Biden is really getting pilloried in the press over Afghanistan

[Poiuyt]

I think he's being attacked by the MSM more than trump was in his first year. I wonder if they are trying to overcompensate in their misguided attempt to be "fair and balanced"?

[reality1]

1. I wonder if they are trying to overcompensate in their misguided attempt to be "fair and balanced"?

Yes as far as CNN goes I feel that way.

[Treefrog]

5. So you don't think he deserves any criticism at all?

[reality1]

7. A little

What is your specific criticism. What should he have done differently? I'm not a Biden apologist I'm just wondering.

[Treefrog]

9. I'm just wondering why you don't think they're being "fair and balanced."

Fascinating choice of phraseology, btw.

[Caliman73]

10. Interesting. Do you think that it is either/or?

I am really trying to find where the OP says that Biden deserves no criticism. Let's take a look.

Here is the body of the post:

I think he's being attacked by the MSM more than trump was in his first year. I wonder if they are trying to overcompensate in their misguided attempt to be "fair and balanced"?

So there is the title about "getting pilloried in the press on Afghanistan". That states the premise. There is a comparison between the criticism that Trump got and that Biden is getting. Then it ends with a proposed reason WHY it may be happening.

I don't see where the OP says anything about Biden deserving NO criticism at all?

Can you point that out?

[Treefrog]

14. I ASKED him if he thought Biden deserved no criticism.

All your careful parsing, I can’t get how you missed that. Puzzzling.

[Caliman73]

21. Yes you did. I am trying to find out why.

Why did you not respond to what was written in the post? Why did you choose to ask if the OP thought Biden deserved any criticism at all?

There was no indication in the post that the OP thinks that Biden is above criticism. The OP is about how Biden is being raked over the coals and how it seems to be very different from the way that Trump was treated at the outset of his presidency.

Your response was interesting to me in the context of what the OP wrote.

It isn't puzzling at all. I didn't miss that you asked a question. I am wondering why you jumped to the question without responding to the post how it was written by the op.

[Treefrog]

30. Oh dear. This is pointless l

He referred to the media “overcompensating” as though they were making things up.

I’ll go ahead and respond to posts as I decide, k? Nice talking with ya,

[Caliman73]

34. Cool.

You do you.

One thing, "overcompensating" does not mean "making things up". It means doing something excessively to correct for perceived errors and to assuage the guilt or inferiority for making those errors.

If I am late to work because I overslept once, I might set 10 alarm clocks and have 5 friends call me to make sure I get up on time the next day. That is overcompensating.

The media going hard at Biden may be based on the perception that they did not go hard enough at Trump. I happen to disagree with that assumption, but again, I would not have asked if Biden deserved "any" criticism.

Every leader deserves criticism. The seeming point of the OP was that the criticism of Biden is excessive and motivated by their own past failures.

It's all good. I just like to see where people are coming from with their responses sometimes.

[Caliman73]

38. Of course I understand.

You can completely ignore the post and move on. Had you not responded, I would have simply gone on about my day.

You don't have to respond to this post either, unless you feel compelled, which would be ... interesting, truly

[LanternWaste]

48. No... you inferred s though they were making things up.

No one at all has argued the point you're attempting to place in the lap of other posters.

Infer/imply. There's a distinct difference between the two.

[JohnSJ]

11. It isn't the criticism that bothers me, it is the lack of context in that criticism. It is also the

mixing opinions with the reporting of news, where it is difficult to determine what is factual news, verses opinion.

The Communications Act of 1996 has turned news into an entertainment industry. There objective isn't to inform, but to attract viewers

I get most of my news from Bloomberg and newspapers

[Treefrog]

31. Well, I'd agree with you there.

[Ocelot II]

2. I think they've been frustrated because he's been so sane, rational and "boring."

At last they think they have something big they can drag him about, which is a lot more fun than just reporting about how he's doing things that are sane, rational and boring. Never forget the first principle of journalism: If it bleeds, it leads.

[kimbutgar]

3. Our MSM is disgusting.

They always attack Democrats and are soft on repukes even though it was TFG policy that caused the problem.

