For years now, they have collectively ignored the continued stumbles of the most powerful man in the world, only to pounce on a Republican after two similar instances.
Let me start by being clear: Personally, I think Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is long past his sell-by date at a ripe 81 years old and were it up to me, he would be well into a placid retirement somewhere in his home state of Tennessee. Generally speaking, I understand the concerns expressed by many that the leadership class in the United States is far too old if not outright decrepit, even if I wouldn’t support some kind of formal age limit. This category includes Senators McConnell and Diane Feinstein, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, President Joe Biden, and others, potentially even including former President Donald Trump, though anyone that doubts his energy level need only watch a rally at least for now given things change quickly at advanced ages. If fitness in general is a concern, Senator John Fetterman would likely fall into this category given the man can barely put together a coherent statement after a debilitating stroke. At the same time, one would expect that anyone interested in basic objectivity or fairness would apply the same standard to all politicians regardless of political party. If the topic of elderly politicians who aren’t entirely with it concerns you, it should concern you in general, and not merely when it is politically convenient. Unfortunately, the mainstream media isn’t interested in anything resembling fairness and objectivity, but they are certainly interested in political convenience. Hence it is no surprise that CNN, which has studiously avoided anything and everything to do with President Joe Biden’s frequent mishaps, has suddenly devoted a huge amount of valuable home page real estate to Senator McConnell “freezing” at a recent event, when he lost his train of thought for an extended period and appeared otherwise confused. Yesterday, this included “McConnell seeks to reassure allies after health scares prompt new questions over his leadership position,” “What Dr. Gupta thinks about McConnell appearing to freeze,” “McConnell freezes during July 2023 press conference,” and an “analysis” entitled “What McConnell’s frozen moments say about our senior citizen politicians.” All of which prompts me to wonder, pardon my language, where the fuck they’ve been for the past three years? We have a President in office who “freezes” almost every time he speaks or appears in person, mangles even basic statements delivered by teleprompter, frequently appears lost, confused, and cannot perform basic tasks like shaking hands or walking off a stage, but apparently two instances of a Republican losing his train of thought, instances spread a month apart and not within the same freaking speech, trigger a deluge of content.
Stephen Collinson sets the stage in his “analysis,” making it clear where his political sympathies lie, resulting in one of the most shameless openings to an article in recent memory. “It was an excruciating moment of powerlessness for one of Washington’s most powerful men.” He continued, equally shameless, “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s words dried up and he froze, standing silent and staring straight ahead for around 30 painful seconds in the middle of a press conference Wednesday – the second time he had endured such an uncomfortable on-camera ordeal since July. It is not clear whether it has happened more times away from the public’s gaze.” He proceeded to note, “The 81-year-old Kentucky Republican was able to resume his remarks, haltingly answering a question on the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race, and later attended a fundraiser for a Senate candidate. But his misfortune immediately revived questions about his health and age – especially since he suffered a concussion in a fall earlier this year. His office insisted Wednesday that the veteran senator had simply been feeling ‘momentarily lightheaded.’” Mr. Collinson’s description is accurate and certainly newsworthy, we should all be concerned while wishing Senator McConnell the best, but it’s also worth putting put this sudden interest in the age and mental well-being of politicians in perspective. Mr. Collinson averages five articles per week on CNN.com and has for the past several years. He covers almost every topic, combining some news of the day with opinion, though he spends an inordinate amount of time focused on Donald Trump rather than the actual President in office as does CNN in general. I’ve been reading his column regularly since 2020, and not once, as in not a single time, ever, has he devoted multiple paragraphs to describing a single one of President Biden’s near infinite mishaps. These, apparently, do not exist in his mind, though it was only last week that the President appeared to fall asleep at an event honoring firefighters in Hawaii and this is far from the only thing he’s missed. The Independent recently reported on “Biden’s biggest gaffes: Muddling up wars, dozing off mid-event and a series of tumbles.” This included a moment in June when he referred to the war in Ukraine as the “Iraq War,” bizarrely closed out a speech on gun control by saying “God save the queen, man,” incorrectly referred to the United Kingdom Prime Minister as President, and fell flat on his face at the Air Force Academy graduation, all in a single month. (Also that same month, he said he planned to build a train across the Indian Ocean). In March, Fox News provided a similar report. “President Biden’s basket of blunders continued overflowing through February and early March with more speaking gaffes, numerous trips and falls and even an out-of-place laugh that landed him in hot water. These follow what turned out to be a rough January for Biden, in which he averaged just under a half a gaffe per workday as he attempted to shift attention away from his classified document scandal and focus on other issues facing the country.” None of this, apparently, was worth Mr. Collinson’s notice.
