Basking in the afterglow of President Joe Biden’s stellar press conference last night, I clicked on Morning Joe at dawn to check out what they were saying about President Biden’s press conference.
It seemed to start off ok.
In the lead-in, co-host Willie Geist noted that “He did have some gaffes, but he also showed a command of key issues, particularly on foreign policy.”
Kind of a half-assed, obviously begrudging admission that Biden did well – even though we could have done without it being couched in a gratuitous observation that, like every other human being on earth, Biden isn’t perfect. But alright.
Then, in the next breath, Geist said:
“But behind the scenes, though, advisors and close allies are said to be making the case for why he should step aside”
As he spoke, a graphic of a New York Times headline blaring “Biden advisors weigh how to convince him to end his campaign” floated on the screen.
Click.
“Behind the scenes advisors are said to be” is Mean Girl Telephone Game speak for “We heard that someone who isn’t behind the scenes told somebody what they claim is happening in rooms they aren’t in, but we’re not telling you who said it or who they said it about.”
In other words, once again, we’re being played.
Remember when the press defended their non-stop Biden Doom Loop as completely beyond their control, because it was all Biden’s fault, generated solely by a bad debate performance, but all the president needed to do was to show them he’s up to the job and they’d back off?
Remember “He needs to give a speech”?
He gave a speech. Meh
Then, “He needs to speak off the cuff without a teleprompter.”
He spoke off the cuff without a teleprompter, repeatedly, nearly every day, including a beautiful, heartfelt remarks at a meeting of national union leaders that you probably never even saw if you even heard about it. Because it earned nothing but crickets from the chattering class, who simply ignored it.
And then: “He needs to give a press conference.”
And boy, did he give a press conference, delivering a performance that even his most fervent media detractors had to reluctantly admit was a master class in “showing a command of key issues.”
But, of course, that wasn’t good enough for the “just prove to us you’re up to the job and we’ll leave you alone” crowd, either.
Because they were lying. Again.
Let’s be real. The media are NEVER going to let up on President Biden, no matter what he says or what does.
Biden could have recited Shakespeare’s sonnets from memory while doing one-handed push-ups last night, and the media would have disqualified him for using the wrong arm.
And even if Biden were to step down today, as the media elite are not just demanding, but irrresponsibly trying to force him to do (not your job, guys), they would simply shift their focus to his replacement, expertly sniff out the softest spot on their underbelly, and plunge their fangs into it …
And without even coming up for air, they would breathlessly proclaim:
DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY!
BUYER’S REGRET IN THE DEMOCRATIC CAMP!
INSIDERS TURN ON MAGICAL SPARKLE PONY: SOURCES LAMENT THAT MSP “IS NO JOE BIDEN!”
I am so proud of President Biden and Vice President Harris and the Democrats who will actually decide who are nominees are, for refusing to play Charlie Brown to the political Lucys trying to lure us to the party’s and country’s demise with promises to play fair this time.
Nope. We’re not going to try to kick that football only to have it snatched away and find ourselves flat on our backs while the Republicans climb over us and stumble through the goalposts their media blockers and tacklers are dragging around the field.
Because this isn’t a cartoon and it isn’t a game. This is a battle for our country’s life and soul. And we’re not going to let up just because certain shameless “journalists” tell us some nameless, spineless “advisors” want us to.
Keep fighting, y’all. Joe and Kamala have got this … and we’ve got them.