Barr tries to bury Mueller report and media asks: ‘Need a shovel?’ [UPDATED]

(this post has updates below including the addition of David Brooks, NYT, CNN & Politico)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Scratch that, actually. We’re living through one of the shittiest times in American history even though Very Smart Reporters of Twitter have made declarations that WILL make you question why we have national press in the first place.

OMG y’all—dumb takes on Barr’s cover-up abound:

1) Peter Baker, New York Times

2) Terry Moran, ABC News

3) Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept (a two-fer)

4) Chris “Scalding Hot Takes” Cillizza, CNN

5) Ed O’Keefe, CBS News

6. David Brooks, NYT

7. CNN

8. New York Trump Stenography Times (repeat offender)

9. Politico, aka National Enquirer on the Potomac

The Mueller Report is not out.

Once again for the cheap seats: MUELLER’S REPORT IS NOT OUT—it’s been buried in a soup can in William Barr’s backyard. To declare otherwise is either willfully ignorant or a lie. Shame on the press for being so feckless and incurious about what we’re facing: a traitorous president* shielding himself and his pals/family from prosecution.

Without action history will repeat like a scratched vinyl record: William Barr was called upon by George H.W. Bush to cover up Iran-Contra and he was hired to do no different here. The press failed us in 2016 and they’re doing it all over again now.

Charles Dickens’ opening graph in “A Tale of Two Cities” says it all:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

“Some of its noisiest authorities insisted on being heard” is exactly where we are right now. As long as news and journalism are left to personalities and catch phrases and dopey hashtags like Chris Cuomo’s #LetsGetAfterIt we’re doomed.

RELATED: PRESS PLAYS ALONG WITH BARR’S OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE PLOY (ERIC BOEHLERT)

I’ve written extensively in this space about why #TrumpRussia is the biggest scandal in American history and Barr’s attempt to cover it up—with an assist by national media—won’t change that. Have a look at my archives for back issues on this subject.

I’ll update as events warrant. I’ll be live-tweeting tonight’s Maddow show because it’s the only program I watch that gives us the straight dope. 😡

UPDATE (26 March 2019): usual suspects at New York Times are out with “think” pieces (term used loosely) about how Trump has been vindicated. (Writer’s note: I’m not linking to them because I refuse to give NYT hate clicks.) He has not, ya know, been vindicated; I’ll now toss to twitter gal pal Xeni Jardin for more on NYT gross op-ed page:

UPDATE 2 (8 May 2021): VINDICATED; fucking vindicated. See my Twitter thread for all the receipts. National media helped Bill Barr craft a flimsy Mueller narrative that Casino Mobster wanted; many of us bloggers, journalists and other reporters watched the slow-motion trainwreck with abject horror.

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Will Pollock is a perpetually crabby New York City escapee based in Midtown Atlanta. He’s a freelance multimedia journalist, media analyst and author of two books (the award-winning Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way.

In 2001, Will earned his Masters from The Medill School of Journalism, graduating with highest honors from the magazine sequence. As permanent member of Journalism’s National Honors Society, he’s been active in monitoring, writing and blogging about media and journalism ever since he graduated.

Obsessed with good storytelling and journalistic excellence, Will uses snark, humor and reason to distill dumb shit and make it fun. He is a seeker/maker of non-consensus news, and will help you cure your crankies by finding the nut in every story.

As for-profit media continues to fail us, it’s more important than ever to find reliable sources. Authentic storytelling exists—you just have to look for it. On this blog you’ll get ideas, not ideology. Sass with class. Reporting with rapport. Evidence with a touch of evil. You get the idea.

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