April 16, 2020

If the mainstream media could socially and electronically distance itself from the worst carriers for at least a couple of months (or, preferably, years...or decades...or forever) I believe we could blunt to the most damaging effects of Both Siderism.

But they just refuse to do it.

Case in point MSNBC, which for some reason continues to be congenitally incapable of not giving Ron Fournier a big, public platform from which to spread his BS gospel.

Please note that it was...

Republicans swarming the state capitol.
Republicans blocking ambulances.
Republicans proudly flying the flags of traitors and fascists.
Republicans trying to spread the plague to children.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell sets the scene from Michigan yesterday...

CONGRESSWOMAN DEBBIE DINGELL: ... What happened yesterday was inexcusable. People did not have masks, gloves, did not distance themselves. They had confederate flags, swastikas, blocked an ambulance trying to get to a hospital, bringing hate and fear into a time that is already full of fear and anxiety is just unacceptable. There were people bare-handed, handing candy to children. What they did was to help spread this disease around the state more, not contribute to the mitigation and it just made me sad.

And then Fournier swings into action to allocate the blame (emphasis added):

STEPHANIE RUHLE: Ron, what in the world's going on?

RON FOURNIER: ... It's understandable, people want to oppose the governor's policies or to accuse her of rehearsing for the vice presidency but you can't distort her record, which is what's happened, and you can't encourage people to gather en masse during a pandemic, which is what is happening. It's inexcusable. It's dangerous and I just hate to see the DC brand of ugly partisan politics making its way into Michigan and into Lancing like a toxic vine, but that's what's been happening this last week.

RUHLE: Ron, why is this political? This is a public health crisis.

FOURNIER: It's political because everything is political nowadays. This shows you now dysfunctional we've become as a society, everything is red versus blue, us versus them. There was a couple weeks in the state where the Republican-controlled lawmakers were working well with the Democratic governor. That has fallen apart. So you have traditional ugly modern day politics on top of understandable fear and anxiety. ...

20 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past three weeks, but this waste of carbon not only remains gainfully employed, but continues to be give an enormous corporate media megaphone in order to pass his claptrap on to the widest number of now-home-bound Americans.

Republished with permission from Driftglass

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