[uponit7771]

37. Putin's whore kills 500k Americans by lying about the lethality of a virus

Last edited Fri Aug 20, 2021, 02:57 PM - Edit history (1)

... Biden withdrawal act doesn't look butter smooth and being spend more than 24 hours on it

[kimbutgar]

47. I am so angry because 4 years of TFG utter disaster presidency they never went after him like

President Biden.

[Tetrachloride]

4. whats the Afghan evacuation outlook

[Elessar Zappa]

6. The MSM is awful right now.

I’m sure they’ll manage to lower his approval rating but it’ll go right back up in a few months when this is out of the news and the infrastructure bills get passed.

[Haggard Celine]

17. Yes, the press will be on to the next shiny object

after a while. This isn't that big a deal.

[Treefrog]

12. We have many experts here lol.

Epidemiologists, government experts, nutrition experts, pharmacological experts, criminal experts, and of course, the never ending weather experts. Many of these experts overlap, of course, due to their vast and superior store of expertise.

Verily, du is a font of knowledge.

[Kingofalldems]

19. Attack on DU.

[Treefrog]

33. You don't think du is a font of knowledge?

A shame. I’ve listened to many posters here who seem to know what’s going on. Ms. Toad is someone whose opinions I found very valuable, and there are others. Your comments, however, usually seem to be of this sort. Smh.

Please tell your pal LW hello from me ok? You guys aren’t even trying hard any more.

[Texasgal]

42. Why are you so bent?

Jeez.. You really need to watch those accusations.

[Moostache]

13. Up front - I support Biden's decision to leave 100%

That abortion of a "war" - call it by its REAL name "Military Industrial Complex Organized Theft" (MICOT) - should have been ended in 2004 (in reality, it never really should have been undertaken as an invasion at all).

I am anti-war, period.

But let's just imagine a world where the press got THIS incensed and exercised when a Presidential action/decision went south. My god, CNN has become a non-stop blame Biden gameshow now. MSNBC is only slightly better. Fox is still Fox and the rest would have to be power-washed first to see if was from a sewer or a whole series of sewers.

The part that bothers me is not so much calling President Biden to task for an ugly scene...its the insistence on using the same days old clips of airport chaos as background video days later, implying (falsely) that the situation has been spiraling further out of control the whole time.

The American press is, on balance, an international joke. I still maintain that BBC World is the best source for actual information and PBS Newshour is the only US-based source that is not a minimum of ~75% spin and BS.

[reality1]

18. Its kind of good the Taliban took over now

They were going to win anyway, but a protracted war ahead would've been a horrendous bloodletting. Suicide bombings carnage week after week. I think Afghan Army realized this and said "were done". Afghans have a history of switching sides. They're very frivolous but pragmatic in that regard.

[martingale73]

22. Yep, it's good that Religious Fundamentalists run the country

It’s a good thing. Afghan society will become much orderly. Women will return to their rightfully place. Sinful behavior will be punished. All will be well as long as they follow Sharia Law…

[reality1]

23. so you didn't read my post

[Moostache]

26. Unless you propose to fight Islam in general and exterminate them, that was ALWAYS the end...

Seriously, I think the Taliban (and Islam and Christianity and Judaism in ANY of their fundamentalist flavors) are a pox on humanity; but trying to fight these things to eliminate them lacks any support (its as old as the Crusades and earlier)...instead people want to pretend that they can be reasoned with or contained....and they can, under martial law or guerilla warfare conditions, but unless you want forever wars to remain open for business, it is sad and tragic that Afghans do not care enough to fight and die for their own freedom, but that is their choice now and they can live under whatever yoke they choose.

Speaking only for myself, if ANYONE tries to threaten me with an ultimatum to "believe in my 'god' or I kill you", they had best hope I have no weapon or access to their jugular with my teeth. I will continue to live free of religious dogma and if it came down to the choice of submitting to a theocracy or dying trying to kill those who would demand such subservience, then I would rather die than live like that.

Afghans have spoken loud and clear this week - they would rather live under oppression and religious command, so - let them. Its time to stop pretending there is an alterative outcome here that was not chosen. This was au fait accompli since 2003.

