Oh, Chuck.
In today's opening of "Meet The Press," Chuck Todd introduced the show's theme: disinformation. "We'll look at the anatomy of a lie: how a story with just a kernel of truth can metastasize into a politically potent conspiracy theory." What Todd didn't say was, "in so doing, we will continue to elevate Bill Clinton's lie to the same category of treachery as Donald Trump's lies, thereby perpetuating the disinformation we claim to abhor." (Barbara Boxer had a thing or two to say about that with Joy Reid this morning...whose show is eminently more informative than Chuck Todd's.)
I mean, why WOULD he say that second part? It's not like his reputation has taken a beating for being an uneducated, lazy, anti-journalistic hack recently or anything.
That's right, kids, Todd again compared Bill Clinton's admittedly asinine statement, "It depends upon what the meaning of the word “is” is," to Rudy Giuliani's saying, "No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth." Todd claimed disinformation isn't new, and instead of going all the way back to, say, Joe McCarthy — which much more readily squares up with the kind of disinformation happening today — went back to Bill Clinton saying...wait for it..."It depends upon what the meaning of the word “is” is." Twice.
In fairness, Todd did say the SCALE was new in Trumpworld, admitting that 15,413 was indeed a larger number than 1. So, journalistic props for taking that risk. *insert Nancy Pelosi SOTU clap here*
Then Todd pulled the Toddiest of "Both Sides" by proclaiming,
One real fear -- if both sides normalize disinformation as a political tactic. In the 2017 Alabama Senate race, a group of Democrats used online disinformation in the campaign against Roy Moore, circulating false evidence that Russian Twitter bots were working to elect Moore.
The thing is, Chuckles, both sides DON'T normalize disinformation as a political tactic. The Democrats may fall prey to it as a mistake, but they correct themselves and move on. The Republicans, on the other hand, seek out disinformation. They knowlingly spread disinformation in order to win elections and retain power. Democrats value an educated, informed, discerning electorate. Republicans value an uninformed electorate.
Based on Chuck Todd's reporting, it's not hard to glean what kind of electorate he values.
