Will the Media Ever Report the Real Story About the Government Shutdown?

What ever happened to Matt Drudge? – The blaring, all caps, bold-faced headlines atop the Drudge Report landing page this morning read “SHUTDOWN TURNS NIGHTMARE” and “GOVT PARALYZED”.

My goodness, you mean to say that, here on Day 26 of the longest partial federal government fake “shutdown” ever, we’re finally starting to see major detrimental impacts to not just the government itself, but also to the public at large? That’s obviously what Matt Drudge wants you to believe.

The trouble is, when you click on those headlines to read the stories behind them, that is not the narrative you will find. Not at all. Take the “SHUTDOWN TURNS NIGHTMARE” story first. Click on that shock header, and are taken to an Associated Press story with a similarly-alarmist header that reads in slightly small, non-caps letters: “No. of no-show airport security screeners soars in shutdown”.

My goodness, it “soars”? Boy, that must mean half of the TSA airport security agents aren’t showing up for work, right? Surely, all of the nation’s airports must be in lockdown and air travel grounded to a halt as a result. Right? Well, RIGHT?, as Drudge would ask it.

Um, no. If you bother to read all the way into the 2nd paragraph of the typically-slanted AP story, you see this sentence: “No-shows among screeners jumped Sunday and again Monday, when the Transportation Security Administration reported a national absence rate of 7.6 percent compared with 3.2 percent on a comparable day a year ago.” The emphasis added there is mine.

That’s right, Matt Drudge thinks it’s a “NIGHTMARE” that 7.6 percent of TSA airport agents are calling in sick. Folks, a typical flu epidemic results in a higher absentee rate than that.

Oh, but the AP didn’t stop there. Their reporter managed to find the perfect air traveler who was willing to say that “It’s chaos out here.” So, why is it “chaos” out there, according to one Vincent Smith, the air traveler in question? “This line, I’ve been here about 15 minutes and it has moved 2 feet.” Oh, golly, welcome to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport on a Monday, dude.

But it just gets better in this fake story. Here’s another passage halfway down the page: “Delta Air Lines, the dominant carrier in Atlanta, and other airlines said they were advising passengers to get to the airport at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international trips.” You don’t say.

Here’s what the AP doesn’t tell you: Delta and every other U.S. airline have been advising passengers do exactly that since 9/12/2001. Every frequent air traveler in America has heard that exact advice 1,000 times in the last 18 years, and most of us studiously ignore it, because it has always been fake advice. But hey, maybe this time, 26 days into this fake partial government “shutdown,” it’s real. There’s a first time for everything.

Ok, that’s enough on that fake story. Let’s now click on the Drudge alarmist header that reads “GOVT PARALYZED”. Note that this one is not only all-caps, bolded and in a huge font, but is also in italics, so Matt Drudge wants you to believe this one is really, really, REALLY terrible, possibly the end of the world for all of us. He wants you to believe that our entire federal government is not just impacted, it is PARALYZED by this fake, partial government shutdown that has 1 out of 14 of TSA agents – GASP!!!! – calling in sick.

So, you click through and what do you find? A story from several fake journalists at the fake Washington Post recycling the narrative that President Trump and congress can’t reach a deal to re-open the fraction of the government that has been sort of, partially “closed” for the last 26 days.

It’s your standard WaPo fake story: Everything is President Trump’s fault, no mention of the fact that many of the intransigent Democrats who have offered zero compromise in 26 days vacationed with 109 lobbyists in Puerto Rico at taxpayer expense over the weekend, then the standard segue into 300 words about Russia. There is literally no actual “news” in this story at all.

But Matt Drudge wants you to believe that it is the most earth-shattering story of this day, January 15, 2019.

Hey, when is someone going to write the real “news” story on this fake government shutdown, which is that, here we are, 26 days into it, and the biggest impact on the public at large that the AP can find is some whiny jackass at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport who is having to wait in line maybe 15 minutes longer than he normally would when travelling out of that particular location?

