Ass Clown Special Award

Once again I feel the need to jump out of the regular schedule and thin the thundering herd of ass clowns by presenting a much-needed out-of-cycle award. It says a great deal about 2024 that we're only in February and I've already found it necessary to present two special awards. This bodes ill for the rest of a year we already have reason to fear.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, today we present an 

Ass Clown Special Award

to

The American News Media

The News Media has received our Ass Clown Award twice in the past: the Left-Cheek in November of 2016 and the Left-Cheek in June of 2017, and it has gone out of its way to earn today's crown. 

Let us begin by reviewing the text of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees our most fundamental freedoms (the emphasis is my own):

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Disclaimer: the First Amendment does not guarantee that all free speech is worth listening to, nor does it obligate the press to print accurate and truthful information. The Founders expected We the People to be smart enough to recognize BS when we hear it.

The right-wing news media is a lost cause ... outlets like Fox News, One America News Network, and Real America's Voice don't even pretend to present balanced coverage of social and political issues; they are a hermetically-sealed echo chamber that recognizes no other points of view. More liberal-leaning outlets like CNN, MSNBC, and NPR generally make an effort to balance their reporting, and tend to be far less shrill and strident in their reporting than their more conservative competitors. Nevertheless, in today's current environment, a balanced approach to news reporting and analysis is increasingly rare as media outlets across the spectrum focus on the hysterical in a desperate competition for viewership, clicks, and advertising revenue.

The ongoing brouhaha over President Biden's age is instructive. 

I think we can all agree that Mr Biden is elderly. So am I. But the focus on his age has totally overwhelmed reporting and analysis of his administration's successes and the actions it is trying to take to address the nation's pressing issues. The long-awaited report by Special Counsel Robert Hur on classified materials found in Mr Biden's properties found no criminality or nefarious intent on the President's part, but that fully justified conclusion - and how it differs from the behavior of Der Furor in a similar case - has been overshadowed by a focus on language in the report that, intentional or not*, made Mr Biden sound like a drooling, confused buffoon barely able to string words together**.

Other critical issues - illegal immigration, aid to Ukraine, the devastating war in Gaza, climate change, economic inequality, religious bigotry, and many others - have been starved of oxygen by a relentless focus on a issue that, while worthy of discussion and concern, is just one part of the news universe.

Interviewers ask simple, softball questions and avoid uncomfortable issues, probably in order to get reluctant targets to agree to interviews. Most "interviews" consist of a few gentle questions to tee up agonizingly long and and irrelevant answers (usually consisting of non-germane talking points), followed by a complete lack of follow-up to point out obvious lies, evasions, and distortions of the truth. Most interviewers are reluctant to interrupt the stream-of-consciousness replies to keep their interviewees focused on the questions actually asked, or to call out falsehoods.

A classic example of news media failures was the recent "interview" by Tucker Carlson of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin took complete control of the interview, dominated Carlson, and used the friendly, pushback-free opportunity to present a crazily revisionist history justifying his murderous war against Ukraine. Of course, Mr Carlson has no credibility as a journalist, even with his (former) employer, as noted by Judge Mary Kay Viskocyl's decision in which she wrote

"Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes."

Coverage of the admittedly-serious situation at the souther border is another example. Media figures routinely allow showboating members of Congress to accuse the administration of "refusing to enforce the law," but fail to ask the questions which would provide accuracy and context: what specific laws are not being enforced? Why? What previous court decisions may be limiting the government's ability to respond? Why has Congress not taken action to fix our admittedly-outdated laws governing immigration and amnesty? Why has Congress failed to provide resources to address the problem?

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

Freedom of the press isn't worth much when the press fails to do its job.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, this Ass Clown Special Award is presented to the American News Media, for its abject failure to do the critical job of ensuring we have a well-informed population.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* I suspect it was completely intentional.

** That would actually be Der Furor.