On February 8, Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report describing President Joe Biden as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and “diminished faculties.” Although Hur concluded that criminal charges against Biden for mishandling classified information were not warranted, his assessment of Biden's mental state prompted a media firestorm.
I too wondered about the big media and that report. I love the New York Times and the Washington Post ( the Wall Street Journal is loosing its way) BUT when I read their coverage I ( same age as President Biden by two days) said to myself WTF . I think CONFIRMATION BIAS plays an enormous role in that coverage. Selling papers does too. Here is something to remember, there is chronological age and there is biological age. WE ARE NOT ALL SUFFERING FROM SEVERE MEMORY LOSS. In fact look at Trump. Probably extremely physically unhealthy. His memory is (despite his assertion to the contrary) very faulty. And by the way in my experience many many 60 and 50 year olds have shit memories. All that screen ogling and social media noise has turned their minds into cream cheese. All presidents are surrounded by advisors and experts of many kinds. Good presidents learn from those around them. Trump , like many in the tech world , thinks he knows everything. If age is a major issue then they must run those types stories for BOTH candidates. Finally, since both candidates are OLD then morality, decency, and competence should be the focus.
As an 81 year old whose physician declares is “10-15 years younger than her chronological age”, I am coming to the conclusion that these newspapers WANT Trump reelected. Maybe their management looks forward to being state-controlled, highly paid plutocrats. We should be forcing them to explain their obvious bias.
Exactly, this issue should absolutely be raised, are they already being bribed? Trump is more a mob boss at this point than a presidential candidate and yet media pretends otherwise.
I say we should raise a public outcry and force them to respond. If they want credibility, it’s time they earned it. Maybe we make the suggestion to our senators that they call a hearing? Which committee oversees media disinformation?
Actually Abbie...I think they look forward to the chaos and totalitarian hate filled world that a trump election would bring. It sells better than decency, morality and compassion.
You may be right. Who was the exec who said Trump is terrible but he’s good for ratings? Of course it’s ultimately stupid, because in the totalitarian world, there are no competitive ratings.
On the other hand, in the totalitarian world, there is a need for state run media that follows orders creatively. A cushy gig for a plutocrat. I wonder how much money the head of Pravda makes? With no need to sell advertising, or the other headaches of a free press? Must be tempting.
I suspect that Biden, a life-long Establishment minion, is being groomed to throw the election to Trump. After Biden gets the nomination, the news media will start saying that Biden's brain has turned into mashed potatoes, and he can't debate his way out of a paper bag.
Here's a quote from their future debate:
Trump: Nikki Haley is the Queen of England.
Biden: No, you mean Nancy Pelosi. I should know, I talked to her last month in the North Wing.
Trump: The White House doesn't have a North Wing, I used to live there.
The NYT is trash, clinging to clicks and eyeballs and their financial pages. WAPO is owned by Jeff BOZO (amazon), and WSJ is owned by Murdoch. So it’s pretty obvious who they are protecting, and it isn’t us.
Perhaps these papers need some ground rules, especially when reporting on politicians in high places. The retraction/‘Oh, we were wrong article should appear in the same position in the paper as the original misleading article. Then I’d have more trust in anything they print. And, too many ‘opinion’ pages litter these papers as well. We all have opinions and are entitled to them but that doesn’t legitimize their content.
As Robert Reich (I think) said, Biden is aging, Trump is dementing. The Post and Times should be published Trump's word salads VERBATIM, at length. And then get someone to talk about how HIS "memory" and "cognition" are that of a man substantially older than Biden in terms of functioning.
Yep. Almost 80 here. I may forget a word or two for a moment--so many to choose from--but the stuff that matters for ongoing navigation of life. Nope, memory is just fine.
I hate to cite Bill Cosby now, but a long time ago he had a skit where his solution to forgetting why you went into the kitchen was to whup your butt so the memory hit your head. This was a skit on....turning FORTY.
