Captain Renault
James GleickI’ve read the New York Times all my life, and I worked in the newsroom for ten years, and I’ve never seen the news department along with the editorial department commit to a nakedly partisan political crusade, as they are now. Evidently they are more outraged by Biden’s determination to continue running for re-election than they have ever been by Donald Trump.
Richard@JamesGleick It's like Randolph and Mortimer bet a dollar that they could top the lousy journalism of "her emails" and tank a Democratic candidate at the same time.
Victoria@richard_merren @JamesGleick Good comparison.
AkaSci 🛰️@JamesGleick
The Washington Post too seems to have committed to the nakedly partisan political crusade.
Online front page headlines for the WaPo and NYTimes have looked like this since the debate.
xs4me2Here is a good discussion on that...
For some of the other news outlets, I would really say, bought and paid for...
https://www.economist.com/1843/2023/12/14/when-the-new-york-times-lost-its-way
OtownKim@xs4me2 @JamesGleick They are greedy disgusting Oligarchy scumbags!!! And if they get Drumpf elected.... again, he will destroy them with Project 2025!! No media will be safe!!
@xs4me2 That has not aged well. Even the Economist is jumping on the Bash Biden bandwagon:
And I really wonder why…
vashbear@JamesGleick
I'll grant that newspapers love a controversy. But they also do not want Trump to win; I came to a belief over a year ago that Biden -who I like - is doomed. i have many red state friends and family who despise Trump yet will *not* vote Biden. My teen and young adult Blue state kids all despise Trump yet all view Biden as a complete non-factor. I asked about Kamala and they all lit up ... but then said "you guys" would never let her run. This was all *before* the debate.
I'll grant that newspapers love a controversy. But they also do not want Trump to win; I came to a belief over a year ago that Biden -who I like - is doomed. i have many red state friends and family who despise Trump yet will *not* vote Biden. My teen and young adult Blue state kids all despise Trump yet all view Biden as a complete non-factor. I asked about Kamala and they all lit up ... but then said "you guys" would never let her run. This was all *before* the debate.
Barry Schwartz 🫖@vashbear @JamesGleick We are interested in winning the election, not the reactions of kids. These are really entirely different things.
Reverse the roles and imagine we were the Republicans. Then Joe Biden's age would be a non-issue but Trump's would be, because he'd be the Democrat.
Now why is that? It's because Democrats have this urge to show their intellectual superiority by worrying about things other than a focus on winning the election with what they've got. It is childish.
@vashbear @JamesGleick The Republicans even stuck with Sarah Palin, though that was possibly a mistake, but it wasn't worth breaking discipline.
Certainly replacing Eagleton had done no good for the Democrats.
@chemoelectric @JamesGleick I very much want to the democrats to win. Its a given that no one knows what will happen. But that does not stop us from using our life experiences and observations to make predictions on what we think will happen and what we think the best approach to be. No amount of exhortations to "stop thinking, fall in line" is going to change that. In the end I will vote for the Democrat on the ticket even though I wish I had more of a say in who that is.
@vashbear @JamesGleick But that has already been decided. This is the difficulty all the "Drop out" people face. The nominee has been picked. Any change surely would be traumatic in many ways they are glossing over.
It occurs to me BTW that if one desperately wants Harris then the best way is to elect the current ticket with the understanding Biden would resign after two years. Then you could have ten years of Harris.
@vashbear @JamesGleick I in fact didn't have a say. I had COVID-19 and was too wiped out to get my ballot request in, and was still sick on election day, so couldn't vote. Though starting this year I get sent an absentee ballot without requesting one.
@vashbear @JamesGleick In fact I just received my September primary ballot this last week. Amy Klobuchar and Betty McCollum are my choices. But I have to remind myself who is who for some city offices.
Tom Ritchford@chemoelectric @vashbear @JamesGleick
> But that has already been decided.
In an essentially uncontested primary, where the DNC made it clear that anyone who opposed Biden would not have a future in the Democratic Party.
And the convention isn't until August. The Democrats still have an opportunity to come up with a young and energetic candidate who would wipe the floor with Trump.
@chemoelectric @vashbear @JamesGleick
I welcome your reasoned and polite explanation for why no major Democratic figures at all entered the primaries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
The idea that this was some sort of contested primary is false to the fact.
Julian ♪🌻🥥🌴♫@TomSwirly @chemoelectric @vashbear @JamesGleick
I'll try: Because Biden has been an effective president and major Democrat politicians are smart enough to not undermine the incumbent ahead of such an important election?
