Death By Both-Sidesism

The New York Times is trying to kill me.

(Bulwark photo alteration / Original photos by OLIVIER DOULIERY,BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Both Sides

At this point, I think the New York Times has moved past trolling and on to attempted homicide. Here’s a paragraph in a story about Eric Adams:

Mayor Adams is far from the only notable elected official who has been criticized for making comments that seem inappropriate. President Biden has made remarks about people’s physical appearance. Former President Donald J. Trump often mocks people’s physical appearance and was found liable in a civil trial for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Both sides.

BOTH SIDES.

BotH SiDeS!

You see, Joe Biden has made many remarks about people’s physical appearances. Once, he said to a 10-year-old girl “I bet you’re as bright as you are good-looking.” Another time, he told the brothers of a 13-year-old girl, “keep the guys away from your sister.”

Donald Trump has also made many remarks about people’s physical appearances. One he said in regards to Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?”

Also he tweeted this about Heidi Cruz:

And he called Stormy Daniels “horseface.” And he wrote that Gail Collins had “the face of a pig.”

Then there was the time he mocked disabled reporter Serge Kovaleski.

And all the other times he called women fat or ugly.

But Trump’s comments about physical appearances aren’t always insults. In the case of his daughter, he complimented her appearance in the following manner: Asked what he would think if Ivanka posed for Playboy, Trump said,

I don’t think Ivanka would do that, although she does have a very nice figure. I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.

Sorry, almost forgot: There was also the time he said it was cool to just grab women by their genitals. And the time a jury found him guilty of sexual assault.

But yes, the editors at the New York Times are correct. It is common for politicians to remark on people’s physical appearances and both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have done so.

It is also correct that between them, Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been found guilty of 34 felonies.

But I probably shouldn’t give those guys any ideas.

At this point it’s clear that if we want better media, we have to build it ourselves. Which is what we’re trying to do, right here.

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2. Paul Ryan

It is tempting to say that Paul Ryan’s denunciation of Donald Trump in the 4 o’clock hour on Fox News is too little, too late.

Such a temptation would be a mistake.