THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Brian Kilmeade

Fox News Channel's Brian Kilmeade has, on occasion, bucked the conventional bent of programming at his network, and the leanings of his audience, to criticize President Trump or dissent on a political point. Once or twice, he's done so in a way prominent enough to warrant the Media Winner title.

In today's example, it's not just that he stood against a tide or that he resorted to facts over partisanship, but that he respected a former colleague and refused to throw a person's entire life on the bonfire over a clash with Trump.

That person, of course, is former Trump national security advisor John Bolton, who, as our Media Loser entry today shows, is under an impressively uniform and vicious assault from the pro-Trump right.

On today's Fox & Friends, Kilmeade and co-hosts were covering Trump's morning tweets against Bolton, which included the obvious intent of painting Bolton as an outright liar. 

But Kilmeade didn't buy that. “I don’t like the idea of people making John Bolton out to be a liar,” he said. “He’s sat on this couch before. He’s not a liar. They have a differing of opinion."

He said he didn't like the questioning of Bolton's credibility, despite that being a multi-day theme on the network. It's always hard to push back against one's colleagues and friends, harder still when speaking to an audience that will hear nothing but contradiction of your point throughout the remainder of the news day.

It's a win for Kilmeade on the grounds of decency and circumspection, and for the network in having more than one view hit the air. And by the way? Saying Bolton said on their couch is an understatement. He was quite the Fox darling until he became a Trump foil.
MEDIA LOSER:
Rodney Howard-Browne

Televangelist Rodney Howard-Browne pulled off his own miracle this week, when he managed to top all other Trump supporters in invective against former Trump national security advisor John Bolton over the revelations in his not-yet-published book.

Howard-Browne is no household name when it comes to national news, though he is widely known and cited on MAGA right. In 2017 he famously went to the White House to "lay hands" on the President, and the megachurch he founded with his wife has had its own share of press in the past. 

Howard-Browne said this week that Jesus "would have made a whip and beat the crap out of" John Bolton.

"I have no respect for someone who is disloyal to the President and loyal to deep state," said the pastor. 

A casual reader might mix up these statements with those of people like Sean Hannity (who said he no longer recognizes Bolton), or Lou Dobbs (who called him a "radical tool" and "petty snarling Lilliputian"), or Dan Bongino (who called him a "snake"), or you name it (we could go on), and therein lies the media fail.

The pastor may have earned a moment in the spotlight, and certainly some cheering on social media from other devotees, but the degree of animosity and level of visceral hate are ultimately a loss for his entire political "tribe."

Does Dobbs think Jesus would have beaten up Bolton? Do writers at The Federalist believe the pastor should have "knocked [Bolton's] sorry butt through the door of the Oval Office" when last they met? 

They haven't said. But what they have said matches the tone and temper of this Trump-promoting evangelical who was invited to the White House. Not to mention other prominent evangelicals like Liberty's Jerry Falwell Jr.

The A-Block

[Don't] Sing a Song About the Heartland

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg ignited a social media explosion when he tweeted that having his vision shaped in the “American Heartland” rather than by "the ineffective Washington politics we've come to know" was an advantage in his run for the presidency. 

Democrats and the left unleashed a torrent of angry pushback, over the implication that places like Indiana (where Buttigieg hails from) or Iowa (where the most important contest in the primary is mere days away) might have insights into American ideals that one is hard-pressed to find in the cynical capitol. Obviously an incredibly offensive notion, right?

As a result of that torrent, Buttigieg later had to clarify and walk back his plainly evil statement.

"The values we hold aren’t exclusive to the middle of the country," said Buttigieg via a campaign statement. "What we all have in common is a feeling politics in Washington has failed us."

Schiff v Dershowitz

Trump team attorney Alan Dershowitz continues to be a major part of this week's impeachment trial story. His argument on Wednesday -- that the President can't be impeached because he believed his re-election was in the national interest -- took up a huge share of coverage on into Thursday.

In fact, his argument had such a profound effect, Rep. Adam Schiff singled it out in a presser as being "absurdly dangerous."

Everyone v Dershowitz

It wasn't just Schiff, though. CNN's Joe Lockhart, for example, said Dershowitz's argument is like something Hilter would say

In fact, nearly everyone had a take, which prompted Dershowitz to claim that the media was "willfully" distorting his actual argument. But that didn't go so great, either. 

And even Kellyanne Conway demurred when asked if she agreed with him. Ouch.

Whistles, Rand and Roberts

It's not a weird new law firm, it's how we're describing the drama that unfolded in today's session of the impeachment trial. Sen. Rand Paul attempted to have Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding, read aloud the name of the alleged Urkaine whistleblower.

Roberts did not, as promised.

Paul split after that, and claimed victory on social media. His premise is that it was a clever ruse, and by refusing to say the name aloud, Roberts was confirming that the individual is in fact the whistleblower.

Billionaire Buffet's Berkshire Bails on Buffalo News

Not JUST Buffalo News, Warren Buffet is dumping the news industry as a whole. His holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, is selling its stable of 31 newspapers to the Iowa media operation Lee Enterprises for $140 million in a deal announced Wednesday morning.

But the story as it relates to the Buffalo News is particularly interesting.

Coronavirus

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a "global public health emergency." Happy Thursday.

Must-See Clip of the Day

Blowin' in the Wind

It's not the answer, my friend, but the Wall that's blowin' in the wind, as a video clip rocketing around the web this week.

You may have seen a photo or two, but there's nothing like video to get a clear picture. And why do you need one? The war.

And what war? Well as Mediaite's Caleb Howe said on Twitter, the one between wind and President Trump. "So Trump is always making fun of wind power, and now the wind retaliates by knocking down his wall?"

You should check it out. It's short, and not much happens, but the video is worth a thousand pictures.

Links We Like

The Biden Family’s Ukraine Games Cried Out For Investigation
via New York Post
How Donald Trump Helped Move Buzzfeed’s Ben Smith To The New York Times
- via Vox

The Truth About Harvey Weinstein’s Walker
- via New York Times
Progressives And Moderates: Don’t Destroy Each Other
- via Washington Post
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