This is the very heart of what needs to happen, right now. Thank you, Jen. The public, the larger public, needs to see - with no veils - the deterioration of our leadership.
"Now, more than ever, the press must rigorously expose Trump’s delusions, lies, and blunders while they spotlight the victims and consequences of Trump’s reign of chaos. We should applaud journalists who do just that — and admonish those who need to do better." This is just the matter of economy. Unless reporters are reporting the truth, papers lose their values and hence subscriptions. In reporting truth, they have economic values. Or they are out in the street.
"The public, the larger public, needs to see - with no veils - the deterioration of our leadership."
Totally agree that the media needs to hold our government leaders accountable, but where was Jen and the rest of the media during Biden's obvious cognitive decline while in office?
Biden’s deterioration was evident. The change of leadership to Harris came too late, but it was done. Also, Biden’s state of mind did not lead to war, illegal detention of thousands of innocent people, death of at least three US citizens, upending critical world supply chains for fuel, fertilizer critical manufactured products, and complete disregard for the laws laid out in the Constitution and elsewhere. I think a lesson was there, and unfortunately not appreciated by the current administration.
Yes but who had the spine to admit it? Biden's family, his closest advisors, Kamala Harris and senior leadership in the Democratic Party all knew as early as September of 2021 when Schumer, Pelosi, and others met with Biden in the White House. They kept that knowledge to themselves instead of addressing the nation and invoking the 25th Amendment or arranging for Biden to simply step down and let Kamala take over. To this day Jen Rubin and company will not acknowledge this. Cowards all.
"Biden’s state of mind did not lead to..."
Biden is responsible for an unsecured southern border, leading to the problems we're having now with deportations. You just can't open the border up to millions of unvetted migrants and not expect a lot of downsides. You talk about the deaths of three US citizens, but where was the Democratic Party and the media when innocent people such as Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungary and Rachel Morin were assaulted and killed by illegal immigrants? There wouldn't be so many issues with deportations had Biden merely continued Trump's border policies.
Biden botched our withdrawal from Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen service members. And the best Biden could do upon the return of the remains was to repeatedly look down at his watch.
Biden told us that we wouldn't get inflation if we injected a lot of money into the economy. Next it was inflation was "transitory" until it wasn't. Then, just as with Trump, we were lectured to about how great the economy was but we couldn't see it.
DEI implementation...enough said...
Human nature being what it is, there's enough mistakes to go around. Neither party will ever admit to their mistakes, nor will their cheerleaders in the media.
"TRUMP: Because I just don’t know enough about it."
This is more evidence that the man does not know what he is doing. He started a war of diversion, which to date is the most damaging to us, the law, the Constitution, and to that region of the world. There was no imminent danger. This war will not make us safer or more secure. We have seen no strategy, no plan, and no endgame exit policy. This is the most irresponsible performance of this man yet. Thanks to honest and unrelenting journalists who expose his lies, we are getting more truth - finally. Please keep it up.
Yes, Steve, Drumpf's comment you quoted is probably the closest he has come to telling the truth in years. Of course, he could also be vomiting out yet another one of his thousands of lies (shocking, I know). If he really IS telling the truth, it is just another example the emperor having no clothes, a disgusting visual image that. He is too stupid to come up with 99% of this shit he's doing on his own.
A short list of his puppet masters are Herr Stephen "Adolf Eichman" Miller, co-secretary of war Bibi "War Criminal" Netanyahu, Russell "Project 2025" Vought to name just 3.
Yep, Drumpf was right in saying "I just don't know enough about it" but that could apply to just about anything. That's because he's too distracted by other important projects such as destroying the Kennedy Center, razing the East Wing of the WH to clear the way for his unlawful gaudy ballroom, denying healthcare to millions while giving tax cuts to his billionaire bros and having campaign-style rallies right in the middle of an unnecessary war that he started to name a few. Oh, and let's not forget napping during cabinet secretary meetings.
