Something's Very Wrong with the Times

[Galraedia]

I see myself as a friendly critic of The New York Times. It has all its shortcomings, which are many. But it also produces day in and day so much that, were it not to exist, we would be deeply impoverished as readers, as a country. Here though is an article which is so comically wrong in its basic understanding of events that I really do have to wonder what’s wrong with the publication’s DC bureau. Something there and really in the whole operation right up to the top is seriously wrong for this piece to have been published.

Let me republish the first three grafs …

President Biden’s trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure plan suffered a significant setback late Thursday night when House Democratic leaders, short of support amid a liberal revolt, put off a planned vote on a crucial plank of their domestic agenda.

Democratic leaders and supporters of the bill insisted the postponement was only a temporary setback. The infrastructure vote was rescheduled for Friday, giving them more time to reach agreement on an expansive climate change and social safety net bill that would bring liberals along.

But such a deal appeared far off, and the delay was a humiliating blow to Mr. Biden and Democrats, who had spent days toiling to broker a deal between their party’s feuding factions and corral the votes needed to pass the infrastructure bill. The president has staked his reputation as a deal-maker on the success of both the public works package and a far more ambitious social policy bill, whose fates are now uncertain in a Congress buffeted by partisan divides and internal Democratic strife.

The note of profound pessimism about the future of Biden’s agenda is one I do not share. But I don’t want to dwell on that because that’s a subjective read of a future none of us can see. The week has been filled with bleak moments and there’s been enough reversals of fortune that I won’t gainsay anyone’s pessimism.

But look at just the factual analysis here. The president’s goal throughout has been both bills. They both have to pass. The last week has appeared to be on a steady course toward decoupling the two bills, passing the BIF bill and then facing negotiations over a reconciliation bill with no leverage at all over the two Senate holdouts who seem increasingly happy to let the reconciliation bill die on the vine. This is far from over. But what really happened is that the threat to kill the BIF bill got the two holdouts or at least Joe Manchin to actually start negotiating. What the Times calls a “significant setback” and a “humiliating blow” is actually the two bills being recoupled which has been the White House’s aim literally for the entire time.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/somethings-very-wrong-with-the-times

[texasfiddler]

1. I stopped my subscription to the times January 2021

Biden wore a Rolex at his inauguration. That was their hit piece by the times. Biden wore Rolex. After what happened on January 6th, I knew it was time to cancel. Something isn’t right. Maybe TFG is correct, they are the enemy of the people. A broken clock is correct twice a day.

[PortTack]

2. Same here! No thx to dotard sycophant habberman and don't even get me started on Chas blow!

So so done with them!!

[Baitball Blogger]

3. The NYT is adding highly subjective descriptors, so yeah, it's failing as an objective

arbiter of the news.

[stopdiggin]

4. I think BOTH your point on the political logistics

of the past week, and the Times reporting, are pretty solid.

1) It's pretty hard to fluff this into any sort of 'win' for Biden or Pelosi. But 2) Biden ultimately did the right thing - and that was to agree with what the progressives have been promising all along, and deliver a stiff arm to buddy Manchin.

Times also goes on to deliver some solid analysis on the precarious state of passing legislation period in these times (including previously routine 'housekeeping' chores like a debt ceiling) - and how that condition has gotten progressively worse with recent history. Again - fairly solid stuff.

[LonePirate]

5. The Times has been in a nosedive since at least 2015/2016 when it attached itself to TFG's ass.

[monkeyman1]

9. no pity ! they are journalists ! turned into a damn tabloid in a grocery store !

they want pity , go see a head jockey ! bad as the "hill , politico , bretbart , & all the other media ! they lost their way on journalism ! not that hard to figure out !

[Yoyoyo77]

6. They don't get that Biden wants both bills to pass.

Maybe because they've internalized the ideas that Government spending big is "bad". Except for the military of course. That money is different

[Percy]

7. The entire paper is one long editorial.

Follow any issue closely and you'll see just how opinionated and nonobjective the NYT writing is. Choice morsels of information are routinely omitted in order to sway opinion. Very manipulative newspaper.

[mountain grammy]

8. Exactly

[Hekate]

10. Who is the author of the piece? Is it an Op-Ed, or an actual editorial? That makes a difference. nt