Nonapologies and delusions
Becket Adams
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CNN host Don Lemon, 56, recently made an ass of himself when he accused former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, 51, of being past “her prime.”
He remains remorseless.
Haley, who announced her candidacy for the presidency this month, has suggested cognitive tests for officeholders over the age of 70. In response, Lemon, flanked by his two female co-hosts, quipped that Haley is herself past her prime.
“Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime — sorry,” the host remarked. “When a woman is considered to be in her prime: in her 20s, 30s, and maybe her 40s.”
Lemon added defensively, “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it.”
Lemon’s co-hosts, and every woman in America unfortunate enough to be near a television playing CNN, took offense at his unequivocally sexist remarks. After all, Lemon’s comments, which are based on a cursory Google search, are not at all related to fitness for office or mental acuity, which was Haley’s point. Rather, Lemon’s remarks are about a woman’s sexual peak and her prime childbearing years. Don’t take my word for it. As Lemon says, “Google it.” Fun fact: If you Google “when is a woman in her prime,” the first page of results is all about sexual peak and childbearing.
In other words, when Haley suggested cognitive tests for septuagenarians and octogenarians, Lemon responded by saying she was past her sexual sell-by date. How progressive.
Lemon’s supervisors have since enrolled him in sensitivity training courses. Lemon, for his part, has issued two public “apologies.”
“The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime,’” he said, “was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”
He added later, “To my network, my colleagues and our incredible audience — I’m sorry. I’ve heard you, I’m learning from you, and I’m committed to doing better. See you soon.”
There’s a glaring omission in his apology. Can you spot it? Hint: See if you can spot the name of the woman he insulted.
Lemon isn’t sorry that he said Haley’s uterus is old and dusty. He’s only sorry his comments got him into trouble.
Delusional
Of all the delusions of the Too Online Left, few are as deranged as their closely held belief that the Democratic Party doesn’t have a friend in the legacy media.
“Democrats don’t have a propaganda apparatus like Republicans do,” writes small-time juiceboxer Brian Beutler. “They have to filter their messages and ideas through a mass legacy media that exercises its own judgment about what to cover and how to cover it.”
He adds, “Democrats … do not control a vast propaganda apparatus. They can’t snap their fingers and guarantee that a huge cable news station (plus hundreds of local news stations) will run lurid stories about women who were forced into back-alley abortions, or police investigating a minor who traveled out of state to abort her rapist’s child.”
Policy researcher at the University of Minnesota Will Stancil is of a similar mind.
“Ultimately, the shortest route to political persuasion is commandeering the media main signal,” he writes of the left wing’s supposed messaging woes. “That’s tough, especially for Democrats, who, unlike the right, do not control a massive media apparatus of their own that can directly insert a preferred narrative into traditional mainstream media.”
This is absurd. Democrats enjoy decidedly lopsided news coverage. Republicans may have Fox News and some online news sites, but Democrats enjoy favorable coverage from ABC, CBS, NBC News, and their hundreds of affiliated stations, as well as the major newspapers, CNN, MSNBC, dozens of online news sites, and basically every pop culture program. And here’s another thing: Democratic legislators and Democratic-aligned operatives don’t need to “snap their fingers” to get favorable news coverage. It happens organically, oftentimes automatically, because major newsrooms are stacked with supportive, like-minded journalists.
The “Russian collusion” dud, which was the biggest, most sought-after story in the press for three years, was quite literally the creation of Democratic Party operatives. It was an “opposition research” project that mutated into a hideous multiyear news event, complete with “bombshell” news “scoops” and seemingly endless hours of cable news commentary. The New York Times and the Washington Post even won Pulitzers for their coverage of the Democratic-birthed narrative that ultimately went nowhere.
Elsewhere, just look at the corporate press’s coverage of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits instructors in the Sunshine State from using federal resources to teach students in preschool through the third grade about sexual activity, orientation, and dysphoria, as well as transgenderism.
Democrats and LGBT activists dubbed the law the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, even though the word “gay” is nowhere to be found in the bill. Chances are you have no idea what the law’s actual title is, but you’ve almost certainly heard it referred to as the Don’t Say Gay bill. Why? Because the biggest newsrooms in the nation unblinkingly embraced the nickname given by left-wing activists.
There wasn’t even a debate. Lefties called it Don’t Say Gay, and that was good enough for the Associated Press, the New York Times, and others. It’s now the Don’t Say Gay bill, even though that’s not the bill’s actual name.
Now, rewind a bit to the 2010 era. You may recall there was considerable debate at the time in newsrooms regarding whether it was appropriate or even polite to refer to the Affordable Care Act as “Obamacare,” the name given by right-wing activists. Most newsrooms at the time opted to avoid the term, deeming it inappropriate, and chose instead to cling to the law’s formal name.
It was not until then-President Barack Obama embraced the Obamacare name that major newsrooms felt comfortable enough to refer to it as such. Now, compare and contrast how the press handled the Right’s nickname for the Affordable Care Act to how the same press handled the Left’s nickname for the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act. With the latter, there wasn’t even a debate. Newsrooms simply adopted Don’t Say Gay and went about their day as usual. No questions asked.
Don’t forget the absurd “binders full of women” episode from the 2012 presidential election. Journalists and commentators from major newsrooms decided en masse that an off-hand remark from then-GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was offensive. Why? They couldn’t quite say. They knew only that it was offensive, just as Democratic-aligned operatives claimed.
The list goes on, but you get the picture.
Democrats and left-wingers don’t need to “snap their fingers” to get favorable coverage from the corporate press. In most cases, the press is already on the move, pushing Democratic-friendly narratives, sometimes even before left-leaning operatives have even had a chance to pitch their talking points to pliable reporters.