It’s an old newsroom axiom that “if it bleeds, it leads.” That may have been true in the age of the New York Herald and James Gordon Bennett but this is 2021 and it’s the age of digital news. Lead stories are now wholly dependent on whose ox is being gored and what their party affiliation might be. If the gored ox is Republican, you can bet it will be the lead story every hour on the hour.
Ted Cruz made the dumbest political move of his life by leaving Texas to go to Mexico while a cold snap made lives miserable for voters. Then we have Andrew Cuomo, whose incompetent policies directly led to the deaths of 15,000 seniors.
When both men are judged by the almighty, God may look at Cruz and chuckle about the dumb mistake that he made in exposing himself politically in such a way. But what will he say to Governor Cuomo, who not only initiated policies that led to mass death but then tried to evade responsibility for his stupidity by covering it up?
In a fairer world where journalists and news channels took their obligations seriously, the Cuomo story would dominate. But such is not the case. And it says more about the media’s unrestrained bias against the right than anything it says about Ted Cruz tanning himself while people literally fought for their lives in Texas.
There’s a question not being asked: just what is it that Cruz’s critics would have wanted him to do rather than go to Mexico? Comedian Michael Loftus had some thoughts.
“I can’t believe how much attention they want us to pay to this Ted Cruz thing,” he said. “They act like he’s the only person with a toolkit in Texas that can actually fix a frozen windmill. Like everyone’s outside, ‘Who can fix this? Who can fix this? Oh, Ted Cruz! Get here! Get your crescent wrench, we need your help!’”
Cruz would have been as helpless as everyone else if he had stayed in Texas. But Andrew Cuomo had it well within his power to save those 15,000 souls. Cuomo isn’t exactly getting a pass, but compared to Ted Cruz?
Cuomo received 55 seconds to Cruz’s 3:15 on ABC’s “World News Tonight,” and “NBC Nightly News” gave 1:30 to Cuomo and two full minutes to Cruz. CNN devoted 2:42 to covering Cuomo, but spent ten times that — 25:31 — talking about Cruz. MSNBC made no mention of Cuomo, but gave over 20 minutes of coverage to Cruz. Only the “CBS Evening News” gave Cuomo (1:45) more coverage than Cruz (45 seconds).
Cruz is hated by the left because his politics are so in-your-face conservative. Not only that, liberals hate it when someone can quote the Constitution as if they have it memorized.
But Cruz has taken all the “wrong” positions on the issues that matter — race, class, crime, punishment, etc. These are the issues that matter — at least to the left. Ordinary people’s concerns are usually more boring: family, friends, and faith. Cruz gives voice to those concerns and the left hates him for it.
There is talk of impeaching Cuomo in the New York state assembly, but don’t hold your breath. Democrats would no more impeach Cuomo than Republicans would impeach Trump. The prosecutors looking into the coverup might have something to say about Cuomo’s longevity, however, and you have to wonder how much coverage a potential Cuomo trial would get.
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