Don’t believe everything the government says. Ask questions. According to Rachel Maddow, the Donald Trump presidency helped reporters learn that they should — gasp — be skeptical of those in power. But don’t worry, that will all come to an end when Joe Biden becomes president.
As though she were a first year journalism major, Maddow told Late Show host Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night: “This is a great time to be in the news business because we've never been more vital. Just to learn these basic rules again that if we didn't know them before, you know, don't listen to what they're saying. Just watch what they're doing. Don't— don't take at face value something you get from a government official because a government official is saying it.”
You might think those points are obvious, but apparently not to Maddow. To her, they were revelatory:
Those rules became very easy to remember all of a sudden again in the Trump administration, which is good. But they're good rules for us for all time. I just feel like, to a certain extent, like training to do this work means you, like, learn the rules of the road, and you learn how to operate safely, and you, like, build up your skills.
But don’t worry. All of that is coming to an end now because Biden will be “boring.” With no self awareness, she claimed, "It's been weird, and I think has un-wired a lot of us in the business in a way. I'm really looking forward to Biden being boring. I mean, he sort of promised to be boring."
Boring will be a nice excuse to downplay Biden scandals, like his son Hunter. (See here and here.) The hypocrisy is galling.
The Democratic propaganda on The Late Show was sponsored by Hyundai. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Late Show With Stephen Colbert
12/09/2020
11:57STEPHEN COLBERT: Now that we know-- 2020 has been a singular year. There's been no year like this in my life— at least not in my adult sort of conscious life. I know there were terrible years in the 1960s, when I was a child. But there's been nothing like this year. But there's been nothing like the last four years, either. And as someone who consumes an enormous amount of news in order to curate it and distill it for your audience, to try to give it— as I said you're master of parts on the lawn. These are the parts of the story, let me put it together and show you how the engine works. You have consume a lot of the poison of what the administration, this present administration is trying to sell to the American people and the world. How do you think that has affected the way you approach reporting the news?
RACHEL MADDOW: Ahh...
COLBERT: That's going to hopefully go back to a different sort of source of news nutrient after this. Now that it's coming to an end to some degree, do you have any perspective on what it's done?
MADDOW: Are you asking basically did this break me?
COLBERT: No, but did it in some way change your chemical composition?
MADDOW: It might have changed what I am able to digest and how. I mean, I-- I feel like this was-- I mean, this is a great time to be in the news business because we've never been more vital. Just to learn these basic rules again that if we didn't know them before, you know, don't listen to what they're saying. Just watch what they're doing. Don't— don't take at face value something you get from a government official because a government official is saying it.
Those rules became very easy to remember all of a sudden again in the Trump administration, which is good. But they're good rules for us for all time. I just feel like, to a certain extent, like training to do this work means you, like, learn the rules of the road, and you learn how to operate safely, and you, like, build up your skills. You know, you take lessons. You learn from the best. It's like getting a commercial driver's license. Like I'm going to be a big-rig driver. I'm going to be out to America's highways. I'm going to convey myself down the highway in a way that is safe for my fellow travelers. And then you enter into this administration and instead of getting your big rig and on the highway, it turns out there are bumper cars. And all the cars, all you're going to do all day is smash into each other and try to hurt each other, and that's your driving. And that's your job now.
...MADDOW: It's been weird, and I think has unwired a lot of us in the business in a way. I'm really looking forward to Biden being boring. I mean, he sort of promised to be boring.