67 here. I forget what I had for breakfast, but I speak and write in complete sentences with dependent clauses and can hand-code web pages. I also am intelligent enough to know when to defer to people with more expertise than I have on a topic--as Biden does. Trump doesn't read and multi-syllable words are beyond his capability.
Watched the lengthy Steven Colbert interview with Bernie Sanders (I can record and watch later) in which he pointedly declares that corporate greed is destroying our country. Steven's humor helped the points sing with resonance, especially regarding Senator Sinema...would Bernie miss her(?).
A female commentator on my local channel 9 [Wausau, WI] managed to mention Biden's faulty memory 6 times in a 3 minute segment, so yes, Mr. Hur, who, let's not forget, is a Trump appointee, was somehow chosen by Merrick Garland.
I cannot understand this attitude of the AG: He knew that Trump had chosen Hur, but he didn't think that might be a problem to have HIM issue a report on President Biden, who is Trump's opponent in the presidential race? How could he NOT see the conflict of interest in Robert Hur? The divided loyalty?
There might have been a less biased person. For this report, Mr. Hur was the employee. Merrick Garland did read the report before letting it out the door. why did he allow it? Garland allowed Hur to "pull a Comey":
Troubling also is the fact that Mr. Hur resigned the day before his testimony: That put him out of the reach of the DOJ so he could continue the calumny in public and not be bound by the ethics of the DOJ., that he is not allowed to editorialize, which he did.
Finally, because Hur and his report were the center piece, we couldn't expect to have Trump treated the same way, but newspapers all over the country should be allowed to point out that Mr. Trump, in his testimony, said over 35 times that he : didn't remember, didn't recall etc. Over 35 times!
Garland worked as a moderator for The Federalist Society.
That tells me all I need to know. He waited to year 3 before he got anyone after Trump ie Jack Smith and after NY and Georgia already had people getting ready to indict Trump. Look how fast Biden"s report came out.
Look how slow the documents case has proceeded against Trump. Look how fast that Airmen was charged and convicted for leaking documents. Then there's Reality Winner.
Garland should've been removed after year one in my humble opinion.
I totally agree. And he should never have picked Hur, of all people to investigate Joe Biden. Hur was nominated by Trump and then chosen by Garland to investigate Trump's enemy. Why?
Garland has proven himself to be a weak, cowardly, not very smart person. It’s surprising to me that Obama nominated him for the Supreme Court. I’m glad he was rejected, but not glad about the consequences.
Hur must have forgotten that he credited our president for having near photographic recall. They (democrats) took it to him in that hearing and Stallworth's video montage was brilliant.
Of course the RW'z are trying to claim the hearing was a victory for their dubious and delusional side. Blaze Media is touting it and The RedState is shouting it.
More of that Comer, Jordon, Greene, Vance, Gates, Mace, Stefanick,Tuberville, Boebert, et-al style-loser energy and abject stupidity, not to mention an extremely high level of incompetence, whether natural or manufactured.
I can't wait to see the WHOLE damned party crater like a meteorite in the desert.
Loved Rep Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)'s helpful balancing review of what Hur left out! Adam Schiff's pointed outrage was also very satisfying to witness....
To me, a vital part of the story is that Hur resigned from the Justice Department the night before his testimony and had his own counsel at the hearing. Something very fishy about that and for some reason, the media does not want to touch it.
Something real stinky about that narrowly publicized move. Now had it been Hunter Biden who resigned the night before, there'd be a firestorm visible to far-away galaxies.
I did not hear that, it's not being covered. Merrick Garland is the most dangerous AG we have had, he bends over backwards not to appear partisan and time after time hands Trump a get out of jail free card. It's insane. He should be fired. Whatever happened to the oath, defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Trump is a threat from within, Biden may not be able to get voters to save the country. Trump is abusing Justice system every day.
The corporate media is desperate to keep Trump and the MAGA Republicans in the game. The easiest way for them to avoid covering them honestly which would burn them to the ground with all but the hard core angry white rascist Christo-fascist base is to sully up Joe Biden. And Hur's report made that easy for them to do because it reinforced their narrative that Biden is a doddering old man.(translation, he might die and the black lady would become president, the horror!)
