Perhaps today's footsoldiers of the Fourth Estate grew up in oddly tranquil worlds where one could challenge the capacity of a rival and never be called out to prove they can do any better.
Imagine a pre-Trump world where one of the two leading presidential candidates called his rival "low I.Q."
What would have been the reaction?
It would NOT have been a dutifully stenographic reporting of the comment without any attempt to put it into the context of reality.
The insult would have created a furore.
The reaction would NOT have been a reflexive editorial response that "It's just crazy Uncle Donald spouting again, and if he thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, we'll just humor him."
Editorial normalization of criminal unreality through the complicity of omission is the most conspicuous feature of the Putin/Trump world.
Imagine a pre-Trump world where one of the two leading presidential candidates called his rival "low I.Q."
What would have been the reaction?
It would NOT have been a dutifully stenographic reporting of the comment without any attempt to put it into the context of reality.
The insult would have created a furore.
The reaction would NOT have been a reflexive editorial response that "It's just crazy Uncle Donald spouting again, and if he thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, we'll just humor him."
Editorial normalization of criminal unreality through the complicity of omission is the most conspicuous feature of the Putin/Trump world.
And the least mentioned.