Think about it: We had 800,000 federal workers missing a paycheck on Monday, more than half of whom are furloughed, and that’s the biggest impact anyone can find? What in the hell do all those people do every day? Why do the taxpayers keep having to fund hundreds of thousands of expensive jobs that provide no public benefit or impact? And if you, like 98% of our fake news media, want to blame something on the evil Orange Man, why isn’t anyone in the Trump Administration using this as an opportunity to identify government waste and invite most if not all of these furloughed workers to make their furloughs permanent?

Wait, I guess I just did. Somehow, I don’t think that story will be getting linked at the Drudge Report anytime soon. Doesn’t fit the narrative, you know.

Oh, hey, another Democrat wasting her time running for President. – This one would be New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, whose time came and went four years ago and she didn’t realize it. Or, more accurately, she lacked the courage to take on the Clintons.

Four years ago, she was the far-left (well, far-left for four years ago, anyway) pretty face who could have theoretically attracted younger voters. Today, she’s just another face. Not as pretty as Kamala Harris or Tulsi Gabbard, not cutting edge in any way, lacking any signature issue or win she can point to, not nearly far-left enough for the Millennial Democrat voters who prefer a true Commie like Bernie Sanders or the endlessly cute Beto instead.

Two years ago, Sen. Gillibrand thought that using the “F” and “S” words a lot in her speeches would help her presidential ambitions come true, because some pollster told her Millennials like politicians who curse a lot in public. Irish Bob O’Rourke is the prime example of this tactic resulting in some success, though not enough to beat Ted Cruz. But it didn’t work at all for Ms. Gillibrand, so she dropped it after awhile.

A year ago, when the whole #MeToo thing started picking off all manner of high-profile liberals, Gillibrand, who had been an ardent apologist for Bill Clinton for a quarter of a century, suddenly decided to publicly go after her hero. That burst of intestinal fortitude lasted about five minutes, probably until someone reminded her of all the dirt the Pantsuit Princess has collected against pretty much everyone in Washington. Then Gillibrand timidly scurried back into her Clinton apologist corner.

Bottom line, Sen. Gillibrand is wasting her time. Don’t let her waste any of yours.

The only cure for fake news is to ignore it. If I see that a story is from the AP, I won’t read it. There’s no point in absorbing propaganda.

Why do the taxpayers keep having to fund hundreds of thousands of expensive jobs that provide no public benefit or impact?

So true. And when the Air Traffic Controllers depart their non-paying jobs to find a paycheck in the civilian sector, they can be replaced by Clinton's Americorps...

“I saw that Drudge headline today, as well.
If anyone had any doubts he’s gone over to the other side - here you go.”

I’m glad that I’m not the only one who believes that Drudge has gone over to the “DARK SIDE”. He sure has changed.

I used to think that, that Executive Orders are simply reversible, but the key missing elements in that argument are the willing public accomplices to pull it off, the MSM and the Judiciary. When Obama did it, it was lauded and feted, and no federal judge would rule against it (if you could find anyone “with standing” brave enough to file an action to challenge it), not even to fight an obviously illegal EO. With Trump, the MSM savage it, and there is no end of lawsuits filed with federal judges salivating in anticipation of receiving such cases. It’s thus become ever more important to heal the US appeals and supreme courts by appointments of constitutionalists ASAP.

It seems that Matt Drudge has a penchant for headlines and stories that are anti-Trump. It’s been that way, if you think about it, since Trump declared his intention to run for President.

It seems that Matt Drudge has a penchant for headlines and stories that are anti-Trump

Drudge is OVER. Hasn't been relevant for years and years.

The PEOPLE LOVE a SHUTDOWN !!!

Pelosi has shown us Shutdown is Awesome!

Thank you Pelosi.

Quit using Drudge a long time ago. Prefer Whatfinger and Liberty Daily.

Rats better give in soon - most of the affected people are rat voters.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.