And they found themselves totally screwed by Joe's masterful delivery at the SOTU, followed up by Katie Britt's fundie baby lies, followed up by Hur's humiliation.
This will only slow their efforts, not stop them. But it will interesting to see what they do when Trump is convicted in Manhattan. And when it is revealed that his judgements are being bankrolled by the Saudis or the Russians.
Nothing is going to change in regards to the "mainstream media." They are permanently under-staffed now, and permanently neutered by a VERY successful 30+ year GOP effort branding of a "liberal media bias" (a myth if there ever was one). Couple all that with the aging, white male slant of editorial boards and that media companies are owned by massive companies with one singular mission, and, accurate and factual journalism is...rare, and rarely makes an impact. Not like the collective impact that 66 biaed stories on the Hur report have had, to name one example.
Not a single day goes by without Trump having increasing difficulty in getting a coherent thought together. He is cognitively a hot mess. There simply is zero comparison to be had, next to Biden.
No threats to cancel subscriptions, nor actual cancelations will make a difference. They might for a minute, the NYT might change a headline a day later, but that's a pyrhicc victory at best.
I wish there was another answer besides to look for and support places like Popular Information. Share articles like this one. To try not to engage when the click bait shows up in your feed. Find and follow journalists that do the work and can break a story - the guy who destroyed the GOP SOTU response thanks to his investigating is a great example.
All great observations and sadly, all are more than merely true. How do we get out of this man-made-morass? All we can do is what we can to the best of our abilities is how it seems to me.
Sharing real information has to help and supporting real journalism WILL make a difference.
Thanks, Judd for once again demonstrating what journalism is supposed to be. I am not at all surprised by the utter failure of the MSM to accurately report the story and to provide a proper perspective, as i have been tracking their failures on climate change and environmental problems for years.
What struck the most was the bar chart showing that the so called "liberal" NYT and WaPo were much more biased than Murdock's avowed right wing WSJ. Bothsidism on steroids.
I lost my daughter in 2018 and sometimes I still can’t believe she gone and have to take a moment to relive the timeline. I’m in my 50s. Screw the folks trying to make political hay out from a bereaved parent. They should go pound sand.
The media keeps making a big deal about the president fumbling the year of his son’s death. As someone who suffered a similar tragedy, I can tell you every minute detail about the day, where I was when I found out, my feelings, everything….but if you asked me the year, I’d probably have to stop and think, and I’m about 20 years younger than the president. They should all be so lucky as to never have to experience such a tragedy.
NPR Morning Edition also was horrible. Prior to the Congressional testimony Tamara Keith provided her highlights from reading the transcript and was fairly accurate in describing Biden's memory as photographic, clear on many events from years ago, etc. But she did add the piece about forgetting the year his son died and what year he stopped being VP. (As a psychologist it's horrifying that any journalist, DOJ official or anyone not a psychologist is opining on this, recalling the year of the deat of a loved one is NOT easy or diagnostic). The host A Martinez then said, so I guess Hur was right to say he has a very bad memory. And that was that. One wonders why national media orgs would want an autocrat - they won't survive. What's the upside to normalizing Trump and bashing Biden. It's not going to go well for them either...We need a national reeducation campaign bc Fox, Newsmax, OAN and now NY Times, Politico, the rest - they just cannot seem to cover Biden honestly and Trump gets normalized at every turn
I wonder why the fact that Donald Trump replied I don’t remember (or words to that effect) over 20 and 30 times respectively in two depositions recently.
We should not forget that Hur’s assessment of Biden’s memory was part of his justification for exercising prosecutorial discretion NOT to prosecute Biden. The alternative might have been to charge him so that there would be no question that he and Trump are being treated differently. But the reference to his memory was unnecessary in light of the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to meet the “reasonable doubt” standard. If the likelihood of a defendant’s claiming not to remember was relevant, Trump shouldn’t have been charged, either. How many depositions has he give in which he claimed not to remember things?
