A Newsletter With An Eye On Political Media from The American Prospect
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A NEWSLETTER WITH AN EYE ON POLITICAL MEDIA

Deal-Making Republican 'Pragmatists'? Like, Who?

The 'moderates' who want a debt default: a case study in
journalistic destruction of the meaning of words

To begin, we find in this piece the perfect Altercation target. It's
too easy, in fact. AI would be bored addressing the intentional
normalization of far-right politics in the name of Beltway blessed
"moderation" in this moronic piece. The headline to this Semafor piece
by Kadia Goba reads YOU WANNA BE ON TOP?-"America's Next Top
Moderate: Which House Republican Wants the Title?
<[link removed]>"
We learn that compared to the House Freedom Caucus-that is, the crazy,
fascist lunatics who operate on the basis of total and complete fealty
to America's criminal and insane ex-president-Republican "relative
moderates ... are making rumblings of their own." What's more: "The
more centrist wing has its own rolling group chat of policy ideas,
messaging strategy, and even some spicy memes on secret text chains."
What do these "pragmatic Republicans" have in mind? What do these
members of this alleged "Mod Squad" think about their "conservative
colleagues"?

Do these wonderful folks oppose destroying the full faith and credit of
the United States under threat from their "conservative" colleagues?
Well, not so much, but Rep. Don Bacon "urged Democrats to negotiate over
spending cuts tied to the debt ceiling vote." And Nancy Mace, who voted
against Trump's second impeachment after condemning his role in the
Capitol riot, "made headlines
<[link removed]>
by warning Republicans not to overreach on abortion by imposing bans
without exceptions for rape or incest," but ended up voting for them
anyway. Yes, these are the brave folks we can totally depend on to save
American democracy ...

Semafor's willingness to go along with, even to empower, the
etymological hijacking of the word "moderate"-as well as the word
"conservative"-to accommodate a party that, as the actual moderate and
sometimes conservative Tom Edsall notes
<[link removed]>,
"has been transformed from a generally staid institution representing
the allure of low taxes, conservative social cultural policies and
laissez-faire capitalism into a party of blatant chaos and disruption"
is a powerful illustration of the willingness of even the savviest
members
<[link removed]>
of our media ecosystem to debase the English language-and thereby
enable actual American fascism
<[link removed]>-in
pursuit of political relevance and source-greasing.

[link removed]

**** The new January 6th report is every bit as much a disappointment as
the committee's hearings were a triumph. As Jill Lepore noted
<[link removed]>
in

**The New Yorker**, "In the January 6th Report, Donald Trump acted alone
and came out of nowhere. He has no past. Neither does the nation. The
rest of the country doesn't even exist."

Thanks to a decision made, apparently, by Nancy Pelosi, the committee
deferred in every instance to Liz Cheney's desire to turn the report
into a Never Trump-dominated document and thereby give a pass to the
MAGA-dominated Republican Party and conservative media structure that
supported and enabled his (so far) unsuccessful attempt to destroy
American democracy and install a lawless, fascistic regime in its place.

The Washington Post had warned us that this was likely in this piece
<[link removed]>
back in November. It explained that "[p]otentially left on the cutting
room floor, or relegated to an appendix" was the information relating to
"the law enforcement and intelligence community's failure to assess
the looming threat and prepare for the well-forecast attack on the
Capitol." It would also likely drop the investigations of the "financing
for the Jan. 6 attack," as well as that of the role of "militia groups
and extremism." The reason? Cheney "is said by multiple staffers to want
the report to focus on Trump, and has pushed for the hearings to focus
extensively on his conduct-and not what she views as other sideshows."

A lengthy New York Times Magazine
<[link removed]>
account confirmed that this is exactly what happened. It noted, "Far
more controversial internally was Cheney's adamant position that the
committee's final report focus primarily on Trump's misconduct,
while marginalizing the roles of violent domestic actors, their
financial organizers and their sympathizers in law enforcement." The
problem, according to Cheney's spokesperson, was that "some of the
staff members submitting draft material for the report were promoting a
viewpoint 'that suggests Republicans are inherently racist.'" To me,
the problem is that Cheney, as valuable as she has been, wants to run
for president (and even as an independent, she'll still need
Republican votes) and Democrats have no guts and no self-confidence.

