The PBS NewsHour is not really the place you get to see powerful politicians—or anyone else, for that manner—face tough questions. Grilling their guests is not really the NewsHour‘s style, which is fine—so long as reality is well-represented too.
On October 1, the NewsHour‘s Judy Woodruff was interviewing Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, who is—as usual—making the rounds to talk about poverty.
And she posed this question to him:
You talk about the Republican Party, how it needs to open up. But I guess one of the questions to you is, how hard is that to do, when many—certainly Democrats, some independents—see the Republican Party as a party that has at least in the past been perceived as against doing programs for the poor, against expanding Medicaid health benefits?
Those darn perceptions!
The reason that “many” would see the Republican Party this way (or Paul Ryan in particular) is because that perception happens to be accurate—not just “at least in the past,” but in the present era. As of December 2013, as USA Today reported, “All 20 of the states choosing not to expand Medicaid have Republican governors.”
As for being “against doing programs for the poor,” that was one of the knocks on Ryan’s budget proposals that made him a national star even before he was named Mitt Romney’s 2012 running mate. This characterization of Ryan’s policies was, as his critics often pointed out, accurate; his plans called for deep cuts in spending paired with tax breaks for the wealthy.
But he was lavished with elite media praise, and coverage often relied on unhelpful euphemisms to mask the real-world implications of his plans. Deep cuts to Medicare were, as one PBS report put it, a plan to “impose changes for future Medicare recipients to hold down costs” (FAIR Media Advisory, 8/14/12).
Ryan wants to change his public image, and is relying on media coverage to help him do that (FAIR Blog, 4/29/14). As you might expect, Ryan was easily able—and no doubt eager—to answer Woodruff’s question.
“… many–certainly Democrats, some independents–see the Republican Party as a party that has at least in the past been perceived as against doing programs for the poor, against expanding Medicaid health benefits?” That is to say — I don’t want to offend — might there be some perfectly good reason why … etc. If there were any question, it’s clear that PBS is now just another of the MSM, pussy-footing around the easy questions lest they go too far (which means any far at all). PBS is now ignoring the taxpayers and donors who fund it and kow-towing to the rich who make up its board and fund some innocuous programming. Ho-hum.
There is a reason we call it ‘National rePublican Radio”. Until we rid ourselves of the Fascists that have stolen America, they are going to keep stealing everything. Like the monkeys who are caught in the Indian Nut Trap* because it can’t overcome it’s greed, these people have their money and to them it is more important than life, thus they are going to use every trick in the book to try and keep it.
*Indian Nut Trap – you place a nut in a jar with a mouth that is big enough to accept the nut, but with only a fraction of an inch to spare. The monkey sees the nut, and reaches in to grab it. However the opening isn’t big enough to get it’s hand out, with the nut still in the jar. But being an animal, it hasn’t the ability to overcome it’s greed so it refuses to let go of the nut, Thus the jar and the nut hold the monkey in place until someone comes along and kills or knocks out the monkey and takes it away.
WalCrap’s version of image wash. Quoth the corporate boardroom: “Here we have six of the richest and most powerful on the quasi-planet. Who needs justice for quasis when we can rather baffle ’em with propaganda washing the corporate image for a penny on the dollar?” Oh, and thank heaven for PBS’s alternative reporting. And liberals are anguished exactly why that PBS is going the way of the pay phone and the newspaper?
If Paul Ryan wants to improve his image, maybe he should stop lying about job creation under Reagan.
Roger Bloyce 23 hours If Paul Ryan wants to improve his image, maybe he should stop lying about job creation under Reagan.
We can make it even easier, Just have Paul Ryan Stop Lying.