abandoned. We only bring them up now because the latest essentially cements that reality.

Nikki Haley was making the rounds over at Fox News and one of her policy platforms is surrounding abortion, and how she might be able to promote a plan that would attract moderates and independents. Will Saletan hits upon a novel approach to a pro-life agenda; just offer up a pro-choice option:

She says we should take the issue out of Washington, respect each woman’s personal experience, and let the people closest to the issue decide. She’s right about these principles. And there’s a simple policy that would honor them. It’s called freedom of choice.

These "conservative" dolts…

A bunch of RINOs have devised Pro-Life In Name Only.

Both Kinds of Standards – CNN

  • See, when THEY do it, that is considered bad…

The announcement came that 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch will be stepping away from his role helming the monolithic Fox empire he has built. In response, CNN's Abby Phillip ran a lengthy montage of items she found to be objectionable over the decades from Fox News. The message, un-subtly delivered, was that Murdoch helped usher in what was described as our "Wounded Democracy."

Of course, nothing approaching introspection regarding CNN's participation in these injuries to our nation will ever take place.

Anti-Social Media – NEW YORKER

In an article that feels like either there was a looming deadline with nothing better to submit or just as likely a piece pitched only to then find little of the expected content, Jill Lepore delves into the life of Elon Musk. The conclusion; his grandfather J.N. Haldeman was not a good man. After declaring that the elder was anti-semitic and pro-Apartheid, it appears after this discovery Lepore struggled to bring anything meaningful to the discussion.

So when faced with the reality she was essentially on the verge of trying to condemn Elon for the sins of his grandfather (who passed away when Xitter's owner was but three years old), Jill strains to make a relevant point on why this matters…to anyone today, in any capacity.

After delivering a lengthy biography of the man she forces herself to make a desperate conclusion:

But Haldeman’s legacy casts light on what social media does: the reason that most people don’t know about Musk’s grandfather’s political writings is that in his lifetime social media did not exist. Elon Musk’s grandfather’s political views are not Musk’s responsibility. But what would happen to those rantings, if they were posted on X today, really does lie at his doorstep. 

Pulitzer Prize Nomination – CNBC

At RedState, we (dis)honor ridiculously empty news reports with The Ricecake Award, recognizing the best in content-free reporting. This one is easily included and probably compounded based on where it is coming from.

We are sure there might be someone who is interested that the septuagenarian singer Cher does not eat cheese. We are not sure, however, what relevance this item could possibly have for those seeking financial information on CNBC.

"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.