The Press Keeps Getting It Wrong: The Democrats Are NOT Divided | Talking Points Memo

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1390394

O/T still waiting for the savior to return and save the world

Woman at Trump rally today says her whole family has “turned liberal” and they hate Trump. Then breaks down crying and says, “I have complete faith that this man is going to basically save the world. Not just us, everyone.” pic.twitter.com/Z5g0YXC54m

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 9, 2021
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The methamphetamine in Iowa must be of top-notch quality!

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Some folks continue to blow out candles and curse the light.

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Not divided? Ask Manchin or Sinema
In the Senate presently it takes just one Democrat to screw things up for the other 49. That is still division. Yes it’s a small slice but it is still significant.

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I’ve said it before, but lots of doubters, the closer the investigations get to T****, the closer he gets to announcing his candidacy. And the more he ramps up the "true believers:

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The voters in NC and ME made this call…and there are those who lay the blame on that with the candidates.

I have thought long and hard about people (adults) who consistently vote against their best interests…and, aside from citing the reasons we all know why this happens, would like to offer one other factor:

This is a rich country, far more comfortable, economically, than most. That gives GOP voters the cushion to accept their own suffering, for the thrills of voting Republican.

Tribalism is a turn-on.

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Of course. That was the point of the whole story.

As far as the press “getting it wrong” headline, that implies that the press has any interest in getting it right. What they’ve done is create a narrative.

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It also helps that playing the trodden-upon, long-suffering “victim” is a solid part of right wing orthodoxy, too.

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I would not allow the Beltway Boys to frame this.

This is the Information Age. Use the tools of political expression. I’m more frustrated with us than the other side.

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This. :100:

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I would say the press in many cases, depending on the company’s political leanings the reporter works for, reports at a shallow level. But there are some who think before they write.

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We even have a couple of terms for them.

“Freelance”, “Unemployed”.

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An additional element is that, in most cases, the Dems save the Repub voters from themselves. So the Repub Congresscritters can run and vote on their “principles” safe in the knowledge that they won’t have to live with the conditions they support.

The abolition of abortion rights will be a small test of what happens when they actually get what they say they want. Judging from Texas, they’re not very happy with it.

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But the alleged division keeps people clicking on the news articles. There’s money in pushing all sorts of myths and conspiracy theories. Truth doesn’t generate as much revenue.

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It’s what’s led to Biden’s plummeting approval ratings.

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Extended adolescence goes with tribalism. Think Middle School perspectives.

I have flown home from many a nation, saying “Bye” to folks wondering how I deserved my economic good fortune.

With that hand to play, no wonder we have squandered mountains of advantages.

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he has to do all he can to keep his cult stirred up…it keeps the money flowing in to him.

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There are a number of things that have permitted US citizens to be as insular and selfish as they are showing themselves to be, starting with the fact that we are a nation of people that self-selected to kick over the bar stools, stomp off and flout the rules in their countries of birth and do it their own way in a new country with few boundaries and lots of space to be as ugly as you wanna be.

Europe has had too many wars to count, and their people understand on a personal level the costs of war. (An uncle of mine explained that, in his mind, the utility of the EU was having a governmental structure that enables the resolution of disputes between member countries without resorting to war.)

Also, the people in largely urban countries (Europe and Asia) have to learn to coexist (and that means giving up some rights) in ways that largely rural areas don’t have to.

All of this makes for an unruly populace that lacks the understanding that we are all in it together and if we don’t work together, the malefactors of great wealth, as FDR called them, will call the shots and scoop up all the quarters.

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“Messaging” and “The Media” are two separate items.

The former is our vehicle to put forth our case as Democrats
The latter is the Fourth Estate, which we are not operating but, rather, interfacing with

Whatever characteristics that latter institution has, we had better use the former learn how to do that interfacing to our advantage, rather than just complaining about that ALONE, without fighting back.

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