Dean Baquet of the NY Times turns himself into a pretzel trying to explain the paper’s “coverage” of the sexual allegations against Biden
It’s hard to say whether this is a new low on the part of the Times in recent years (there were even lower lows in the more distant past, such as Duranty), because there’s so much competition. But suffice to say it would be funny if it weren’t so despicable, sad, and serious.
I’m not saying the allegations against Biden are true. I have no idea if they’re true or false, and that’s usually the case with such stories at an early stage and without a trial. But I am very consistent; my attitude is the same no matter what side the accused politician is on. In the case of Biden’s accuser Tara Reade, her allegations are actually more “credible” than those of most such accusers, and certainly far more credible than those of Christine Blasey Ford. Among other things, Reade has a person who says Reade told her the story way back when.
Again, that doesn’t mean Reade is telling the truth. But the utter inconsistency of the Times and its differential treatment of the two sets of allegations (against Biden and Kavanaugh) is glaringly apparent to any thinking person. Unfortunately, Baquet’s utterly weaselly excuses will probably be just fine with a lot of Times readers.
I wish that Trump reminds voters of various anniversaries of Fake News coverage thru July, and compare Fake News on Kavanaugh vs Biden.
Plus the stories themselves.
Tho he probably won’t, I wish he would.
These are the people who think they’re better than Trump.
Mike
I would think the way this is playing out , makes it more likely her story is true. At the very least, if the nyt had some more information no disproving they would’ve been blaring it out
Mbunge:
Not just Trump: ALL of us!
It is easy to believe that any woman who dredges up a 25-year-old sexual abuse allegation right after someone announces for the presidency is trying to damage his candidacy. Not that I mind very much in this case, BTW, but I just want to ask her why she didn’t make this charge the day after it happened. Oh well.
They are frauds, intellectual and moral. So are their avid readers. We just live in low dishonest times.
(Ask yourself if you’ve met a partisan Democrat who was willing to admit in explicit terms that an accusation by a woman who could not present evidence that she’d ever met the two men she was accusing was not something which should influence one’s decision-making).
We must always believe what the woman is saying. Unless the NYTimes educates us otherwise.
Art Deco,
Preach it!
Heck, I remember Juanita Broaddrick, and how *she* was unpersoned.
I despise, detest, and distrust the NYT. The WaPoo, too.
I don’t know if the Dem Party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the media, or it’s the other way round; regardless, they’re in cahoots
I remember Bill Keller trying to explain why they ran the story letting terrorists know that European banks were cooperating with the CIA. The Times knew they were helping terrorists by exposing the program. His only defense was that George W Bush was president.
It was no surprise that the Times hated America, hated the American soldiers who would die because of its treachery, hated Bush and hated those Americans who loved their soldiers. No surprise that they would damage America if they thought it would hurt Bush somehow.
My surprise was how damn stupid Keller was. He kept talking about his consultations with Floyd Abrams’ firm for months and how the Pentagon Papers case said it was okay to publish the story. That was totally wrong and I had to think his lawyers were embarrassed that their advice had gotten mangled so badly. That case was about prior restraint which was not an issue since the Times had published the story already. The issue was criminal liability on the national security issues. They had no defense legally. But they knew that their MSM friends would cover for them.And a trial would expose other sectets.
After botching the legal story, his interview got worse. He had no intelligent response to why they’d run the story. Bush was prez. Since Bush was so bad, they thought the program might have somehow been misused as an abuse of power. Any evidence of that? He said no.
By the time the story was finished, he was exposed as a fool. That’s the thing about the MSM. Everyone knows they are dishonest and corrupt. I think some would be surprised at how extremely incompetent they are. They’re idiots. Ben Rhodes’ comments apply to the whole damn lot.
I think Dean Baquet has become the equivalent of the “Hun” in Chruchill’s observation, “The Hun is either at your throat or at your knees.”
F,
Her story is that she told 5 people at the time, including Biden’s chief of staff and his executive assistant. She also says she filed a complaint with the Senate after her complaint to the Biden staff was ignored.
Soon after that she was demoted and lost her job and was unable to find other employment in D.C.