You also forgot the Arch de Trump that he wants to stick at the end of Arlington Memorial Bridge. In spite of everything else, he's still dodging the Epstein files.
He's distracted so much that he's now distracting from the many distractions he's conjured up. How many Pinocchio's will it take for folks to realize this?
Richard, for some in our country known as hardcore MAGAts, he could have a Pinocchio nose as long as the distance from Earth to Mars and they would still buy into the the lying bullshit. They suffer from an incurable disease: Trump Sycophancy Syndrome. They're hopeless cases.
tRump relies Miller and Vought. In terms of Bibi, I disagree that he is tRumps puppet master. I would ask what's in it for tRump. He does nothing for anyone if there's nothing in it for him.
Now if they can show a fraction of this newly rediscovered, fundamental journalistic moto for Epstein victims the entire world will cheer. We sank so low that now we have to clap when journalists behave like journalists. Never thought I would live to see this fiasco. Thanks Ms. Rubin for a job always well done.
I'm waiting for a trusted journalist to finally ask trump when he says "I don't know much about that", why don't you know? You're the President, right? How about you find out the answer and then get back to me. trump uses this tactic constantly to shut reporters' questions down. It's not good enough. If he doesn't know what's going on in his own administration he should step down. If he does know and is lying, well.....call him on it.
And I applaud you for your continuing to hold ALL of this administration accountable through your reporting; and, likewise, Heather Cox Richardson, Paul Krugman, and the balance of The Contrarian writers! TY!
Well-stated. Using examples drawn from recent news accounts and then providing the lessons learned- perhaps a bit obvious for other historical moments but much-needed now. This is why we need & rely on independent journalism. Thank you!
EXCELLENT Article! I hope journalists who question Trump continue the focused follow up questioning. And you are correct, that journalists should support each other and refuse to allow Trump (or anyone else like “BS Barbie” Leavitt) demean one of them without push back.
Yes, I agree. ANY time a journalist is insulted by this regime, other reporters need to step up immediately, call out the insults to their colleague, and continue to press on with questions. Like Jeff Tiedrich says, the first journo who says "what the hell is wrong with you?" gets the Noble Prize
"What really bothers me is when 💩Trump demeans a female reporter and the rest of the press remains silent like a bunch of cowards."
Agreed. Trump really hates to be held to account for anything except for his successes. It's one of his most irritating traits.
But the press also remained "silent like a bunch of cowards" during Biden's term when it was obvious that he was suffering from cognitive decline. They remained silent about Minnesota's social services fraud until a YouTuber with an iPhone exposed it. And now most of the press' coverage of our war with Iran is negative.
Too few reporters understood the quality of Hillary Clinton's cross examination discection of tRump during her debate. Master surgery is often underappreciated. It is foolish to play poker with a magician.
The quality of ideas is the foundation of true authority.
I think one recent story has not gotten the press it deserves. The Trump administration (Republican party) removed oil sanctions on Russia (supposedly temporarily). This is a huge policy change and once again Trump/Republican policies benefit Putin. Of course anything that benefits Putin is to the detriment of Ukraine, Russia and global democracy. Perhaps the sanctions relief is simply a knee jerk response to the spike in oil prices due to the Republican party's illegal, immoral war against Iran, but I think it's a good bet the sanctions will never be put back in place and Trump and the Republican party will continue to support the Putin regime as it tries to emulate Putin's authoritarian rule.
I think this story should be worthy of a banner headline, don't you?
With any luck, the sanctions will return on January 20, 2029 when a Democratic President takes the oath of office. (From my keyboard to The Lord's eyes)
Depleting our defensive weapon stockpiles waging this war of choice also benefits Putin to the detriment of Ukraine and gives the regime more reason to covet Greenland’s resources.
Thanks for pointing this out. Unfortunately, the press corps has long acted similarly. I remember thinking back in the Nixon years that the press corps should ask follow up questions based upon what an earlier questioner had asked. They all want to ask their question, not work together to get better answers for the greater good.
