Once upon a time, the liberal media in this country had the self-respect and the decency to at least temper its enthusiasm for the Democratic Party. Most of that restraint fell by the wayside when Barack Obama came on the scene, but it was already eroding badly during the Bush years. However, once Donald J. Trump rose to the top of the Republican Party, any remaining vestiges of journalistic objectivity were cheerfully thrown overboard as the media decided instead to embarrass itself on a daily basis in pursuit of a singular goal: To bring this arrogant New York businessman-turned-politician down by any means necessary.
All of that to say that even in THIS blatantly partisan environment, the media’s breathless joy as they reported on Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats taking over the House of Representatives was some of the most cringeworthy “journalism” we’ve seen in quite a while.
On ABC, congressional correspondent Mary Bruce could hardly hide her grin as she described the proceedings to former Clinton lackey George Stephanopoulos.
“Today they’re actually changing the rules so that female Muslim members can wear head scarves on the floor,” she said. “George, it is a remarkable feeling the difference you can feel. 25 women in the Senate now. 102 in the House. 43 women of color and so many are so young, George. It’s remarkable. They are really changing the way that things are done here. They tweet, they post on Instagram. It truly is a new era here, George.”
Oooh, Muslim headscarves and Instagram! This really is a proud new day on Capitol Hill.
Senior national correspondent Terry Moran was equally excited, claiming that the new Democrat-controlled Congress was “an earthquake in Trump world.”
“The Democratic majority that Nancy Pelosi will lead is going to challenge him on policy and with investigations it could bedevil this administration and, let’s face it, Donald Trump is not a man who deals particularly well with opposition,” Moran said, barely able to keep himself from bouncing up and down in his chair.
Over on MSNBC, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin could hardly contain herself.
“You know, it’s about time. It’s about time that the House of Representatives, the peoples’ house, begins to look more like the people of the United States. And I think it’s thrilling, I felt that at the time of the midterms,” Goodwin said. “We’ve had so little joy in politics in these last months. I mean, there seems to me so little joy in President Trump as a person, you know, except when he’s fighting against something. So to see families together at this moment, to see the joy of new people thinking that maybe things will be different, you know, that maybe something will change and this fever will break, we just have to celebrate that moment. And it’s a great thing.”
On CNN, Dana Bash turned her time at the microphone into a moment of unabashed hero worship.
“It’s vindication,” Bash said of Pelosi’s return to the speakership. “It is a reminder that being confident and being strong as a woman is not necessarily a bad thing and not a negative. It is, you know, the fact that you can persevere over an onslaught of negative attacks, which is certainly something that she has had to deal with.”
Luckily, she won’t have to deal with any such negativity from the mainstream media. If you’re Donald Trump, you must look at this slobbering coverage and just think, “Damn. Must be nice.”
