Uh, Politico? Biden Didn't Make Marjorie Taylor Greene "The Face of the GOP" -- Republicans Did

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/amanda-marcotte/104197/uh-politico-biden-didn-t-make-marjorie-taylor-greene-the-face-of-the-gop-republicans-did

Uh, Politico? Biden Didn’t Make Marjorie Taylor Greene “The Face of the GOP” — Republicans Did
by Amanda Marcotte | December 3, 2022 - 11:15am
— from Salon


"The widespread assumption that only Democrats have any agency or causal influence over American politics." This is famously known as "Murc's Law," named after a commenter at the blog Lawyers, Guns, and Money who noticed years ago the habitual assumption among the punditry that Republican misbehavior can only be caused by Democrats. Do Republicans reject climate science? Must be because Democrats failed to persuade them! Did Republicans pass unpopular tax cuts for the rich? Must be that Democrats didn't do enough to guide them to better choices! Do Republicans keep voting for lunatics and fascists? It must be the fault of Democrats for being mean to them! Even Donald Trump's election was widely blamed on Democrats — who voted against him, to be clear — on the bizarre grounds that Barack Obama should have rolled over and just let Mitt Romney win in 2012.

Republicans are about to take power in the House of Representatives once again, and so, with exhausting predictability, we return to a Beltway narrative where none of the choices they will make with that power are their fault: It is somehow all because Democrats have failed to manage Republicans properly. Unsurprisingly, the latest example comes from Politico, which pins the blame for the rise of right-wing superstar Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene not on the voters who sent her to Congress or the GOP leaders who indulge her or the conservative media that celebrates her. Instead, Greene's popularity with Republicans is laid at the feet of Joe Biden and the Democrats.

"Biden world once ignored Marjorie Taylor Greene. Now it's making her the face of the GOP," announces a Thursday headline in Politico. Underneath it, Eugene Daniels and Jonathan Lemire write that the Biden White House has tried to turn Greene "into the poster child of the incoming House GOP majority."

But of course Biden had nothing to do with that, because Republicans had already done it. Republicans in her district enthusiastically voted her into office. Republicans gave Greene a standing ovation in response to her remarks claiming that school shootings like Parkland and Sandy Hook were "false flags." Republicans made her one of the top fundraisers in the House. Republican leadership is currently indulging Greene's demands to treat the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as "political prisoners."

snip//

There are two ways for the press to deal with these depressing inevitabilities. Option No. 1 is to say straight out that the GOP is run by a bunch of shameless liars who are waging war on truth and democracy. But doing that, of course, means giving up the pretense that "both sides" are the same. The other option is to stubbornly refuse to see the abundant evidence that Republicans are deliberately sinister actors and to go on depicting them as wayward children who honestly can't be expected to know any better. The former frame fulfills the purported mission of journalism, which is to tell the truth. But alas, we're probably in for at least two years of elaborate apologies and roundabout justifications and Murc's Law proving out once again across the media universe.

[emulatorloo]

1. Politico just can't let go of their patented "Democrats in Disarray" narrative.

Excellent article, thank you.

[stopdiggin]

2. misinterpretation

I believe the thrust intended in the headline (and borne out in the snip provide) - is that Biden is 'hanging' MTG on the Republicans - as in 'you own this.' (not that Biden somehow 'created' her or that wing of the party)

[Mblaze]

10. I agree with you.

“Biden world” is an odd construct at best.

[Ford_Prefect]

3. I thought it was FOX News that made her the farce of the GOP.

Endlessly posting every vile word she said as fast as they could slap a headline on it.

[calimary]

4. Folks who write these stories this way do so to avoid alienating "valuable" sources.

When I was still working, I always thought “the hell with that!” And fuck ‘em if it means I alienated a source! There are plenty of other sources who’d appreciate the access, so I’d give it to them instead. And I’d handle whatever “both sides” stuff might be needed by simply voicing or writing a line about it. (”THERE! See? I covered your side, too.)

But there are delicate ways to get the message across. One approach I often took was when Reagan was around. I often wrote “…Reagan claims that…(whatever the statement was)” instead of “…Reagan says that…”. Just to ease off a declarative absolute while still being mindful of accuracy. Yes it was something Reagan said. But as the daughter of a very skilled salesman, I can’t NOT recognize a sales pitch when I hear/see one!

[underpants]

8. Excellent advise.

Thanks.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. good experience and observations! "Claims" and "states" seem pretty darn similar though

[calimary]

12. There's a lot of nuance being brought to bear.

The best kind is when you write something with enough subtlety that your side will get the point while your opponents barely notice what you did.

A fair amount of folks on that other side of the aisle don’t do - or get subtlety. Was it George W Bush who said “I don’t do nuance”? Well, why bother with a fine surgical scalpel to excise a tumor when a pointy-nosed shovel will do the job well-enough? Plus, you don’t need any of that fancy-schmancy high-fallutin’ book-learning that those smarty-pants types use!

For me, I prefer the scalpel. The odds are good that you’ll wind up doing damage and your target won’t even feel it til it’s too late.

[Evolve Dammit]

15. Don't forget that W called Constitution a "god damned piece of paper." Thanks W.

Orange Asshole is running with that as we speak.

[Rebl2]

5. MTG

made MTG the face of gop all on her own.

[ismnotwasm]

6. Yeah I don't mess with Politico.

There are better news sources out there

[Evolve Dammit]

16. Agree totally.

[yardwork]

7. Say it over and over.

[underpants]

9. Hadn't heard Murc's Law.

Interesting take. MTG will be in Congress for as long as she wants. She’s playing to a larger base and sadly it’s working. But, she has no wide appeal quite the opposite really keep her on the air.

[live love laugh]

13. Politico should rename itself Republico.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

14. Republicans love radical motormouths like MTG and Boebert.

High-level GOPers love how they distract public attention from stuff that really matters like education, infrastructure and international diplomacy, as well as fairness and equality in justice, taxation and public policy.

Far too many Americans only want to be entertained these days and politics has become a convenient means for excusing their personal failures.

KY