This is how Watergate came crashing down on Nixon. Sure, there were big things but it was the preponderance of evidence that brought him down. That’s the technique now emerging.
Since Trump 1, The Donald has been sitting on top of a flag pole greased with lies upon lies. It's the same tactic he's used throughout his +60 years of self promotion.
His current approval rating indicates he's quickly slipping down the grease of his lies. If the press keeps up the search for truth rather than swallowing Trump's propaganda, it would greatly help the US return to reality.
Jennifer Rubin remains a pillar of honorable and ethical reporting in these crazy times.
I am happy to support her, The Contrarian, Ann Telnaes, Andy Borowitz, Meidas Touch, The Democracy Docker, and other brave champions of truth-telling, with the money I used to send to Bezos' Washington Post, Bezos' Amazon, and Murdoch's WSJ.
"Jennifer Rubin remains a pillar of honorable and ethical reporting in these crazy times."
There was a time when Jen held Democrats accountable, especially during the Obama administration. That is no longer the case. Now Jen has become just another partisan hack and totally in the anti-Trump camp. That's a far cry from "honorable and ethical reporting".
"I am happy to support her, The Contrarian, Ann Telnaes, Andy Borowitz, Meidas Touch, The Democracy Docker..."
If all of your favorite sources of information share the same ideological bent, you're not getting all the information you need to make informed decisions.
This is the very heart of what needs to happen, right now. Thank you, Jen. The public, the larger public, needs to see - with no veils - the deterioration of our leadership.
The lead media story today is the revelation that the Epstein noose was not tested for DNA for the autopsy.
Want to expose the tyrant? Say the majic word: EPSTEIN.
"Now, more than ever, the press must rigorously expose Trump’s delusions, lies, and blunders while they spotlight the victims and consequences of Trump’s reign of chaos. We should applaud journalists who do just that — and admonish those who need to do better." This is just the matter of economy. Unless reporters are reporting the truth, papers lose their values and hence subscriptions. In reporting truth, they have economic values. Or they are out in the street.
"The public, the larger public, needs to see - with no veils - the deterioration of our leadership."
Totally agree that the media needs to hold our government leaders accountable, but where was Jen and the rest of the media during Biden's obvious cognitive decline while in office?
Biden’s deterioration was evident. The change of leadership to Harris came too late, but it was done. Also, Biden’s state of mind did not lead to war, illegal detention of thousands of innocent people, death of at least three US citizens, upending critical world supply chains for fuel, fertilizer critical manufactured products, and complete disregard for the laws laid out in the Constitution and elsewhere. I think a lesson was there, and unfortunately not appreciated by the current administration.
"Biden’s deterioration was evident."
Yes but who had the spine to admit it? Biden's family, his closest advisors, Kamala Harris and senior leadership in the Democratic Party all knew as early as September of 2021 when Schumer, Pelosi, and others met with Biden in the White House. They kept that knowledge to themselves instead of addressing the nation and invoking the 25th Amendment or arranging for Biden to simply step down and let Kamala take over. To this day Jen Rubin and company will not acknowledge this. Cowards all.
"Biden’s state of mind did not lead to..."
Biden is responsible for an unsecured southern border, leading to the problems we're having now with deportations. You just can't open the border up to millions of unvetted migrants and not expect a lot of downsides. You talk about the deaths of three US citizens, but where was the Democratic Party and the media when innocent people such as Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungary and Rachel Morin were assaulted and killed by illegal immigrants? There wouldn't be so many issues with deportations had Biden merely continued Trump's border policies.
Biden botched our withdrawal from Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen service members. And the best Biden could do upon the return of the remains was to repeatedly look down at his watch.
Biden told us that we wouldn't get inflation if we injected a lot of money into the economy. Next it was inflation was "transitory" until it wasn't. Then, just as with Trump, we were lectured to about how great the economy was but we couldn't see it.
DEI implementation...enough said...
