CT Blue

There’s a blog out there, whose name escapes me, which had a regular feature asking that readers document the atrocities committed weekly on the Sunday talk Shows. I’ve noted before that Steve Benen spends a lot of time doing exactly that on his blog at the Washington Monthly. He does it very well, as here, where he makes the point that Mitch McConnell becomes intellectually incoherent when presented with evidence that the GOP talking points of the day are not supported by the facts.

For my own part, I have come to the sad realization that documenting the atrocities is more or less an exercise in futility. Does it get through to anyone who doesn’t already realize that we are governed by liars and thieves? Does the media, on whom these lies and distortions are regularly vomited, even care?

Contrary to Benen’s charitable view, it’s quite clear that McConnell clearly understood the question he was asked, and replied with a GOP talking point because that’s what they do, and because it always works. Here’s the exchange Benen quotes:

CROWLEY: Let me show you, because I know that Republicans have always said and continue to say that regulation is stifling business, stifling jobs growth. But there are a couple of figures out there that we found from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, one of them is on the reasons for initial unemployment claims, this is for the first and the second quarter.

Government regulation a little over 2,000 claims for unemployment were blamed on government regulation. Insufficient demand, 55,000. The National Federation of Independent Businesses did a survey. They asked small business owners, the very people you’re talking to, what is the single most important problem, they said poor sales. Government regulation was at 18 percent, taxes was at 18 percent, poor sales, 28 percent of people said that’s what the problem is.

So are you focusing on the wrong problem?

MCCONNELL: Well, you know why people aren’t buying. They’re unemployed. I mean, the private sector is not going to get going here until the government gets its foot off the throat and lets people who know how to create jobs and grow businesses do that.

Look, Candy, all of these people are not making this up. I don’t think people who are running companies are making it up. They realize what is making it difficult for them to grow and expand.

New health care mandates, the financial, the lenders, the new Dodd-Frank bill, crawling all over everybody, not big banks but small banks, all over my state, making it more and more difficult for them to lend.

Spouting talking points didn’t in this instance, as it usually does, because Candy Crowley, being the bulldog that she is, followed up and refused to let go until she got a straight answer and exposed the many and sundry lies in McConnell’s answer.

No, I kid, this is what she really did:

CROWLEY: Let me pick up where we left off right after a quick break. We’ll be right back with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROWLEY: Senator, I want to move us on to some politics here. I had a discussion with Senator Joe Biden earlier in the week, and he had something to say about Republicans I want you to listen to.

So Candy picked up where she left off, by changing the subject entirely Had she actually exposed his lies, he might not have come back on the show, and she can’t have that. Not that she’s interested in real journalism anyway. She’s with the 1%, like all the other talking heads, and she’s quite comfortable letting the GOP have its way.