Isn't it clear by now that media are guided by money alone? The 4th Estate isn't a free press, it's a me press. As in mine to mine for money and play-along power. White-glove fascist oligarchs still think they can use and lose Trump. They're the worst fools.
"White-glove fascist oligarchs still think they can use and lose Trump. They're the worst fools."
And once the beast has been unleashed, you'll hear a chorus of "I didn't know that <fill in the blank> and they will be helpless to stop their Frankenstein-like, Rube Goldberg creation.
Gee, I forgot the date of my marriage after about a decade. I forgot the day of my mother's death, etc etc. All were "important" days of my life, the exact date is unimportant to me...although I do remember my mother's birthday (month / day but not the year.
I have always struggled with dates, and only know the birthdays of my immediate family and a few of my closest friends. The only reason I remember my wedding anniversary is because the date was 7/7/7, otherwise it would be “summer, I think?”
I too wondered about the big media and that report. I love the New York Times and the Washington Post ( the Wall Street Journal is loosing its way) BUT when I read their coverage I ( same age as President Biden by two days) said to myself WTF . I think CONFIRMATION BIAS plays an enormous role in that coverage. Selling papers does too. Here is something to remember, there is chronological age and there is biological age. WE ARE NOT ALL SUFFERING FROM SEVERE MEMORY LOSS. In fact look at Trump. Probably extremely physically unhealthy. His memory is (despite his assertion to the contrary) very faulty. And by the way in my experience many many 60 and 50 year olds have shit memories. All that screen ogling and social media noise has turned their minds into cream cheese. All presidents are surrounded by advisors and experts of many kinds. Good presidents learn from those around them. Trump , like many in the tech world , thinks he knows everything. If age is a major issue then they must run those types stories for BOTH candidates. Finally, since both candidates are OLD then morality, decency, and competence should be the focus.
As an 81 year old whose physician declares is “10-15 years younger than her chronological age”, I am coming to the conclusion that these newspapers WANT Trump reelected. Maybe their management looks forward to being state-controlled, highly paid plutocrats. We should be forcing them to explain their obvious bias.
Exactly, this issue should absolutely be raised, are they already being bribed? Trump is more a mob boss at this point than a presidential candidate and yet media pretends otherwise.
I say we should raise a public outcry and force them to respond. If they want credibility, it’s time they earned it. Maybe we make the suggestion to our senators that they call a hearing? Which committee oversees media disinformation?
Go read Jeff Tiedrich and Jay Kuo’s substacks for more info on how badly the press is handling everything this election.
Thanks, Kate I will check them out!
I think you will enjoy them! Jeff uses a LOT of salty language, just FYI, but he is also hilarious!
Actually Abbie...I think they look forward to the chaos and totalitarian hate filled world that a trump election would bring. It sells better than decency, morality and compassion.
You may be right. Who was the exec who said Trump is terrible but he’s good for ratings? Of course it’s ultimately stupid, because in the totalitarian world, there are no competitive ratings.
On the other hand, in the totalitarian world, there is a need for state run media that follows orders creatively. A cushy gig for a plutocrat. I wonder how much money the head of Pravda makes? With no need to sell advertising, or the other headaches of a free press? Must be tempting.
I fear you may be right. Who was the executive who said Trump is awful but he’s good for ratings?
I suspect that Biden, a life-long Establishment minion, is being groomed to throw the election to Trump. After Biden gets the nomination, the news media will start saying that Biden's brain has turned into mashed potatoes, and he can't debate his way out of a paper bag.
Here's a quote from their future debate:
Trump: Nikki Haley is the Queen of England.
Biden: No, you mean Nancy Pelosi. I should know, I talked to her last month in the North Wing.
Trump: The White House doesn't have a North Wing, I used to live there.
Biden: Yes you did, you loser.
70+ and I can not seem to recall which of the three I will forget to renew.😉
The NYT is trash, clinging to clicks and eyeballs and their financial pages. WAPO is owned by Jeff BOZO (amazon), and WSJ is owned by Murdoch. So it’s pretty obvious who they are protecting, and it isn’t us.
Spot on George.