Human nature being what it is, there's enough mistakes to go around. Neither party will ever admit to their mistakes, nor will their cheerleaders in the media.
which they voted for
Thank goodness for truth seeking and reporting journalists! Appreciate you ☺️
"TRUMP: Because I just don’t know enough about it."
This is more evidence that the man does not know what he is doing. He started a war of diversion, which to date is the most damaging to us, the law, the Constitution, and to that region of the world. There was no imminent danger. This war will not make us safer or more secure. We have seen no strategy, no plan, and no endgame exit policy. This is the most irresponsible performance of this man yet. Thanks to honest and unrelenting journalists who expose his lies, we are getting more truth - finally. Please keep it up.
Yes, Steve, Drumpf's comment you quoted is probably the closest he has come to telling the truth in years. Of course, he could also be vomiting out yet another one of his thousands of lies (shocking, I know). If he really IS telling the truth, it is just another example the emperor having no clothes, a disgusting visual image that. He is too stupid to come up with 99% of this shit he's doing on his own.
A short list of his puppet masters are Herr Stephen "Adolf Eichman" Miller, co-secretary of war Bibi "War Criminal" Netanyahu, Russell "Project 2025" Vought to name just 3.
Yep, Drumpf was right in saying "I just don't know enough about it" but that could apply to just about anything. That's because he's too distracted by other important projects such as destroying the Kennedy Center, razing the East Wing of the WH to clear the way for his unlawful gaudy ballroom, denying healthcare to millions while giving tax cuts to his billionaire bros and having campaign-style rallies right in the middle of an unnecessary war that he started to name a few. Oh, and let's not forget napping during cabinet secretary meetings.
You also forgot the Arch de Trump that he wants to stick at the end of Arlington Memorial Bridge. In spite of everything else, he's still dodging the Epstein files.
Thank you for pointing out that glaring omission.
Someone recently referred to the current war as Operation Epstein Fury...
The new GED - Gross Epstein Distraction.
He's distracted so much that he's now distracting from the many distractions he's conjured up. How many Pinocchio's will it take for folks to realize this?
Richard, for some in our country known as hardcore MAGAts, he could have a Pinocchio nose as long as the distance from Earth to Mars and they would still buy into the the lying bullshit. They suffer from an incurable disease: Trump Sycophancy Syndrome. They're hopeless cases.
tRump relies Miller and Vought. In terms of Bibi, I disagree that he is tRumps puppet master. I would ask what's in it for tRump. He does nothing for anyone if there's nothing in it for him.
Now if they can show a fraction of this newly rediscovered, fundamental journalistic moto for Epstein victims the entire world will cheer. We sank so low that now we have to clap when journalists behave like journalists. Never thought I would live to see this fiasco. Thanks Ms. Rubin for a job always well done.
I'm waiting for a trusted journalist to finally ask trump when he says "I don't know much about that", why don't you know? You're the President, right? How about you find out the answer and then get back to me. trump uses this tactic constantly to shut reporters' questions down. It's not good enough. If he doesn't know what's going on in his own administration he should step down. If he does know and is lying, well.....call him on it.
SO TRUE!
Just what I was thinking. Thank you for saying it.
Precisely!
Just another distraction!
And I applaud you for your continuing to hold ALL of this administration accountable through your reporting; and, likewise, Heather Cox Richardson, Paul Krugman, and the balance of The Contrarian writers! TY!
Yes--Richardson, Krugman and others. Please--forgive me for sharing my substack here today. It seems the right time and place?
https://tonybrunello.substack.com/p/war-and-democracy?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3470138&post_id=190773062&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=25359&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Well-stated. Using examples drawn from recent news accounts and then providing the lessons learned- perhaps a bit obvious for other historical moments but much-needed now. This is why we need & rely on independent journalism. Thank you!
EXCELLENT Article! I hope journalists who question Trump continue the focused follow up questioning. And you are correct, that journalists should support each other and refuse to allow Trump (or anyone else like “BS Barbie” Leavitt) demean one of them without push back.
