The roaring economy and the looming probe by Attorney General Barr’s Justice Department are just too much for the discredited, mainstream media to bear.
These people spent the last three years chasing a conspiracy theory, promoting bogus narratives surrounding the President's fealty to Vladimir Putin and Russia, and insisting that the "walls are closing in".
The walls closed in alright. They slammed shut on CNN's ratings.
Well yeah, they closed in alright. They slammed shut on CNN's ratings, for starters.
Now they're having to change tack. But they don't really know how to change tack. They're just going back to the original smears that failed to trouble Trump: "HE'S A RACIST!"
The Washington Post unveils their killer strategy in this regard by pushing fresh fake news to discredit the president.
Trump despises the people of Puerto Rico, apparently holding them responsible for the social and economic chaos in the territory. He therefore directed Secretary Carson’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to withhold crucial federal aid in the wake of the devastating Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017.
[caption id="attachment_176321" align="alignnone" width="4184"]
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Roselló, U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump discuss relief efforts during a cabinet meeting at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, Carolina, Puerto Rico, Oct. 3, 2017. The President visited Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria and met with local leadership regarding storm response efforts. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt Michelle Y. Alvarez-Rea)[/caption]
That's a thing now, we're told.
Where's the evidence, you ask?
The Post claims “[HUD] ‘unreasonably’ delayed production of emails and other records related to the agency’s handling of hurricane relief funding for Puerto Rico, HUD’s top watchdog said Tuesday.”
With the volume of requests from the Inspector General (IG), and knowing the Federal government, 18 days is positively speedy.
So there must be a cover up. Or something.
There are, however, a few problems with this narrative.
According to a spokesman for the agency, HUD actually delivered all the requested materials in 18 days. With the volume of requests from the Inspector General (IG), and knowing the Federal government, 18 days is positively speedy, particularly since the IG received all the requested materials.
Aside from this, there is zero evidence that the administration withheld relief aid from Puerto Rico. In fact, the administration has poured over $40 billion already into recovery efforts and has pledged another $51 billion, despite atrocious management of the island's finances by their corrupt leaders.
The Post mentions the following, in passing:
The president has been far more involved in reviewing disaster relief for Puerto Rico than for Texas, Alabama or other states, according to current and former administration officials.
Well obviously. Texas, Alabama, or other states are not run as corruptly as Puerto Rico. Do they not expect the President of the United States to factor that in before signing off cheques for billions of dollars?
Rather than check their rash assertions, the Post ran with the story as another opportunity to bash the administration and further the narrative of President Trump pushing an agenda based on racism or xenophobia.
The whole thing highlights one of the main difficulties with mainstream media reporting today, namely that it’s much easier to lazily and breathlessly report the latest “scoop” that confirms the set narratives (and further the toxic political divide they have done so much to foment) than it is to do the tougher and more mundane job of reporting on actual policy matters.
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Carson and fans (Image by Gage Skidmore, CC)[/caption]
At Carson’s HUD, great strides have been made in the promotion of affordable housing for low-income families and supporting their access to homeownership. HUD is also undertaking innovative efforts on the local level to reduce homelessness and remove lead and other hazards from older homes.
To build on the gains of the Trump economy, Secretary Carson is educating the public on opportunity zones to encourage investment in our nation’s most vulnerable communities.
But reporting on these substantive though admittedly unsexy stories does not fit with either their political agenda, nor the race for ratings and sales which, for the print media, has become just as ideologically polarized as it is viewers of cable news.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of President Trump has been to expose once-revered institutions of journalism as the propaganda organs they now, sadly, have become.
Robert Wasinger served in senior advisory and liaison roles in President Donald Trump‘s campaign and transition team, after extensive experience on Capitol Hill.
