There is something in the watercooler at The Washington Post. Well, more specifically, in whatever water WaPo’s editorial board is drinking. For the most part, the Post remains a hotbed of Trump Derangement Syndrome-induced hysteria. Typically, the wildfire of irresponsible propaganda “journalism” is lit by editorial directives. For example, The New York Times editorial board is comprised of pathological liars, and that creates the standards-free environment that permeates the organization.
WaPo’s editorial board has been getting some things right lately, which is one of the most interesting things I’ve seen in 20+ years of writing about media bias. The way it gets there can often be convoluted, which is what I’m discussing in this column. More often than not, there will be mere kernels of correctness in an editorial that mostly misses the mark. Here is an example from its most recent editorial, which is about various property tax initiatives that are on the ballot next week:
Ad hoc rate cuts require capable elected officials who closely monitor tax collections and don’t have grand designs for greater government spending. Such officials are not always in power. So, voters may want a more solid assurance that their tax burden won’t rise too fast.
Old-school WaPo boards spent more than half a century celebrating “grand designs for greater government spending.” The new group sees not having any as something that “capable elected officials” do. This board is risking not being invited to the Democrats’ annual “Free Healthcare and Abortions Also Plus J6” ball next year.
Another editorial this week was titled, “Europe is running out of other people’s money,” which made me do a double-take. I don’t think WaPo channeling Margaret Thatcher has ever been on anybody’s bingo card. After determining that I wasn’t concussed, I dove right in to see what the catch was. We’ll take a look at the intro to the piece, then get into that:
France’s political crisis is colliding with a mathematical one. The government has made expensive commitments that its economy isn’t growing fast enough to keep. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets again this weekend to fight for larger slices of a pie that is not getting bigger.
The grievances differ from country to country, but the protests unfolding across Italy, Portugal, Spain and Belgium share an economic backdrop: weak growth, rising living costs and governments struggling to satisfy public demands.
The article is a fairly decent examination that begins its conclusion with the stunning line, “A continent that fancies itself a regulatory superpower should not be surprised when it impedes wealth creation and winds up with less wealth to redistribute.” Again, this is The Washington Post editorial board. The board members sound like they’re ready to revive the Tea Party movement.
The leftist bent of the WaPo board shows up not in what was written, but what wasn’t. There is no mention of the not insignificant rise in Muslim migrant populations in the countries that are struggling. Once more, with feeling: Mark Steyn told everybody that something like this would happen 20 years ago in America Alone. In it, he wrote of large influxes of Muslim migrants who immediately got on the dole in European countries that didn’t have a lot of barriers to entry for those desiring full participation in the welfare state.
One of the biggest problems in France since the riots broke out is that no one on the left is being honest about the root of the unrest. As I told my good friend, co-host, and partner in thought crime Stephen Green on a recent episode of “Five O’Clock Somewhere,” it is impossible to formulate a coherent response to a crisis when the people in charge refuse to correctly identify what the crisis is.
Ignoring the Muslim component in France‘s current situation takes effort. As Catherine wrote earlier in the month, there was evidence that only Jewish-owned businesses were being targeted by some rioters, while businesses owned by Muslims in the same area were safe. Even coincidence doesn’t think that’s a coincidence. Catherine’s post goes on to note that Palestinian flags were well represented among the rioters.
The WaPo editorial does point out the harsh financial realities of hyper-regulatory states that keep promising freebies to their citizens. That’s a partial win, given the history of the organization. However, ignoring the huge common denominator that accelerated the rush to the edge of the fiscal cliff for all of these countries is irresponsible.
Things will only get worse if leftists in government, media, and voting booths keep deluding themselves about the Islamic agenda. Don’t look for that to stop anytime soon. As the WaPo board showed here, the only terror that lefties fear is being called Islamophobic.
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