How the Partisan Media Are Harming America's Pandemic Response

American Thinker ^ | March 27, 2020 | John O'Connor

[Kaslin]

In the face of the country's dire health crisis, our country's political leaders are recognizing the importance of instilling confidence in governmental leadership, putting aside partisan differences.

But the mainstream media are viewing this crisis not as a reason to do likewise, but rather to ramp up vitriolic second-guessing of President Trump. While designed to harm him, the constant sowing of doubt in fact harms all of us.

To be sure, astute historians recognize that in times of overwhelming danger, the instilling of confidence both by and in political leaders can be decisive. They correctly point out that newly inaugurated Franklin Delano Roosevelt's words strengthened our nation's backbone: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Likewise, in an excellent new book, The Splendid and the Vile, author Erik Larson recounts how Winston Churchill's relentless exhortation to fight the Nazis galvanized British society, without which Britain's seemingly inevitable surrender would have transformed Western history.

But in each of these cases, the media echoed and praised political leadership, thereby rendering it effective. Would history have been the same in either case if a negative onslaught by a monolithic media establishment had harshly criticized and thereby weakened the unifying words of the leadership? The answer is obvious.

Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and went so far as to arrest those who too strongly opposed the war effort against the rebel South. President Woodrow Wilson pushed the passage of the Espionage Acts of 1917 and 1918 for the same purpose during World War I. We do not here endorse these questionable legal responses — only the stiff-backed attitudes animating them. In the face of existential threats to society, we must hang together or hang separately, as Ben Franklin so sagely intoned.

[mmichaels1970]

Maybe this is a Chinese invasion and the media are fighting on their side.

[IncPen]

Can somebody post links to all of those savage takedowns that SNL did of Obama?

Those always restore my faith in our unbiased media...

[ClearCase_guy]

A monolithic media dedicated to the destruction of the lawfully elected president is a relatively new thing. It’s propaganda funded in large part by foreign powers who want to see us destroyed.

We need to change that game.

[goldstategop]

Democrat media are far more dangerous to our country than the coronavirus...

[HighSierra5]

Shirley,you jest.

[SMARTY]

It's sure for one thing... this whole thing is a pure gold opportunity for the media to regain SOME relevancy in American life.

So far-they have miffed their chance...what's worse, they are eager and proud to DO it.

[I want the USA back]

The mainstream (censored) media are trying to dump Trump. They don’t care if people die. They hang on his every word, analyze it, rip it to shreds and then lie about it.

A perfect illustration of this is what they did to his words about wanting people to get back to work by Easter. They deliberately and intentionally reported this in such a way as to give a false impression to the brain-dormant American public.

I heard his words when he said them. What the folks are being fed is that “Trump is going reopen businesses by Easter and that’s a bad thing.” For the media bots, I wish unspeakable retribution.

[ronnie raygun]

PARTISAN MEDIA.....such a nice gentle kind soft label placed on an INCOMPETANT, CORRUPT, FAKE PHONEY FRAUDULENT, ARROGANT, DESPICABLE, RACIST,TRAITOROUS, UN AMERICAN SICKENING group of sub humans

[kiryandil]

Hangings.

First up at the gibbet: Nicolle "Mary Surratt" Wallace.

[Wonder Warthog]

"So far-they have miffed their chance...what's worse, they are eager and proud to DO it.

And, IMO, it is backfiring on them "big time".