I am speculating here, but maybe after all that she decided there was no use fighting it and did her best to get on with her life.
Rufus – she doesn’t seem to have filed with the police — wonder why.
(that’s rhetorical, btw — she was in DC).
Sam L. on April 14, 2020 at 7:52 pm said:
I despise, detest, and distrust the NYT. The WaPoo, too.
I don’t know if the Dem Party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the media, or it’s the other way round; regardless, they’re in cahoots
* * *
Sam – since they are apparently both owned by China, the hierarchy is irrelevant.
Re-read 1984…
Baquet is straight out of the pages…He talks as if those hearing him don’t already know he’s lying…or at least know the truth he refuses to acknowledge.
I am saddened knowing that one day there will come a reckoning for people like Baquet.
Not a pretzel. A hypocrite and running dog lackey of the hard left, yes. Sooner or later there will be a reckoning.
JG,
Why sad? Banquet deserves what awaits him. My give a damn is busted.
Like many others I am naturally skeptical of sexual allegations made years, even decades, after the fact regardless of the political party involved. But after the Kavanaugh debacle this cannot be allowed to pass. It’s not about whether or not Joe Biden did something 25 years ago, it’s about the insane bias of the MFM which is really damaging to our country.
FOAF:
Right. Except that the people who need to hear about the extreme bias of the MSM will not hear this. You will, and I will, but we already know the MSM is a bunch of running dogs. They say when socialism takes over, the first ones in front of the firing squad are the intellectuals. One hopes journalists are included in that category.
parker…
It saddens me because I nurture a glimmer of hope that somehow the folks who would gladly see me slaughtered for their vision of “dys-utopia” (Baquet is but one) will not have to be annihilated for the rest of us to survive.
Permit me a Biblical reference…Romans 9-11 Paul laments the rebellion of Israel, God’s chosen people, but celebrates that their rejection made salvation possible for the rest of the world…But he still laments for those who persist in their rejection of God’s saving grace.
I’d love for Baquet et al to give up their communism & fascist implementation and join us in liberty…But deep in my heart I know differently. They’ll die before they see me as anything but an expendable obstacle.
I appreciate that since they belong to that horrible crew TWANLOC…I should feel no regret that it will cost them in the end…and dearly…but I do. I want better for them.
It amazes me just how thoroughly the MSM has destroyed its reputation in the service of Leftist ideology.
Of course, to be able to make this assessment, you have to be free of the spell of the MSM, i.e. of the Song of the Sirens, of Grima Wormtongue.
Absent some sort of major revolution, can anyone really trust these supposed “sources of news” ever again?
And when the mainstream sources of news–the ones that are virtually all pervasive, and have the biggest megaphone–have become corrupt, the absence of sources for news that you can trust is a real problem for a Republic, in which it is absolutely essential that citizens are able to easily obtain the truthful, accurate, comprehensive, uncensored, and un-slanted information they need in order to make key public policy decisions.
The major domo at Casa Sulzberger continues to polish the banisters and silverware exquisitely.
Dean either doesn’t realize how much Real America hates the Fake News or he’s all in with being the propaganda arm of the Dems.
I suspect the latter because he has to rely on subs for revenue and he just wants to own the Leftwing market.
Here in Omaha, the newspaper is just a shell of its former self. Just Big Red coverage, shootings, car wrecks, crime and human interest stuff. Buffett sold it to Lee Enterprises. Staff mostly abandoned ship and the ones left mostly went union. Very sad.
Cornhead:
Despite the fact that Carson City is the capital of this state, the two largest media markets are Las Vegas and Reno. Newspapers in those two cities (the Las Vegas Gazette-Journal and the Reno Gazette-Journal) are decreasing in size, the amount of advertising they carry is dwindling, and they are cutting staff.
Same too, for the Nevada Appeal in Carson City, which at least continues to run its printing plant (which, BTW, also prints the Reno G-J) even though the amount of advertising it carries is noticeably diminished year over year. It is beyond embarrassing that the state capital has so small a newspaper and a staff that is down to about 4 people in the news division. Most of their content is from AP.