I'll try: Because Biden has been an effective president and major Democrat politicians are smart enough to not undermine the incumbent ahead of such an important election?
Ariaflame@vashbear @JamesGleick If they vote for Biden and something happens to him, then she becomes President without having to run the misogyny/racism gamut.
@vashbear @JamesGleick You're not voting for Biden OK, you're voting against Trump. Because if you don't and Trump wins, then you, and all the purists who couldn't be enthusiastic enough will have caused that.
@JamesGleick There seems to be an actual phenomenon where Democrats show they are more "sophisticated" than Republicans by worrying about things that Republicans wouldn't worry about, if it were their candidate.
I say this because I just put a well known elderly personality, not a politician but outspoken, on 7-day mute, for expressing just this explanation for his "Replace Biden" stance.
It is a POV I am familiar with from when I was young and naïve. It is shocking to see an old man have it.
@JamesGleick Another factor, of course, is Russian involvement. And I figure the Times and other newspapers might indeed be well infiltrated.
But a more likely factor is this is canned writing. Formulaic writing that requires no thought. Just look at it. Fill in the names, dates, and specifics. Otherwise it could be any this-versus-that story.
Nicole ParsonsThe readership of the New York Times is the moneyed.
The moneyed do not necessarily want to live under a Trump fascist dictatorship, but they do want a gridlocked, hobbled, & backsliding democracy that won't be able to handle crises like climate change.
They want a democracy that won't get any bright ideas like social mobility, women voting, or immigrants succeeding.
They want profitable disasters that balloon the national debt & thwart taxation on themselves.
Like a world war
Thwarting antitrust is a big issue for the moneyed too.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/24/business/biden-antitrust-amazon-google.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/opinion/google-lawsuit-antitrust.html
Yet another reason not to let Republican Justices anywhere near the levers of power
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/briefing/google-on-trial.html
Really excellent articles on antitrust & democracy
https://www.promarket.org/category/the-role-of-the-state/antitrust-and-competition/
@Npars01 @JamesGleick Thanks for the links.
Perhaps the major focus, and successes, on Anti-Trust has the moneyed interests worried.
If interested in following topics related Monopolies and Anti-Trust, I recommend Matt Stoller's substack: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/
Perhaps the major focus, and successes, on Anti-Trust has the moneyed interests worried.
If interested in following topics related Monopolies and Anti-Trust, I recommend Matt Stoller's substack: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/
Matt Stoller is a spreading anti-Biden disinformation via his latest post.
Hard pass.
Melissa@Npars01 Agree - just unsubscribed to Stoller's newsletter.
@Npars01 TBH, I had not read his latest post prior to my recommend. This is the first where he has commented directly on political candidates (that I recall), and I was very disappointed with his comments regarding Biden, including the vague comment " How the anti-monopoly project moves forward is contingent upon who wins in 2024, whether it’s Trump, Biden, or a different and likely less populist Democrat". I would have expected Matt to recognize that the FTC would be completely gutted under Trump, and to make that point clearly.
I strongly disagree with Matt's comments regarding Biden, but still respect the writing he has done on the FTC and monopolies. Unfortunately, this latest post has left me with a bit of cognitive dissonance.
I strongly disagree with Matt's comments regarding Biden, but still respect the writing he has done on the FTC and monopolies. Unfortunately, this latest post has left me with a bit of cognitive dissonance.
No worries. His writing on monopolies still has value.
Citoyen européen Ray Hindle ✔️@Npars01 @JamesGleick Like the 'Officer Class' in Germany in 1933, the moneyed think they can handle him.
Old Man in the Shoe@rayhindle @Npars01 @JamesGleick
Time to remind them that they, in fact, could not.
https://www.salon.com/2022/09/20/narcissistic-get-us-into-longer-wars-according-to-study/
https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/donald-trump-and-erik-princes-privatization-of-war
The moneyed know that a Trump presidency ensures a profitable war that distracts from domestic issues.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-only-believes-in-wars-for-profit
Ditto Trump's penchant for stock market manipulation.
Trump's bargains with his wealthy supporters is always based on making someone richer, just not the American people.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/the-mystery-of-the-trump-chaos-trades
https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/07/14/trumps-broken-promises-to-farmers/
🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 🐧 🥦@Methylcobalamin @JamesGleick The news media no longer makes money. At least not the Serious, Intellectual News Media.
Therefore it will be bought by rich people who have a political agenda to push.
I'd say we need a public alternative, but there is no way to make such an alternative neutral.
People might as well just listen to both sides' propaganda and learn to recognize the manipulation.
roque (ロク)I don't think so. The NYT had a long history of fair and hard hitting reporting before the right wing owner took over.
