Weekend Onesie: The Big Disconnect

Weekend Onesie: The Big Disconnect

I have to say, you cannot imagine the difference in me, each day, Monday thru Thursday at 5:30 pm, as I prepare my evening meal.

You see, I've stopped watching the national news. I used to watch The NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt at 5:30 pm. I adored Mr. Holt. However, about a month and a half ago - February 8th, to be exact, well that was the straw that broke this camel's back. 

Wait... let me go back a bit. 

This all began back on June 8, 2021, when Lester Holt interviewed Kamala Harris. 

All through the orange ogre's reign of terror, I kept watching the news faithfully, though I couldn't quite understand why NBC News wasn't challenging the orange ogre's minions a bit more. NBC News pundits seemed to be treating the orange ogre's spawn and the garbage they were spewing with kid gloves. It upset me, but I chalked it up to NBC News taking the high road. These were people from the White House. They were to be treated with respect, no matter how outrageous the words that fell from their filthy, greedy, hateful mouths. NBC News was keeping their journalistic integrity intact. 

Why, even their coverage of the Jan 6th insurrection struck me as rather subdued.

Then Biden came into office and, of course, there was this huge mess to clean up. But NBC News seemed to change their tone quite a bit. Critical, would be putting it mildly. I had to keep checking to make sure Rupert Murdoch hadn't somehow gotten his bloody mitts on the network.

When Lester Holt interviewed Kamala Harris on June 8th, six months into the Biden presidency, I stood aghast. Mr. Holt was rude. Aggressively confrontational. He kept hammering away at her, asking why she hadn't physically visited the Mexican border recently. She kept trying to explain that she was working through diplomatic channels to see what could be done at the source of the refugee migration and that her physical presence on the border wouldn't be much more than a photo opportunity. In other words, she was doing her job instead of mindlessly creating soundbites and news footage. 

My mind clicked through the reasons for Mr. Holt's behavior. It couldn't be racism, so I landed on sexism and thought... shame on Mr. Holt. I thought quite a bit less of him.

I tweeted NBC News and Mr. Holt and put them on notice. (Because we can do that now.)

Fast forward to February 8th of this year - a year and a month into Biden's presidency - Lester Holt interviewed President Biden. He was rude. Dismissive. Confrontational. And... asking leading and misleading questions. This time? I was furious. The previous administration was served softball questions and only challenged in the meekest of terms. This assault on Biden was so apparent, even Biden called Mr. Holt out during the interview. This was yellow journalism in a hue deeper than I'd ever seen on NBC News.

And that was it. I was done. I tweeted NBC News and Lester Holt to let them know our relationship was over. And I haven't watched since. In fact, I even avoid the local news, if I can help it.

I immediately noticed that I was less likely to bark at The Ex. I had more patience with our dog, Hercules. House cleaning at The Boyfriends? I started to enjoy it. I felt lighter. I felt more focused. I felt more relaxed. 

Gone was the anxiety; the feeling that I was about to jump out of my skin. I now worry less. I don't react out of fear and calm myself with reason. I spend a lot more time in silence. 

I remember back in the days of the orange ogre, how the far right kept hammering away that there was something wrong with the media... and I would smirk and think, 'yeah, they're allowing that horrible man and his brood to destroy our country, unchecked.' The so-called 'lamestream' media rarely held their feet to the fire, rarely pointed out their fallacies, and never challenged them to answer a question they were clearly dodging. 

Well, now the shoe is on the other foot, and the shoe feels too tight, as if it shrunk somehow. You know, the way small town minds sometimes grow even smaller... and become petty. 

Pinch me.

We're just about to end the 1st quarter of the 2nd year of Biden's presidency and, going back to 2021, the term 'failed presidency' was coming out of the mouths of news pundits right and left - and not just the jokers who fill out suits on Fox News. 

So, I'm done with the network news media. There is something wrong there. 

They were deferential when a fascist, racist, sexist, would-be dictator was in office, for they feared they would be barred from covering the White House. And now that Biden is in the house? They're rude and confrontational. They don't celebrate wins - and there have been many. They don't acknowledge the mess that the orange ogre left in his wake - and it is, indeed, catastrophic in nature. Instead, they only seem to harp on those things that were going to be steep, uphill battles to begin with.

When it came to Covid-19 and each new variant, I recall members of the Biden administration being peppered with misleading questions from reporters who I used to trust... it went something like...

Reporter: "People are saying there aren't enough tests available. What is your administration doing about that?"

Official: "Well, as we just announced this morning, we've ordered millions of additional tests and will get them into the hands of people as soon as possible."

Reporter: "But why wasn't the Biden administration more proactive? Why aren't the tests already in the hands of the American people? Why are you so far behind the curve?"

Official: "Are you... are you asking me why I couldn't see into the future? I don't understand your question. I don't have a crystal ball..."

The Biden presidency entered the game in an atmosphere unlike any before it. The odds were so stacked against them getting anything done, thanks to the mess the previous administration had left and the general animosity running beneath the fabric of this nation. The Biden team was already down at the start of the game... and now the media seems to think it's their jobs to kick 'em and keep 'em there.

Well, I won't be party to it. 

See those blogs over on the right side of this blog post? 

Those are the people I now trust to distill the news and tell me the real story - the whole story. And they do. They find the good stuff, the terrible stuff... and tell it like it is. I trust them and their judgement way more than I do Mr. Holt and his ilk. 

Take the media's current slanted view on inflation: it's Biden's fault. Gas prices? Biden's fault. Food prices? Why isn't Biden doing something to help the American people?

Never mind that corporations are posting ridiculous, record-breaking profits DURING A PANDEMIC. The fleecing of America? Price gouging? Blatant capitalistic greed? Where are those stories? Why aren't we hearing about that?

Why?

Because NBC depends on those corporations, in fact, the whole media industry does, in order to make revenue. Any profit NBC gets to enjoy is dependent on those other corporations who are currently raking it in. Those corporations are the greedy hands which feed those we trust to bring us the news. 

Now, there used to be a great deal of integrity involved in the world of journalism, but apparently, and again - thank the orange ogre, the rules have changed. 

So, I am done with corporate-sponsored news outlets. They can't be trusted. They won't report something because it might upset a sponsor. They will go soft on those who go soft on big business, but then tear into and ridicule anyone who is interested in making progress, or taking care of people, or helping people in real ways - like establishing a living wage, creating universal healthcare, providing housing or going green. Or anyone interested in holding corporate America responsible for their many, many sins against humankind and this planet.

Why? Because pointing out all those terrible things are not in the best interests of the corporations who pay the news outlets' salaries.   

It's that simple folks. We've been duped. There is no such thing as journalistic integrity. It is dead.

And Lester Holt.... I'm looking at you, bud. You put the final nail in that coffin lid. 

Fuck you, Lester Holt.

Lester Holt Interviews Joe Biden

February 8, 2022

Lester Holt Interviews Kamala Harris

June 8, 2022