The internet has obviously had a hand to play in the downsizing of the American print media, but I also believe the owners of various media outlets have forgotten what they are there for and will continue to dwindle. Perhaps I’m just bemoaning the disappearance of an outdated industry, like buggy whips, but it still feels to me as if newspapers are valuable.
And “intellectuals” continue to treat the NYTimes and WashPost as some kind of authoritative media, even though they’re clearly propaganda organs — along with TV networks that spend most of their air time attacking the President.
Alas, the world has changed. People are voting with their pocketbooks when it comes to buying subscriptions, and advertisers have noticed and are moving their ad purchases. Your grandchildren will have to find something else to wrap fish and line the bottom of their birdcage.
Digital media honcho Ben Smith digitally penetrated Dean Baquet’s muddled consciousness and plucked out some indigestible nuggets.
NYT is getting roasted over this one. No matter. Pravda is Pravda.
I don’t consider the NYT a reliable conveyor of information. So I don’t read it. At all. Ever. I pray for it to go the way of all failed enterprises.
“. . . the utter inconsistency of the Times and its differential treatment of the two sets of allegations (against Biden and Kavanaugh) is glaringly apparent to any thinking person.” [Neo]
“And ‘intellectuals’ continue to treat the NYTimes and WashPost as some kind of authoritative media, even though they’re clearly propaganda organs . . . .” [F @ 9:56 am]
Thomas Sowell said it best (Intellectuals and Society, p. 172):
This, of course, includes MBunge’s “elite adjacent” (bien pensants) of the “we’re not them, but we want to appear like them” brigade.
April, 1993. 27 years ago. With Mary Jo killer Ted Kennedy still as the “Lion of the Senate”, and rapist (of Juanita B) Bill Clinton newly in as President.
Digitally penetrated — was that legally punished as rape in 1993? It is certainly sexual harassment.
Trump, and all Reps, should be pushing to get an additional copy of all sexual harassment complaints. So many gov’t records get “misplaced” or “lost”.
A date, a place, and retribution afterwards. Far far more evidence than in the Kavanaugh smear.
The Dem media plays up the smear, plays down the true harassment. Biden’s a Dem! The smear fits with Democrat Derangement Syndrome.
This is something VP Pence should become a Rep leader on – stopping the objectification of women and their harassment. Especially since he’s so clean AND so many, tho not all, of the guilty men are Dems.
Epstein didn’t kill himself.
Tom Grey:
To the best of my recollection (my law education goes back a lot earlier than the 90s) any sort of unwanted vaginal penetration, including with an object, is rape.
To the best of my recollection (my law education goes back a lot earlier than the 90s) any sort of unwanted vaginal penetration, including with an object, is rape.
I think that’s called ‘aggravated sexual abuse’ in the New York Penal Law.
but I also believe the owners of various media outlets have forgotten what they are there for and will continue to dwindle.
See Rod Dreher’s experience at the Dallas Morning News. He would send circulars to reporters and editors pointing out the demographic features of the paper’s readership and suggest they redeploy manpower so as to cover things which might interest those readers. The collective response was zilch. The reporters and editors were bound and determined to cover the stories which interested them and screw their readers. I think Robert Heinlein is supposed to have said “Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-gut-says-that-what-reade-alleges-did.html
This is a WaPoo reporter who wrote a book contending that Christine Blasey Fraud was telling the truth. She purports to believe someone who cannot demonstrate she has ever met the two youths she accused, whose accusation was undercut by three other parties, and who demonstrably lied about a menu of ancillary matters.
Note, this isn’t some random crank offering this notion. What we face, really, is that at its apex and center, the culture of the left is suffused with fraud. All the time and about everything.
Art Deco:
Depends on the state. Depends on the year.
The dictionary definition is very inclusive: “unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, other body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim.”
FBI definition: “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
This was written in 2016, so it’s probably outdated:
There’s a map at the link showing the different states and the different standards, in 2016.
Note to Art Deco:
Neo knows her stuff.
Baquet follows the Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic religion, which states that everyone has a right to define reality unto themselves, if they can get away with it.
No matter what the truth of the matters are (between two different incidents only 4 people know the real truth), based upon all the information currently publicly available, if you believe Anita Hill you MUST believe Tara Reade.