Courtiers

by tristero

Michael “Danger Is My Middle Name” Berube writes that typical lefty tropes about the MSM fall somewhat short of the mark:

The point is that we are not dealing merely with a ‘corporate’ media. That would be bad enough. We are dealing instead with a deeply decadent and deeply entrenched class of courtiers in the late stages of Bloated Beltway Media Empire, one of whose pastimes is chattering on about the folkways of the salt of the earth (bowling, shots-and-beer, guns, God). The level of chattering is directly proportional to the decadence of the commentator,

This is true, of course. But the piece Michael leaves out is that modern Beltway courtiers – from at least the Clinton era forward – pay obeisance not to the American president but to Republicans. When Republicans are out of power, they behave as a court-in-exile and the Beltway Courtiers treat them as such. Remember Broder’s “he trashed the place, and it wasn’t his place?”

And no Democratic president will be fluffed by Matthews the way he did Bush.

[Updated immediately after posting for clarity.]