[EndlessWire]

28. Really?

Justifying the disgraceful and utterly useless Afghan army desertion?

A trillion dollars and twenty years of training and equipment down the drain because they are "frivolous but pragmatic?" I feel used by them. And, you totally omit any mention of the "Art of The Deal" brokered by the Orange Turd.

It's good that the Taliban took over now? They are going to oppress women, setting them back for probably a hundred years to serve as chattel, and gay people are going to be killed. You think that's good?? This is real. That country is in trouble. Freedom is flying off with every evacuation flight. The Taliban isn't good for anybody except the leaders of the Taliban. They will commit atrocities in the name of Islam and Allah. Is that good?

I'm glad we're gone from there. We couldn't stay forever. If we did, then we would have and should have simply declared it an invasion and been like Russia, who wanted Crimea and took it. But, we can't even get it together for Puerto Rico, or even DC, so why should we spend trillions on nation building in Afghanistan? We already did, and all we got was a worthless Afghan military who cut and ran at the first hint of the Taliban showing up. Well, it was a good gig while they had it. Time to move on.

We could have easily kicked their asses if we had wanted to truly take over that country. No one wants it except for their resources, which requires diplomacy. But, there are a lot of women who want Afghan women to succeed. But, they won't now. Because men run the country. Because of pragmatism, I guess?

[reality1]

15. Real criticism

I think goes to the state dept on inability to process Afghan exit visas more quickly before the fall of Kabul and have better arrangements with remaining U.S. citizens to leave.

BUT state did tell American citizens to evacuate a full week before the fall of Kabul and there's still 10k there?
Pretty shitty not respond to your embassy telling you to gtfo. A week is a long time and a week before Kabul fell it was still pretty orderly there.

All in all it is Bidens State dept so yeah there's that. Not surprised Blinken leaked that memo stating Kabul could fall AFTER the 31st. Why did the press have such a field day with that? Again AFTER the 31st

[GoodRaisin]

16. Media making hay while the sun is shining.

They’ve spun a sensationalized, knee jerk narrative for their pundits and “experts” to talk endlessly about. The spin is blaming Biden for an “incompetent” withdrawal. M$M imply a withdrawal standard (perfection) that doesn’t exist.

The truth is there is no “bellwether” withdrawal, and the withdrawal is not complete. The military is getting people out. M$M does not allow the situation to unfold before they accuse/ imply incompetency.

It’s too early to make judgements one way or the other. But this is what M$M does.

[reality1]

24. Hindsight

usually with hindsight people can say we should've done this or that. In this regard there is no consensus. Still very conflicted "opinions".
After 20 years the war is ending. Considering the circumstances it could be way worse.

[GoodRaisin]

29. Not many opinions in Joe's favor right now on the withdrawal process.

Literally can't go longer than minutes at a time without phrases like "poor execution" or "Joe was elected because of his competency and now this blah blah blah..." being used. In the meantime the military continues getting people out safely.

Lawrence O'Donnell has been calling this stuff out. Maybe others on MSNBC I could have missed.

CNN has been unwatchable.

[reality1]

27. I don't want to ignore it

I'm talking about it all the time. What should have been done differently other than not getting involved in the first place?

[ananda]

25. No, this is deliberate. Corporations....

...

[sarcasmo]

32. Afghanistan withdrawal porn is the new MSM money maker.

[egduj]

36. "It ain't no fun when the rabbit's got the gun."

[yardwork]

39. Same thing they did to Hillary Clinton. Disgusting.

[joetheman]

40. He can handle it and is. nt

[Native]

41. I though Biden did a fabulous job during the Q&A.

[GoodRaisin]

44. Yes, and even then M$M continues to attack him.

Listening right now to CNN reporter spinning a narrative about "the White House truth vs the ground truth". Nothing but pure shit.

Nothing he says or does will satisfy the pariahs of our media who are looking to assign fault or blame on the president any way they can.

[Sunsky]

43. I don't watch them

I've turned them off since the Afghanistan obsession began.

[Kaleva]

46. I haven't watched them in years.

[Kaleva]

45. MSM is a for profit business

They are going to do what they need to do to increase ratings and thus profits.