Yes, I agree. ANY time a journalist is insulted by this regime, other reporters need to step up immediately, call out the insults to their colleague, and continue to press on with questions. Like Jeff Tiedrich says, the first journo who says "what the hell is wrong with you?" gets the Noble Prize
Articulate. As Always. 🙏
What really bothers me is when 💩Trump demeans a female reporter and the rest of the press remains silent like a bunch of cowards.
And noticing how Trump responds to male reporters asking tough questions...hmm...
At least Trump does press conferences and answers questions during his regular Cabinet meetings, unlike his predecessor...hmm...
"What really bothers me is when 💩Trump demeans a female reporter and the rest of the press remains silent like a bunch of cowards."
Agreed. Trump really hates to be held to account for anything except for his successes. It's one of his most irritating traits.
But the press also remained "silent like a bunch of cowards" during Biden's term when it was obvious that he was suffering from cognitive decline. They remained silent about Minnesota's social services fraud until a YouTuber with an iPhone exposed it. And now most of the press' coverage of our war with Iran is negative.
Too few reporters understood the quality of Hillary Clinton's cross examination discection of tRump during her debate. Master surgery is often underappreciated. It is foolish to play poker with a magician.
The quality of ideas is the foundation of true authority.
I think one recent story has not gotten the press it deserves. The Trump administration (Republican party) removed oil sanctions on Russia (supposedly temporarily). This is a huge policy change and once again Trump/Republican policies benefit Putin. Of course anything that benefits Putin is to the detriment of Ukraine, Russia and global democracy. Perhaps the sanctions relief is simply a knee jerk response to the spike in oil prices due to the Republican party's illegal, immoral war against Iran, but I think it's a good bet the sanctions will never be put back in place and Trump and the Republican party will continue to support the Putin regime as it tries to emulate Putin's authoritarian rule.
I think this story should be worthy of a banner headline, don't you?
With any luck, the sanctions will return on January 20, 2029 when a Democratic President takes the oath of office. (From my keyboard to The Lord's eyes)
Depleting our defensive weapon stockpiles waging this war of choice also benefits Putin to the detriment of Ukraine and gives the regime more reason to covet Greenland’s resources.
Oh, but don-old calls it an excursion.
Yes. Germany just criticized this and said that Europe would find other ways to penalize Russia.
Thanks for pointing this out. Unfortunately, the press corps has long acted similarly. I remember thinking back in the Nixon years that the press corps should ask follow up questions based upon what an earlier questioner had asked. They all want to ask their question, not work together to get better answers for the greater good.
This is how Watergate came crashing down on Nixon. Sure, there were big things but it was the preponderance of evidence that brought him down. That’s the technique now emerging.
Since Trump 1, The Donald has been sitting on top of a flag pole greased with lies upon lies. It's the same tactic he's used throughout his +60 years of self promotion.
His current approval rating indicates he's quickly slipping down the grease of his lies. If the press keeps up the search for truth rather than swallowing Trump's propaganda, it would greatly help the US return to reality.
Jennifer Rubin remains a pillar of honorable and ethical reporting in these crazy times.
I am happy to support her, The Contrarian, Ann Telnaes, Andy Borowitz, Meidas Touch, The Democracy Docker, and other brave champions of truth-telling, with the money I used to send to Bezos' Washington Post, Bezos' Amazon, and Murdoch's WSJ.
Thank you, patriot!
"Jennifer Rubin remains a pillar of honorable and ethical reporting in these crazy times."
There was a time when Jen held Democrats accountable, especially during the Obama administration. That is no longer the case. Now Jen has become just another partisan hack and totally in the anti-Trump camp. That's a far cry from "honorable and ethical reporting".
"I am happy to support her, The Contrarian, Ann Telnaes, Andy Borowitz, Meidas Touch, The Democracy Docker..."
If all of your favorite sources of information share the same ideological bent, you're not getting all the information you need to make informed decisions.