The New York Times is to President Biden what Walter Cronkite of CBS was to President Lyndon B. Johnson 50 years in the past.
That was when Cronkite, the extremely revered tv information broadcaster, advised Johnson, whose reputation had plunged because of the bloody and controversial Vietnam War, that it was time to go.
Johnson went.
It was a unique time, a time — not like now — when reporters like Cronkite have been balanced and plausible and information retailers sought equity and objectivity.
And no newsman was extra revered for his equity and objectivity than the late Cronkite, a veteran World War II wire service reporter who made the change to tv information.
He was typically referred to as “the most trusted man in America.”
So everybody listened when Cronkite, following the bloody Tet Offensive when preventing broke out in downtown Saigon and the U.S. Embassy was invaded, took to the air and deviated from his conventional objectivity to make an editorial remark in regards to the struggle.
He stated on Feb. 27, 1968, that the U.S. was neither profitable or dropping the struggle however was “mired in a stalemate” and the one approach out was to barter “not as victors, but as honorable people.”
Such was Cronkite’s affect that the nation listened and agreed. Johnson, bent on profitable the struggle, reportedly stated to an aide, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.”
Six months later Johnson introduced that he wouldn’t search re-election.
But the struggle went on for one more seven years.
This got here to thoughts when the leftist New York Times, which has been in President Biden’s pocket for years, ran a few tales per week in the past questioning his age and whether or not he has the psychological and bodily capabilities to run for a second time period. It additionally identified how the polls are in opposition to him operating once more.
The tales didn’t break any new floor. The paper solely belatedly reported what the typical American has been speaking about for months.
They have watched Biden’s blundering and cringeworthy performances and have been compelled to reside below his disastrous home anti-fossil gasoline insurance policies.
While The New York Times doesn’t have the trustworthiness of Walter Cronkite, its message was clear. And the message was, Joe, it’s time to go.
It was not as dramatic or historic as Cronkite’s message to Johnson was, however it was clear that Biden, who’s in apparent cognitive decline, shouldn’t search a second time period.
The Times’ resolution to desert Biden, who it beforehand endorsed, defended and pampered, despatched shock waves all through the worlds of politics and journalism.
It paves the best way for Democrats to run for president whereas Biden remains to be in workplace. It additionally greenlights for all of the woke members of the institution media that it’s now acceptable to start out reporting the unhappy fact about Biden.
The subsequent factor you realize, folks you thought needs to be starring in scary Hollywood films, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, will probably be off operating for president.
The Democrats’ hope is that Biden, like Johnson, will announce that he won’t search a second time period and end his time period with all of the dignity he can discover.
A Republican takeover of Congress in November, particularly the U.S. House of Representatives, will solely add to Biden’s mounting issues. The Republican-led House will launch a collection of investigations into Hunter Biden and the Biden administration.
Hardly had the Times’ tales run, than the Washington Post, which endorsed Biden, climbed on the brand new anti-Biden wagon, and ran a column crucial of his journey to Saudi Arabia. And it was not written by a mere staffer or a contributor, however by Fred Ryan, the writer.
The subsequent factor you realize, John Henry, proprietor of the Boston Globe, which additionally endorsed Biden — calling him “a foreign policy expert” who “managed the 2009 economic recovery” — fell in line, posting a narrative Saturday crucial of Biden’s embarrassing fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Herald, for the file, endorsed Donald Trump.
Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”