MSNBC aside news outlets not owned by right wingers tend to be fair.
@Methylcobalamin @roque @JamesGleick The other side sure doesn't see it that way, I read their stuff too. They consider most media Leftist by default.
The NYT could write good in depth research based articles when they wanted to, yes. They could also be very partisan. The NYT and the WAPO led the charge against Trump in 2016.
The Right has learned from Elon Musk that you can just buy the media you don't like. And unlike Twitter, newspapers are in the discount bin right now.
Was just about to post and saw this boosted so adding it here for visibility: Same with The Atlantic. I'm disappointed after being so anti-Trump they've come out so anti-Biden to the point of now diminishing VP Harris for the crime of being a person of color.
Kyle Taylor@JamesGleick Bloomberg and 538 (ABC) as well. In fact I have to dig to find a news outlet that is not openly hostile to Biden's candidacy at this point. Even NPR appears to be focused on Biden's age (though they are less horse-betting about it than other news outlets). It looks like the donor class is in flux. Where the money goes, the news follows.
@JamesGleick
I think they've become a tabloid, more interested in splashy headlines than actual journalism.
I think they've become a tabloid, more interested in splashy headlines than actual journalism.
Supportive Tree-based lifeform@JamesGleick They did a lot of work to start the Iraq war, give them some credit for past achievements.
Stoneface Vimes@JamesGleick I think someone should be taking a deep look at any democrats pushing the Biden step aside line. Particularly those who started it. What are their motives and connections.
@capnthommo @JamesGleick Follow the $$$
@otownKim @JamesGleick yes. And I'm ready to guess what direction it leads.
Philip Kreißel@JamesGleick They are not Pro Trump. They just think another candidate would be better suited to beat him. They are not alone in that assessment.
Doreen32128 ready to rumble!
Bram Moreinis@JamesGleick @Greengordon Nobody seems to be pointing this out re:differential unfitness coverage, so: the mental unfitness of a sitting president is always newsworthy. The (insert quality) fitness of a candidate is newsworthy to potential voters. Potential TCF voters know and accept his brand of unfitness—so not newsworthy, does not change the race. But many potential Biden voters do not know or accept his unfitness, so it is newsworthy and race-changing.
faberfedor@JamesGleick Bull. They shilled for Trump last time and they're doing it again.
Mass media being the "enemy of the people" isn't that far from the truth, just not in the way it was originally meant.
Anne Ominous@JamesGleick it's like everyone forgot about the NYT crusade against hillary's emails.
this has been going on for over a decade, folks. the NYT does the bidding of the GOP. they are part of the GOP. they are an arm of the GOP.
@JamesGleick follow the money
John Brophy@JamesGleick I'm starting to think Biden is left wing after all. Why else are the wealthy knives out?
Steve Hersey@JamesGleick
Anyone who is more outraged by something Joe Biden does than by just about anything Donald Trump does is not to be trusted or relied on.
Anyone who is more outraged by something Joe Biden does than by just about anything Donald Trump does is not to be trusted or relied on.
Platypusman@JamesGleick The owners of NYT will make more money in a second Trump term than in a second Biden term. Biden is boring. It’s only about the money.
He is outing the DINOs.
Geoff Berner@JamesGleick exactly. Now explain the path to victory for a classic machine Democrat, without the nytimes. He's finished.
@JamesGleick The NYT's previous nakedly partisan political crusade was against Donald Trump. You must have noticed that in 2016 and 2020 and most of the time in between.
It's starting to look like the plan is Michelle Obama, to give Barack a third (fourth?) term.
Yes there has been a collective decision to flush Biden.
I don't see these calls by quisling Democrats as true calls to push out Biden. They know it's political suicide.
Rather, they see the debate as a moment of manufactured crisis available for exploitation by opportunists.
You'll hear of back room deals being negotiated to buy a restoration of a fake unanimity in the coming days. Favors & markers are being exchanged as we speak.
Just as Pence bought funding for his presidential bid from the GOP's fascist megadonors by ...
1/2
2/2
...remaining silent about Jan 6, Mark Warner is using the chance to buy his future bid for the presidency from the DNC.
The question is what Mark Warner and his megadonors will settle for to placate them.
Mark Warner is announcing that he's open for bidding, just like Kirsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.
Some fossil fuel company or pharmaceutical behemoth is preparing offers in exchange for funding.
@Npars01 @JamesGleick I'm not a quisling, thank you very much. You can't win the presidency by re running Weekend at Bernie's.