As I said in my column on Friday, one of the biggest stories of last week was the homecoming of the American hostages from North Korea.
This was pretty big news too:
North Korea has announced that they will dismantle Nuclear Test Site this month, ahead of the big Summit Meeting on June 12th. Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2018
I begin far too many sentences these days with “In a sane world,” so I will try to retire that for a while.
In a country populated by fewer people you’re constantly overcome by the urge to strangle, either of those North Korea-related stories would have been something worth celebrating together as Americans.
Sadly, we don’t live in an America where we can avoid the urge to strangle, especially those of us who have to pay attention to political news.
The potential of making long-term peace with a dark communist regime that we had barely communicated with for decades seems like it should be worth the majority of the attention for a few news cycles.
If, however, you have been subjected to the American mainstream media for the last several days, you would mostly have read and heard about Kelly Sadler, who is a previously unknown White House aide who said something monumentally stupid in a private meeting which was then leaked to the vulture media.
Sadler’s comment about John McCain dying was tacky, ill-advised, unprofessional, and a host of other ways to say she shouldn’t have done it. What it wasn’t, however, was a news story that should still be going on. It is, however, because the press is in the throes of borderline pathological anger towards President Trump and has been since the election. Paraphrasing Dennis Miller: I don’t think they’re taking this well.
Still, there are other things to have moved onto as we begin a new week. Instead, the allegedly non-partisan MSM is making it clear that they won’t be satisfied until they get a scalp:
Donald Trump aide who said John McCain is 'dying anyway' still has a job https://t.co/fGSV5E0FN4 @djusatoday
— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) May 14, 2018
Even more unseemly than what Sadler said is the fact that “conservative” #NeverTrump types are joining the scalp hunt and wondering why Sadler still has a job. If being principled means participating in leftist Twitter mobs, I’ll take a hard pass.
What’s even more bizarre is that most of the people trying to get Sadler fired are people who never had a charitable thing to say about McCain until he went against his own party last summer, but we’re supposed to be doing some sort of higher moral plateau make-believe game here.
Did the MSM seize upon the Sadler story because they really care about John McCain? Of course not. They don’t really give a damn about Maverick at all.
Is their desire to bring down this presidency so strong that they will milk every negative as long as possible? Maybe, but even their attention spans have that 21st century fleeting nature. And while this story is embarrassing, it’s not exactly Watergate.
They’re all still talking and writing about Kelly Sadler because there was plenty they wanted to not have to talk about.
Although it seems like a thousand years ago now, it was last week that began with the resignation of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democratic poster boy for the #MeToo movement who it turns out was more catalyst than defender.
If we’re weighing Scheniderman’s sins against Sadler’s I think he may have been a smidge more newsworthy but we’re dealing with narrative creation and not journalism.
There was also a great jobs report last Tuesday. That certainly doesn’t fit with the “train wreck presidency” narrative the MSM writes about every day. If Barack Obama were still in office you’d have the jobs numbers from last week memorized because the press wouldn’t have shut up about them yet.
The two stories pertaining to North Korea are the real reasons the MSM went into “Kelly Sadler 24/7” mode for over five days though.
Late last year the coordinated narrative from the MSM was that Trump’s rhetoric was putting us on the brink of World War III. This was a line of attack that I am sure all of the modern incarnation of the juice box media thought was original, but it is merely boilerplate nonsense that they love using against Republican presidents who treat our enemies like enemies. In fact, it’s a repeat of the ongoing narrative about Reagan’s tough talk and what it might provoke the Soviet Union to do.
The press really should learn how to Google.
That the president’s rhetoric and tactics not only didn’t lead to nuclear annihilation but led to the planning of a historic summit doesn’t reflect well on pretty much everything that they want the public and observers around the world to believe about him. When Kelly Sadler unwittingly made her reputation available for public crucifixion the MSM were delighted that they not only had a shiny object they could distract the public with, but that they might be able to ruin the career of a Republican in the process.
Some North Korea news is breaking as I write this. At first blush, it may seem to make my above point rather moot, but it’s really proving it. As of now, NoKo has canceled some talks that were scheduled with South Korea because it is doing some joint military exercises with the United States. North Korea has reportedly threatened to pull out of the summit with the U.S. too, but that hasn’t happened. The State Dept. says they’ve received no word from North Korea and are proceeding with plans for the summit.
But guess what’s back on the menu for the MSM!
Joining @ChuckTodd @MTPDaily 5pm et with latest on sudden #NorthKorea threat to cancel June 12 summit
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) May 15, 2018
It’s negative for Trump, so it’s news.
Even if the summit does get canceled, it doesn’t make the good news from last week suddenly not good. There is evidence that the dismantling of the nuclear test site has already begun, and the former hostages are enjoy freedom with their loved ones.
In conclusion, and in anticipation of what I am sure will be an objection from the MSM’s new friends in the #NeverTrump camp, I am not at all suggesting that the press not investigate or report on leaks from within the administration. I am talking about prioritization and proportionality of coverage. Not that I truly believe it wants to, but the MSM could go a long way towards getting back at least some respect from those of us who don’t trust them if it appeared that they weren’t solely interested in hit job type stories to wield against the Trump administration.
Maybe give us an update on the attorney general search in New York too.
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