Especially this: "And by the way in my experience many many 60 and 50 year olds have shit memories."
Perhaps these papers need some ground rules, especially when reporting on politicians in high places. The retraction/‘Oh, we were wrong article should appear in the same position in the paper as the original misleading article. Then I’d have more trust in anything they print. And, too many ‘opinion’ pages litter these papers as well. We all have opinions and are entitled to them but that doesn’t legitimize their content.
As Robert Reich (I think) said, Biden is aging, Trump is dementing. The Post and Times should be published Trump's word salads VERBATIM, at length. And then get someone to talk about how HIS "memory" and "cognition" are that of a man substantially older than Biden in terms of functioning.
Yep. Almost 80 here. I may forget a word or two for a moment--so many to choose from--but the stuff that matters for ongoing navigation of life. Nope, memory is just fine.
I hate to cite Bill Cosby now, but a long time ago he had a skit where his solution to forgetting why you went into the kitchen was to whup your butt so the memory hit your head. This was a skit on....turning FORTY.
67 here. I forget what I had for breakfast, but I speak and write in complete sentences with dependent clauses and can hand-code web pages. I also am intelligent enough to know when to defer to people with more expertise than I have on a topic--as Biden does. Trump doesn't read and multi-syllable words are beyond his capability.
exactly
The MSM mostly stinks and mostly stinks of billionaire and big corporate ownership.
The GOP stinks of the same influence.
The Attorney General and DOJ stink of the same influence. The Supreme Court of the US stinks of the same and the list goes on.
I will say the Dems who quizzed Hur did an awesome job. He wasn't nearly as cocky when he left the building. The GOP came across as Buffoons.
Again, little MSM coverage to the masses covered what really happened.
Good job, Judd and company
Watched the lengthy Steven Colbert interview with Bernie Sanders (I can record and watch later) in which he pointedly declares that corporate greed is destroying our country. Steven's humor helped the points sing with resonance, especially regarding Senator Sinema...would Bernie miss her(?).
You might want to give Sarah Kenzdior's book They Knew a read
Thanks, apparently she's a valuable source.
Thanks for the tip Rickey. I'm going to check it out.
I follow her on X. Jennifer Cohn, Seth Abramson,
Bucks County Beacon, plenty of people shout the same about MSM. Unfortunately MSM control what the majority read or listen to.
Hur was cut down to small sized bitelets. It was magnificent!
A female commentator on my local channel 9 [Wausau, WI] managed to mention Biden's faulty memory 6 times in a 3 minute segment, so yes, Mr. Hur, who, let's not forget, is a Trump appointee, was somehow chosen by Merrick Garland.
I cannot understand this attitude of the AG: He knew that Trump had chosen Hur, but he didn't think that might be a problem to have HIM issue a report on President Biden, who is Trump's opponent in the presidential race? How could he NOT see the conflict of interest in Robert Hur? The divided loyalty?
There might have been a less biased person. For this report, Mr. Hur was the employee. Merrick Garland did read the report before letting it out the door. why did he allow it? Garland allowed Hur to "pull a Comey":
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/15/white-house-doj-biden-report-00141729
Troubling also is the fact that Mr. Hur resigned the day before his testimony: That put him out of the reach of the DOJ so he could continue the calumny in public and not be bound by the ethics of the DOJ., that he is not allowed to editorialize, which he did.
Finally, because Hur and his report were the center piece, we couldn't expect to have Trump treated the same way, but newspapers all over the country should be allowed to point out that Mr. Trump, in his testimony, said over 35 times that he : didn't remember, didn't recall etc. Over 35 times!
Garland worked as a moderator for The Federalist Society.
That tells me all I need to know. He waited to year 3 before he got anyone after Trump ie Jack Smith and after NY and Georgia already had people getting ready to indict Trump. Look how fast Biden"s report came out.
Look how slow the documents case has proceeded against Trump. Look how fast that Airmen was charged and convicted for leaking documents. Then there's Reality Winner.
Garland should've been removed after year one in my humble opinion.