The whitewashing of the Republican role was matched by the report's
similar willingness to ignore that of social media for empowering the
violent extremism that led to the attack itself. In another article in
the

**Post**
<[link removed]>,
we learn, "The Jan. 6
<[link removed]> committee spent
months gathering stunning new details on how social media companies
failed to address the online extremism and calls for violence that
preceded the Capitol riot." They compiled the evidence in a 122-page
memo
<[link removed]>,
but the committee apparently feared exposing "the roots of domestic
extremism taking hold in the Republican Party beyond former president
Donald Trump and [were] concerned about the risks of a public battle
with powerful tech companies, according to three people familiar with
the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the
panel's sensitive deliberations." What's more: "Confronting that
evidence would have forced the committee to examine how conservative
commentators helped amplify the Trump messaging that ultimately
contributed to the Capitol attack, the people said-a course that some
committee members considered both politically risky and inviting
opposition from some of the world's most powerful tech companies, two
of the people said." Here's the irony part: The evidence indicates
that Twitter may have given Trump preferential treatment, undercutting
claims Elon Musk has amplified in Matt Taibbi's so-called "Twitter
files" series
<[link removed]> about
alleged anti-conservative bias behind the scenes of the platform:
"Twitter was terrified of the backlash they would get if they followed
their own rules and applied them to Donald Trump," a former staffer
testified.

Got all that? The committee allowed itself to be used to protect
insurrectionist-supporting MAGA Republicans and social media
sites-including especially Twitter-and our mainstream media has
bought into a narrative that says MAGA Republicans are no longer in
charge of anything (except, of course, the House), and Twitter and the
rest of social media are dominated by extremist liberals who have
nothing but contempt for the free speech of honest conservatives. I
doubt even George Orwell
<[link removed]>
would have risked such a ridiculous scenario; then again, as Philip Roth
never tired of pointing out: "You can't write good satirical fiction
in America because reality will quickly outdo anything you might invent
<[link removed]>."

****

**** In We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel
<[link removed]>
news,

**The Forward**was nice enough to publish this interview
<[link removed]>
by deputy opinion editor Nora Berman with me this week. I am grateful
for that and to

**The New Yorker** for adding the book to the magazine's list of the
"Best of 2022 <[link removed]>" because it
was published after the list was first made. But so far, no daily U.S.
newspaper or national news magazine has published a review. Not

**The New York Times**; not

**The Washington Post**. Not

**The Wall Street Journal**, etc., all of whose respective roles in the
debate are discussed at length, but especially that of the

**Times**. (The British

**Guardian**
<[link removed]>
did, and so did Germany's

**Süddeutsche Zeitung**
<[link removed]>,
and so thanks to them.) Also, weirdly, Amazon removed, after it first
published <[link removed]>, an extremely
thoughtful review on the page from M.J. Rosenberg, a longtime veteran in
the issues described in the book. My publisher has been trying without
success to get a reason for this. Anyone at Amazon reading Altercation?
Thanks ...

****

**** I saw two really fun shows this week. First, I went back to
Birdland for the first of five shows by the 12-piece (plus vocalists)
Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra
<[link removed]>. Yes, Ellis had another son and Wynton,
Bradford, and Jason another brother, this one with eight albums to his
credit. He plays the kind of orthodox New Orleans funk-inspired jazz
(and vice versa) that just challenges you not to be in a good mood no
matter how lousy your life may seem when you first sit down to listen
(or, in another setting, get up to dance). For me, the highlights were
the extended Fats Domino cuts (and also the surprisingly excellent
Birdland burgers). Here <[link removed]> is a complete
Delfeayo gig from 2018.

Later in the week, I caught a really special show at the chichi (but
also quite beautiful) 54 Below by the cabaret chanteuse Ann Hampton
Callaway. In tandem with her new CD celebrating the legacy of Miss Peggy
Lee
<[link removed]>
(in which she is supported by, among others, Altercation friend John
Pizzarelli), the show I saw alternated between Lee songs and
stories-and a really lovely "Fever" that included Callaway's verses
about Lee's own, rather tragic life-and '70s sing-along songs that
even my partner, Laura, who only knows everyone's greatest hits, could
sing along to. Callaway was joined by her sister, another chanteuse, Liz
Callaway <[link removed]>, for a version
of "You've Got a Friend" that would have given a Springsteen rendition
of "Hungry Heart" a run for its money in the audience participation
department.

Callaway has a devoted following and immediately established a warm
rapport with the audience. I appreciated the way she introduced each
song so as to improve our appreciation of what we were seeing and
hearing, whether it was historical context or her own personal reasons
for making the choices she did. Also absolutely amazing was the rapport
she established with another Altercation favorite, Billy Stritch on
piano, given the fact that, in what must have been an incredibly
panicked moment, he stepped into the lineup at 2:30 on the afternoon of
the show itself. For more on Ann's remarkable career, go here
<[link removed]>. Finally, here
<[link removed]> she is singing "The Folks Who Live on the
Hill <[link removed]>

**" at Birdland.**

See you next week.

~ ERIC ALTERMAN

Become A Member of The American Prospect Today!
<[link removed]>

Eric Alterman is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English at Brooklyn
College, an award-winning journalist, and the author of 12 books, most
recently

**We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel** (Basic
Books, November 2022). Previously, he wrote The Nation's "Liberal
Media" column for 25 years. Follow him on Twitter @eric_alterman
<[link removed]>

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