There’s a new trend in headlines in media outlets on the left of the political spectrum. Both on the record and as “anonymous sources familiar with xyz’s thinking,” former Obama White House officials clog the airwaves and ink.
Take the Washington Post, ever ready to cast shade with its rallying cry that “democracy dies in darkness.” Their recent groundbreaking story interviewed a number of Obama sycophants in their “struggle to adjust to a Trumpian world.” No, that’s not actually snark on my part. That’s the real headline.
{mosads}There’s limited space in the pages of the Beltway’s largest fake news promulgator. The Jeff Bezos tax write-off could — and should — cover any of the major issues affecting the nation’s capital or the national scene. But the paper’s insular focus continues to be on issues that aren’t important to the vast majority of Americans.
Ordinary people in middle America couldn’t care less if former Obama staffers are sad. They have little interest in the Russia investigations. Instead, the working class wants real news that affect their lives right now — they want to hear about issues like tax reform, healthcare, and immigration. But the Post still doesn’t understand that. The outlet’s misguided focus shows readers just how out of touch the editorial staff of the major relic media outlets are. The Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and others still cling to the coastal, condescending view of the remainder of the country.
The United States isn’t just Manhattan, regardless of what the New Yorker would have you believe. Look at the media’s endorsements in last year’s election: all but two major newspapers endorsed Hillary Clinton, who bragged about putting coal miners out of work and failed to make more campaign stops in the America’s heartland.
There has been no honest effort by mainstream media journalists to get to know or understand middle America. After the 2016 election, the nation’s leading political writers and analysts had an opportunity to better understand both their profession and the nation as a whole. So far, neither has occurred. Part of the reason is due to the large chasms between small town and urban America.
For years, conservative pundits have been quick to claim that the heartland is an almost mythical “real America.” As the differences between the coasts and hinterlands increase, that picture is rapidly becoming more valid. Half the country voted for Donald Trump — but if you watch CNN, you would think only Vladimir Putin chose him.
People outside the Beltway care about issues that directly affect them and their families. The unemployment rate may be at a historic low, but there are deep underlying issues for millions of Americans. In a way, the Great Recession never ended for them. Many work several jobs with reduced health coverage thanks to ObamaCare.
Rural areas struggle under the burden of regulations and taxes imposed by their urban overlords with some states facing actual bankruptcy. Many resent that these policies promulgated by Chicago, San Francisco, New York, and others benefit the well-connected and well-to-do while the moms and pops of Main Street keep their businesses alive with shoestring and gum.
Democrats only seem interested in flyover country when it benefits them, like Hillary Clinton’s transformation from Arkansas’ first lady to denigrating the “basket of deplorables.” Left-wing media outlets (forgive me for repeating myself) are replete with rural hate. According to the elites, it’s not the coasts that are in the bubble — it’s the vast majority of the land area of the country!
Perhaps the Washington Post is right to cast Ben Rhodes and company in a sympathetic light. Not because of their policy failures or vanishing credibility, but because they are still foolish enough to believe their own product. American voters intentionally steered far away from emerging socialism and the Road to Serfdom. There wasn’t much farther they could get from Barack Obama than Donald Trump.
Here is a major opportunity for folks with degrees to learn more — or anything — about folks with calloused hands and those who know how to drive a standard transmission. Political life doesn’t end at the D.C. beltway. The rapid decline of traditional media shows not just a technological shift, but a conscious one as well. People who grew up reading Time magazine for its moderate roots slowly were turned off by the relentless pushing of demagogic and an ever more alien social and political agenda. If they wanted relentless lefty propaganda thinly veiled as entertainment, they would turn on John Oliver or Samantha Bee.
The legacy media is much too interested in salvaging whatever they can from President Obama’s crumbling legacy. With ObamaCare next on the chopping block, his Iran non-treaty treaty falling apart, and Cuba policy overturned, there is precious little to the “transformational” politics promised by the former novice U.S. senator from Illinois.
Kristin Tate is a conservative columnist and author of the book “Government Gone Wild: How D.C. Politicians Are Taking You For a Ride And What You Can Do About It.” She was recently named one of NewsMax’s “30 Most Influential Republicans Under 30.”
The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.