Under fascist Elon Musk’s ownership, Twitter is obviously becoming more and more dystopian, more of a disaster for democracy, more of a cluster**** in every way. And yet we still do get brilliant exchanges such as the following, between James Fallows and Norm Ornstein, responding to the arrogant/clueless/dismissive/condescending/defensive post by NPR’s David Folkenflik arguing that it “just can’t be the stance for any journalist who cares about the profession or the nation to take” that  – as Jeff Jarvis astutely/correctly put it:

“What ‘press’? The broken and vindictive Times? The newly Murdochian Post? Hedge-fund newspaper husks? Rudderless CNN or NPR? Murdoch’s fascist media? No. [Kamala Harris] can choose many ways to communicate her stands with others outside the old press and with the public directly. The old press can and should be bypassed.”

and

“The press needs Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris doesn’t need the press. Their motive in whining for what they take as their birthright (hello, A.G.) is to salve their editorial egos and earn them attention (and money). They have not earned this role; they have forfeited the privilege by their behavior.”

Sad to say, but Folkenflik STILL has not provided a serious, substantive response to this. Nor has he responded to James Fallows, who nails it:

“I agree w this whole long thread from @NormOrnstein.

3 great institutions have catastrophically failed to “meet the moment” under pressure of Trump era.

—Repub party, for obvious reasons.
—Sup Court, ditto.
—Mainstream political press, in ways that keep being pointed out and keep recurring. As Norm details.”

And yet you will pretty much NEVER get an acknowlegement from the “mainstream political press” that they have, indeed, “catastrophically failed to ‘meet the moment’. Instead, you get – just as with Folkenflik – “wagon circling,” condescension, extreme arrogance, cluelessness, defensiveness, or just complete LACK of response (as well as complete LACK of needed course correction). In this case, many smart, good-faith people are making serious, substantive critiques of the “mainstream media,” yet the “mainstream media” just keeps failing. How so? Check out the brilliant Norm Ornstein’s Twitter thread, which spells it out very well. Oh, and stop trusting the “mainstream media” to give you accurate coverage of U.S. politics, or economics for that matter, because honestly, at this point, you’d probably be better informed if you completely ignored these assholes. With that, here’s Norm Ornstein’s Twitter thread (bolding added by me for emphasis):

• “David, I understand why journalists want to take this stance. But the fact is we have had no reflection, no willingness to think through how irresponsible and reckless so much of our mainstream press and so many of our journalists have been and continue to be“
• “Watch how often the White House press briefings end up as embarrassing zoos. Consider for example at O’Keefe’s shouting at and hectoring the press secretary. Far too many questions have little to do with what Americans care about, and more reflect the egos of the reporters.”
• “Watching the farce of a faux press conference with Trump, with not a single question about what should’ve been the big story of the day, an alleged $10 million bribe from Egypt, and few questions about what is most important, the stakes of the election and Trump’s approach to governance.”
• “I do think that sometime in the near future Harris should do not a press conference with campaign reporters who will not distinguish themselves with what is important but ask a flurry of gotcha and horse, race questions, but one or two in-depth one on one interviews.”
• “There are many good journalists who could do this really well. @yamiche @lawrence @GStephanopoulo @JohnJHarwood @AliVelshi @sbg1 to pick a few. But what I have seen over the past two weeks is a bunch of whining by self important narcissistic journalists who think it’s all about them.”
• “For Kamala Harris, this first period as the Democratic nominee is about defining herself and rallying the party and other voters sick about Trump, carrying through the convention. The Interviews should come after that.”
• “In the meantime, I watch with dismay as a press corps monomaniacally obsessed with Joe Biden’s mental condition almost completely ignoring the mental state of Donald Trump. His slurring, disjointed and embarrassing two hours with Elon Musk does not even get front page treatment.”
• “While there are stories and even some powerful editorials about Trump’s unfitness for office or plans for mass deportation, takeover of the civil service, promise of retribution, dictatorship on day one and invocation of the insurrection act, they are piecemeal at best, often relegated to less prominent places “
• “Which means most voters have no clue what a second Trump term would actually be like. The stakes of this election should be the core of coverage. Including of course, what a Harris presidency would be like and what it would do. I would be far more sympathetic to the push for more access by Harris if that were the case.”
• “Instead, we get the same insipid focus on the horse race and the polls, while normalizing abnormal behavior and treating this like a typical presidential election, not one that is an existential threat to democracy. The press does not have to side with Harris to do its job. It is falling so far short. “
• “What frustrates me as much as anything is that the centers of excellence I have so long admired and relied on, including the Post, the Times, the Journal, most news networks, the real opinion leaders that frame coverage for most of the other outlets, have failed so often and somehow refuse to even consider their shortcomings. End”