Moreover, it has also escaped Mr. Collinson that at least Senator McConnell gives regular press conferences, making himself available to the media in the traditional question and answer format without prepared list of reporters, note cards, or other aids, answering questions freely. President Biden, in contrast, delivers so few press conferences that the Washington Post was forced to write, “Biden no longer does press conferences. That’s not acceptable” back in May. At the time, the editorial board noted, “President Biden hasn’t dropped the microphone; he appears to have lost it. Mr. Biden is turning into a news media evader, and it’s harmful to his presidency and the nation. In the past 100 years, only Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan averaged fewer news conferences than Mr. Biden. (A news conference involves the president taking questions from multiple reporters; a one-on-one interview with a handpicked journalist doesn’t count.) So far in 2023, Mr. Biden has done zero solo news conferences.” The situation is so unusual, the President himself joked about it with reporters at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, saying, “In a lot of ways, this dinner sums up my first two years in office. I’ll talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions and cheerfully walk away.” Ironically, the Post editorial followed a mix up a few days earlier that perfectly illustrates just how far gone the President frighteningly is. On May 5, President Biden told reporters that he would be “holding a major press conference” that very afternoon. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and I’m doing a major press conference this afternoon, but I love y’all but I’d like to ask you to leave so we can get down to business.” The White House quickly corrected him, however, saying the President was “referring to a previously announced interview,” meaning he had no idea what he was doing later in the same day. He has not held a solo press conference since.
Perhaps even stranger, President Biden frequently speaks to the media armed with prepared notecards. These cards include a photo of the reporter, their organization, their areas of expertise, and in some cases have actually included the question the reporter planned to ask. In April, the conservative Voice of America, described it this way. “The White House and a newspaper are denying there was collusion this week when a reporter asked U.S. President Joe Biden a question very similar to what was written on a card Biden held while facing journalists in the White House Rose Garden.” The White House itself described this incredibly unusual state of affairs – a President who cannot call on a reporter on his own and appears to know the question in advance – merely as being “ mindful on who we pick and who we want to communicate out to,” according to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Mr. Collinson himself rationalized this at the time, writing “The secret of the presidential queue card,” and asking the burning question on everyone’s mind, “Is President Joe Biden following a script or is he just supremely prepared?” He began by describing the impetus for the article, “Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian’s question did turn out to be on a basically similar issue to the one predicted on Biden’s card – about an apparent conflict between US efforts to slow semiconductor manufacturing in China and the trading interests of its allies. But the query did not exactly match the one Biden was apparently expecting and the LA Times said in a statement that Subramanian did not submit her question to the press office in advance, though she had been in regular contact with White House aides seeking information for her reporting.” Let’s get this straight: The notecard contained a “basically similar” question and the reporter was in “regular contact” beforehand, but since the actual word choice when asking it was slightly different, there’s nothing to see here, merely that Biden is “supremely prepared” like a high school student with a cheat sheet. Apparently, the standard to establish actual collusion is that the reporter would have to adhere to the text like an actor the “To be or not to be” speech in Hamlet in order for this to rise to any kind of controversy. Of course, Mr. Collinson was certain to frame it this way, “That didn’t stop conservative media from trumpeting that a conspiracy was afoot between the president and the press, and that 80-year-old Biden was a puppet of his aides.” Ultimately, he dismisses this and other instances as “presidents meet multiple people every day and have endless meetings. Staff seek to avoid any possibility of embarrassing moments or the chance that the commander in chief might not know exactly what’s happening next – especially in public, televised encounters.” In other words, pay no attention to any of this, it’s totally and completely normal and only worth mentioning to defend an obviously fading President.
Whatever your opinion on President Biden, Senator McConnell, and older politicians in general, only one thing is certain: The media’s complete and utter shamelessness never ceases to amaze. They will collectively ignore the continued stumbles of the most powerful man in the world, only to pounce on a Republican after two similar instances. Shamelessness, in fact, barely begins to describe it, we need a new term other than simply corrupt and downright dangerous given the President’s power and importance despite his self-evident decline.
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 