I totally agree. And he should never have picked Hur, of all people to investigate Joe Biden. Hur was nominated by Trump and then chosen by Garland to investigate Trump's enemy. Why?
Garland has proven himself to be a weak, cowardly, not very smart person. It’s surprising to me that Obama nominated him for the Supreme Court. I’m glad he was rejected, but not glad about the consequences.
Hur must have forgotten that he credited our president for having near photographic recall. They (democrats) took it to him in that hearing and Stallworth's video montage was brilliant.
Of course the RW'z are trying to claim the hearing was a victory for their dubious and delusional side. Blaze Media is touting it and The RedState is shouting it.
More of that Comer, Jordon, Greene, Vance, Gates, Mace, Stefanick,Tuberville, Boebert, et-al style-loser energy and abject stupidity, not to mention an extremely high level of incompetence, whether natural or manufactured.
I can't wait to see the WHOLE damned party crater like a meteorite in the desert.
Loved Rep Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)'s helpful balancing review of what Hur left out! Adam Schiff's pointed outrage was also very satisfying to witness....
The Democrats in Congress did an excellent job but how many Americans/voters saw that??
Yes, yes and yes!
Adam you are so right.
To me, a vital part of the story is that Hur resigned from the Justice Department the night before his testimony and had his own counsel at the hearing. Something very fishy about that and for some reason, the media does not want to touch it.
Yes, yes and yes!
Something real stinky about that narrowly publicized move. Now had it been Hunter Biden who resigned the night before, there'd be a firestorm visible to far-away galaxies.
I did not hear that, it's not being covered. Merrick Garland is the most dangerous AG we have had, he bends over backwards not to appear partisan and time after time hands Trump a get out of jail free card. It's insane. He should be fired. Whatever happened to the oath, defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Trump is a threat from within, Biden may not be able to get voters to save the country. Trump is abusing Justice system every day.
I did not know this! Thanks.
Must be a book offering on the table.
Hatchet Man would be a good title
The corporate media is desperate to keep Trump and the MAGA Republicans in the game. The easiest way for them to avoid covering them honestly which would burn them to the ground with all but the hard core angry white rascist Christo-fascist base is to sully up Joe Biden. And Hur's report made that easy for them to do because it reinforced their narrative that Biden is a doddering old man.(translation, he might die and the black lady would become president, the horror!)
And they found themselves totally screwed by Joe's masterful delivery at the SOTU, followed up by Katie Britt's fundie baby lies, followed up by Hur's humiliation.
This will only slow their efforts, not stop them. But it will interesting to see what they do when Trump is convicted in Manhattan. And when it is revealed that his judgements are being bankrolled by the Saudis or the Russians.
They won't care. "Vote Republican; it's easier than thinking."
We know that the MAGAs are incapable of critical thinking, sadly, so is the corporate media.
Well, with the corporate media, my belief is that their critical faculties are overwritten when enough dollars are in the offing.
Who was it? Les Moonves maybe, who said "Trump may be bad for the country, but he's great for our bottom line".
I believe that you are correct sir!
To wit: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/leslie-moonves-donald-trump-may-871464/
Yup, it was Les!
That is a tag-line for their infomercials!
Now, that was easy.
Sounds like Stefanik’s district here.
They do what their ownership tells them to do.
Nothing is going to change in regards to the "mainstream media." They are permanently under-staffed now, and permanently neutered by a VERY successful 30+ year GOP effort branding of a "liberal media bias" (a myth if there ever was one). Couple all that with the aging, white male slant of editorial boards and that media companies are owned by massive companies with one singular mission, and, accurate and factual journalism is...rare, and rarely makes an impact. Not like the collective impact that 66 biaed stories on the Hur report have had, to name one example.
Not a single day goes by without Trump having increasing difficulty in getting a coherent thought together. He is cognitively a hot mess. There simply is zero comparison to be had, next to Biden.
No threats to cancel subscriptions, nor actual cancelations will make a difference. They might for a minute, the NYT might change a headline a day later, but that's a pyrhicc victory at best.
