Let’s stop blaming the media for (half of) the message

It is almost obligatory here to accuse the media, especially the New York Times, of bias against Biden and the Democrats, whether because they want a close race that will boost readership and clicks, or because their corporate owners think they will personally fare better under the GOP, or, as in the case of the NYT, out of spite at being ignored.

There is some truth in all of this. But we can also go too far in the other direction. And that’s what we’re doing right now: We’re accusing the media of reporting what they’re really seeing, which is Democrats’ panic over Biden’s debate performance and his ability to win and lead the country for the next four years.

This panic is not new, but it has been partly covered up by the same media outlets we accuse of reporting what we all see. The Biden on the debate stage last week was not the same one who delivered a forceful State of the Union address earlier this year. Mentally, he may still be fit, but physically, he has aged far more than the few calendar months between those two events.

Washington (not as biased as NYT): Biden’s aging appears to be accelerating and failures are described as more frequent

None of the Washington Post reporters said they had seen Biden as lost and confused as he was during the presidential debate against Donald Trump on June 27, when his faltering performance sent panic through the Democratic Party. They did not question his mental acuity, and several White House advisers who regularly interact with Biden said he continues to ask probing, detailed questions on complex policy issues and can recall facts from previous briefings in minute detail.

Still, Biden has slowed down considerably in recent months, according to 21 people, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic and share frank assessments.

I also find this part disturbing:

At the G7 summit in Italy last month, several European leaders were struck by Biden’s appearance and demeanor, according to four people who spoke directly with several leaders. The general impression among the leaders, these people said, was that while Biden appeared capable of handling the job today, they were concerned about how he would be able to serve another four-year term.

The leaders noted that Biden seemed more tired, frail and less lucid at times. Several said he was difficult to hear, prompting meeting participants to ask him to speak at times, according to one summit participant. The president also lost his train of thought at times, but he quickly returned to the topic, three of the people said.

Remember, these are the leaders of our allies and friends, those who see Trump for the threat he represents and who are terrified of what the world would become if Putin’s puppet were to return to power.

NBC News (not quite MSNBC, but close) also ran this report yesterday: Some Democrats Say Biden’s Debate Performance Wasn’t an Anomaly

(The) idea that last week The debate was an anomaly, which doesn’t match the impressions of some Democratic lawmakers who saw it up close. and leave with doubts about his ability to occupy this position.

Far from being an isolated incident, the debate revealed the same troubling traits — memory lapses, incoherence, blank stares — that these officials say they have noticed in Biden throughout his term.

“The country saw (in the debate) what those of us who have had personal interactions with him have all known for two and a half years,” said one senator, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s suitability.

We can’t keep blaming the media for reporting what people who worked with Biden tell them about the president’s health. Or for reporting what we see with our own eyes. I watched this entire debate with the same feeling I would get watching a plane crash in slow motion. I admire Biden greatly, worked for his election in 2020 and will do so again if he insists on running — but I didn’t want the man I saw on stage to run again. And I can’t blame the media for reporting what I saw.

We also can’t blame the media for reporting stories like this one — business leaders and pro-democracy activists send letter asking Biden to step down — because it happens to be true:

A prominent group of political donors, civic leaders and business executives founded to protect the institutions of American democracy sent a letter Friday morning to President Biden urging him to “build on his legacy” by ending his reelection bid. . . .

The letter was written by the Leadership Now Project, a group founded in 2018 in response to growing concerns about threats to democratic norms. It was shared with several White House advisers, said a person familiar with the project, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private communication.

I can and I blame the media for not reporting the other half of what I saw in that debate: Trump, who is physically in better shape (though not by much), but whose mental decline was obvious and increasing. He was worse in the latter part of the debate than he was at the beginning, becoming increasingly incoherent, ignoring questions (even when the moderators repeatedly asked him to answer), repeating the same lies and fantasies. I can and do blame CNN for the restrictions they placed on moderators not to fact-check the debaters, and I acknowledge that they did a poor job (although Dana Bash once chastised Trump for acting like a child, sounding very much like an exasperated mother). I especially blame the media for not, to this day, exposing Trump’s lies, his plans to become a dictator, his increasing mental decline, his general incompetence and unfitness for office.

The media should be blamed for giving Trump carte blanche (not as bad as SCROTUS, but close). But don’t blame them for reporting that more and more members of the Democratic (and Democratic) world have come to the conclusion that Biden can’t beat Trump and should let someone else do the job.