THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - MONDAY, MAY 9, 2022

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Alice Stewart and Maria Cardona

Abortion has been one of the most contentious topics in American politics for decades, and the pending repeal of the landmark Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade has only turned up the heat. 

The cordiality exhibited on Sunday by two CNN commentators -- one a pro-life Republican and one a pro-choice Democrat -- stands in stark contrast to the bitter divide usually seen in any cable news debate on abortion. 

“Everyone is so passionate" about abortion issues, commented CNN Newsroom anchor Pamela Brown, but unfortunately sometimes expressed that in "really horrific ways that aren’t productive to this conversation.”

It undoubtedly helps that Alice Stewart and Maria Cardona are real-life pals, but it was still unique to witness a discussion where neither was accused of being a "baby-killer," wanting to "oppress women," or the other insults that usually fly freely.

"We will disagree passionately but civilly!" Cardona tweeted before the show to promote their appearance, and Stewart also tweeted praise for their "respectful disagreement."

The media often gets criticized -- not unfairly -- of amplifying partisan divisions and hatred. Outrage does get clicks, after all. We'd still like to take a moment to recognize the few minutes of fresh air shown here.

MEDIA LOSER:
Maria Bartiromo

"There’s a persistent trope among the more conspiracy-minded members of right-wing media that new variants of Covid are inventions timed to help Democrats and harm Republicans," wrote Mediaite editor-in-chief Aidan McLaughlin, and Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo is one of its most enthusiastic cheerleaders.

"The theory is so obviously silly that it hurts my head to even think about properly fact-checking it," McLaughlin added. "It should not have to be explained why it’s implausible that scientists across the globe are working in tandem with the Democratic Party and the American media to invent new variants of a virus out of whole cloth with the specific aim of winning midterm elections for Democrats."

Covid variants are in fact real, and despite the illogic of claiming a disruptive and deadly virus somehow benefits the party in power, Bartiromo promoted this conspiracy theory multiple times recently

“What a surprise.. right on schedule … here comes the ‘midterms variant,'” Bartiromo tweeted on Monday, and she's repeatedly made similar comments on-air. 

We'll award a dishonorable mention to Bartiromo's colleagues who have floated accusations that new Covid-19 variants are introduced to help Democrats. McLaughlin brings all the receipts here

The A-Block

SCOTUS leak mayhem continues 

In contrast to the cordiality exhibited by our Media Winners of the Day, above, many groups and individuals across the country continued to react to the leaked majority draft Supreme Court opinion in less amicable ways.

Protesters marched outside the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh before being dispersed by police. 

The View co-host Sunny Hostin compared Supreme Court justices’ claim to the right to privacy from protests outside their homes to a woman’s right to privacy to have an abortion.

CNN's Laura Jarrett also defended the protesters targeting justices' homes. "A conversation about civility," she said, "misses the mark."

Fox News host Steve Hilton once again called for President Joe Biden to be impeached, this time for allegedly inciting protests against the Supreme Court.

Al Franken suggested that Justice Samuel Alito himself could be behind the leak of his draft opinion, because he was "very proud" of how "crazy" it was. NPR's Nina Totenberg also thought the leak came from the right, saying that the only theory that "makes sense" pointed at a "conservative clerk."

Comedian Laurie Kilmartin derailed a panel on MSNBC's Ayman multiple times for her commentary, including declaring that she wanted to "make sweet love" to the SCOTUS leaker, and if the person turned out to be a Republican, "joyfully abort our fetus and let them know." Kilmartin also suggested that octogenarian Democratic members of Congress should go on a hunger strikes, citing a convicted IRA bomber as inspiration

Saturday Night Live's cold open compared the leaked opinion to 13th century English laws. Kate McKinnon also portrayed Justice Amy Coney Barrett during Weekend Update

John Oliver torched Democrats for failing to pass laws that would codify Roe during a monologue on Last Week Tonight, bashing the Obama and Clinton administrations as too "squeamish" to take action. 


🇺🇦 FOR LATEST UKRAINE COVERAGE CLICK HERE


In Other News...

'Bizarro World': CNN's Daniel Dale Torches Biden's Claim He Helped Bring Down Deficit

Trump Reportedly 'Weirded Out' By Madison Cawthorn Revelations, Considering Pulling Endorsement: Is He 'F*cking His Cousin?'

Mark Esper Says US Officials Stopped Trump's 'Dangerous' Plans 'That Could Have Taken The Country in a Dark Direction'

Trevor Reed's Dad Blasts 'That Son of a B*tch' Ted Cruz: 'Didn't Do Anything' To Get Son Out of Russia

New York Times Scrambles to Remove 'Fetus' as Answer to Today's Wordle: 'Entirely Unintentional and a Coincidence'


Industry news...

Congratulations to Nicolle Wallace -- today marks her fifth anniversary helming MSNBC's Deadline: White House. The afternoon news and politics program was expanded from one hour to two in August 2020.

RATINGS:The Five Quintuples Jake Tapper

Must See Clip

Deepfakes

Kendrick Lamar kickstarted the rollout for his much-anticipated album this weekend, dropping new single and music video “The Heart Part 5.”

In the video, Lamar uses several deepfakes to shapeshift into prominent Black celebrities including OJ Simpson, Will Smith, Jussie Smollett, Kanye West, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle.

“As I get a little older, I realize life is perspective/And my perspective may differ from yours,” Lamar raps in the intro. “I wanna say thank you to everyone that’s been down with me/All my fans, all my beautiful fans/Anyone who’s ever gave me a listen, all my people.”

Throughout the video, Lamar can be seen wearing a plain white T-shirt and black bandanna tied around his neck as his face morphs into various other people -- and his lyrics seem to reflect their biographies. 

Deepfake videos are fascinating technology, with troubling implications in this era of misinformation, but Lamar uses it to tell a compelling story.

Watch here.

Links We Like

Hundreds of videos expose the horrors of war in Ukraine
- Washington Post Staff, The Washington Post
Trump Did Not Invent Awful Republican Primaries 
- Chris Stirewalt, The Dispatch
Nothing Beautiful Survives the Culture War
- Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic
Without Roe, Nobody ‘Dictates’ Abortion Policy
- Kevin Williamson, National Review
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