I wish there was another answer besides to look for and support places like Popular Information. Share articles like this one. To try not to engage when the click bait shows up in your feed. Find and follow journalists that do the work and can break a story - the guy who destroyed the GOP SOTU response thanks to his investigating is a great example.
All great observations and sadly, all are more than merely true. How do we get out of this man-made-morass? All we can do is what we can to the best of our abilities is how it seems to me.
Sharing real information has to help and supporting real journalism WILL make a difference.
Thanks, Judd for once again demonstrating what journalism is supposed to be. I am not at all surprised by the utter failure of the MSM to accurately report the story and to provide a proper perspective, as i have been tracking their failures on climate change and environmental problems for years.
What struck the most was the bar chart showing that the so called "liberal" NYT and WaPo were much more biased than Murdock's avowed right wing WSJ. Bothsidism on steroids.
The only reason I keep my Wapo subscription is they still employ a few great writers that I do not wish to divorce myself from.
Nevertheless, your points are well made.
I lost my daughter in 2018 and sometimes I still can’t believe she gone and have to take a moment to relive the timeline. I’m in my 50s. Screw the folks trying to make political hay out from a bereaved parent. They should go pound sand.
So sorry for your devastating loss.
So sorry! I've had too many friends go through that agony. Your love for her and hers for you will never die.
At least Hur has been loudly informed that he was way off base.
The media keeps making a big deal about the president fumbling the year of his son’s death. As someone who suffered a similar tragedy, I can tell you every minute detail about the day, where I was when I found out, my feelings, everything….but if you asked me the year, I’d probably have to stop and think, and I’m about 20 years younger than the president. They should all be so lucky as to never have to experience such a tragedy.
NPR Morning Edition also was horrible. Prior to the Congressional testimony Tamara Keith provided her highlights from reading the transcript and was fairly accurate in describing Biden's memory as photographic, clear on many events from years ago, etc. But she did add the piece about forgetting the year his son died and what year he stopped being VP. (As a psychologist it's horrifying that any journalist, DOJ official or anyone not a psychologist is opining on this, recalling the year of the deat of a loved one is NOT easy or diagnostic). The host A Martinez then said, so I guess Hur was right to say he has a very bad memory. And that was that. One wonders why national media orgs would want an autocrat - they won't survive. What's the upside to normalizing Trump and bashing Biden. It's not going to go well for them either...We need a national reeducation campaign bc Fox, Newsmax, OAN and now NY Times, Politico, the rest - they just cannot seem to cover Biden honestly and Trump gets normalized at every turn
I wonder why the fact that Donald Trump replied I don’t remember (or words to that effect) over 20 and 30 times respectively in two depositions recently.
We should not forget that Hur’s assessment of Biden’s memory was part of his justification for exercising prosecutorial discretion NOT to prosecute Biden. The alternative might have been to charge him so that there would be no question that he and Trump are being treated differently. But the reference to his memory was unnecessary in light of the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to meet the “reasonable doubt” standard. If the likelihood of a defendant’s claiming not to remember was relevant, Trump shouldn’t have been charged, either. How many depositions has he give in which he claimed not to remember things?
Isn't it clear by now that media are guided by money alone? The 4th Estate isn't a free press, it's a me press. As in mine to mine for money and play-along power. White-glove fascist oligarchs still think they can use and lose Trump. They're the worst fools.
"White-glove fascist oligarchs still think they can use and lose Trump. They're the worst fools."
And once the beast has been unleashed, you'll hear a chorus of "I didn't know that <fill in the blank> and they will be helpless to stop their Frankenstein-like, Rube Goldberg creation.
One again, another homerun.
Gee, I forgot the date of my marriage after about a decade. I forgot the day of my mother's death, etc etc. All were "important" days of my life, the exact date is unimportant to me...although I do remember my mother's birthday (month / day but not the year.
I have always struggled with dates, and only know the birthdays of my immediate family and a few of my closest friends. The only reason I remember my wedding anniversary is because the date was 7/7/7, otherwise it would be “summer, I think?”