“Trump paints grim picture of America in his Inaugural speech”
—-The New York Times today in its “Breaking News” section online.
This got so much ridicule on social media that I bet it’s been stealth edited away…let’s see..I was right! Now it says, “Taking office, Trump casts himself as a rescuer of a nation in disarray.”
Well as to that, since all polls indicate that a large majority of the country believes that the nation is in a mess on multiple fronts, it is fair to say that the nation is in fact in disarray. But no one who listened to Trump’s speech who doesn’t regard the fact that Trump is now President as grim could possibly call the speech grim. It was, to the contrary, optimistic, hopeful, triumphal, ambitious, and a traditional embrace of the promise of the United States of America, its past achievements and its enduring strength. Though far less eloquent or memorable for its rhetoric, the speech essentially repeated the themes of Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on a hill.”
What kind of listener would regard today’s speech as grim, or portraying a grim situation? That’s easy: someone who hates Donald Trump and who is in denial about the problems Trump ticked off that he promised to solve. How can a speech that begins like this…
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success, a tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before”…
…be called “painting a grim picture”? Sounds pretty good to me! And later,
“From this moment on, America’s decline is over. Our liberties and our nation’s glorious destiny will no longer be denied, and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency, and loyalty of America’s government.”
That is only a “grim picture” to those who still, against all evidence,believe that the radical leftist policies of the last four years were competent, responsible, appropriate and represent the direction the country should move toward while rejecting its outdated values, archaic principles, racist culture and shameful history on the way.
The Times quote is as vivid example as one could want to prove why our current journalists are so biased and politicized they cannot accurately report what unfolds right before their eyes.
Ethics Alarms 
Twisting myself into a pretzel to be as kind to the NYT as possible (Not that they ever give the right the smallest benefit of the doubt), each part of the quoted section can be read as implying that thing were grim. They didn’t say the speech was grim.
According to the the Bad Orange Man (in case it’s unclear, this is mockery of THEM) we:
weren’t flourishing
weren’t the envy of other nations
were being taken advantage of
didn’t retain our own sovereignty
our justice system was corrupt and weaponized
we weren’t proud,prosperous, and free
They can’t help themselves. In their minds, we’re entering dystopia, GASP! A world not run by every crazy special interest group in the country. We’re not at the end of history after all. We’re back to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” No more pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion. Of course, things are grim. Good.
This is from this evening’s NYT news digest:
“Biden issued final-hour pardons to thwart Trump reprisals
Joe Biden left Washington today as a former president with a dismal approval rating and a complicated legacy. In his final hours in power, he used his pardon power to thwart potential political prosecutions by his successor.”
Nope. No bias there.
Such wildly transparent spin is excessive even by Times standards.
I heard that many responders in the NYT comments section disagreed with the original title, so doesn’t that mean that the NYT isn’t biased?
Asking for A Friend…
Actually, there were some laughs. Especially when he said the California billionaires on stage now “don’t have a home.” I’m starting a GoFundMe.
Yeah, I kind of agree. Some of those people don’t live in areas affected by the wildfires. And even it they did, while we feel sorry for their plight and awful for the losses and the death, it’s hard to sympathize with the rotten leadership Californians put in place. Those rotten leaders made a lot of rotten decisions, which has created horrible financial problems and exacerbated this latest disaster.
I get your sentiment.
Simply because I have fondness for Labrador Retrievers, fine rum and Schadenfreude (I love a good dopamine hit) I found myself pinging MSNBC numerous times today. Even during the Boston Bruins/San Jose Sharks game, which the Bruins should have won without showing up, except for the fact that it was a home game and they almost ended up losing anyway, lopsided final score notwithstanding.
There is nothing that fuels my Schadenfreude/Dopamine jones more than a a Republican win covered by MSNBC. Today did not disappoint; the post-acceptance-speech coverage started with a more-or-less monologue by a funereal Rachel Maddow. Not long after, you had pretty much the full slate of MSNBC talking heads – O’Donnel, Wallace, the detestable Joy Reid, pretty much the whole crew. You could see them all hoping against hope that today marked the turn – that their dudgeon would mean that their ratings would once again rise above those of that streaming service showing re-runs of The Munsters.
We are firmly into Julie Principle stuff here. NYT, MSNBC, the rest of ’em – they can’t help themselves. The “alleged talent” was put in place because that’s who they are. It’s all that they know how to do. Okay, fine. C’est la guerre. Hope they invested well during their brief moments in the sun; I don’t want to see anyone starve.
As for the cynical bastards that hired them, simply to fill a market niche? Hope they invested well, too. But given my regrettable addiction to Schadenfreude, it wouldn’t break my heart to learn that they did not, that their Fairfield County homes have been foreclosed upon, and that their trail-siders at Deer Valley burned down because their all-electric Range Rovers burst into flames because of a battery failure.
Hey, a guy can dream.
Hittin’ on all cylinders, there, AIM!
PWS