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Balancing Act: Must "Both Sides" Weigh the Same? [1]

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Date: 2023-06-08

With Donald “Do A Default” Trump still at large, something must be done. Not to curb him, of course; to coat him. Lest we forget, he still pretty much helms one of our two major parties, i.e., one “side.” Hence, the further he veers off the deep end, the more he must be whitewashed. Gilded. Propped up. Teflon-coated. Respected. CNN town-halled. And so on.

It’s only fair. Otherwise, things might get skewed. Folks might frown on him. Since peeved polling or POVs must be blamed on “bias,” any accountability (in the media or at the polls) for actual wrongdoing will not do. (Period.)

Grumpy old man/whipsaw alert. Six decades ago, at home and in school, I began to follow “current events” (especially elections). Doing so, I heard that “good citizens” should take a fact-based approach- letting the chips fall where they may and the land slide where the real world’s gravity pulls it.

Voila: “Landslide Lyndon” Johnson. Unlike his 1964 GOP foe, he backed civil rights. Healthcare coverage for seniors. Workers’ rights. And progress toward liberty and justice for all.

To be sure, at the time most newsies danced around the fact that Barry Goldwater was a regressive, John Birch-boosted bazooka. But still. At least they didn’t nonstick-coat him all day long.

Oh, well. Times change. Part-and-parcel of today’s new-and-improved news is the idee fixe that when lopsidedness looms, Job One is to even things out. With that in mind, let’s check some metrics.

In one term at the top, Trump spewed some 30,000 documented lies. In 8 years as veep and (at this writing) 2.5 years as Chief, Joe Biden has stretched the truth a few times.

Call it even.

In 2020, at rallies, White House events, and the Presidential Debate (where the self-styled “Chosen One” somehow evaded the ostensibly required Covid testing), Trump and his cult of mask-free fake masculinity spread killer germs. Biden wore large masks (which Trump perversely mocked). So again, that’s pretty much the same, right?

Off they went. After the election, each claimed victory. How alike can you get? Of course, some nitpickers insist Trump fussed a bit. Granted, on the Ellipse he stoked fire-breathing, already militant mobs “to the Capitol….to fight like hell….to take back our (sic) country!” Okay. So perhaps he waxed a tad harsh.

But what a ratings booster! (Could some droning, decorous, dull-as-dishwater, law-abiding donkey have drawn so many baby blues to the screen? I think not!)

So here’s the thing. The upshot looks finely balanced. According to aggregate pollster 538, after 862 days in office, Trump and Biden each posted a 41.2% approval rating. Clearly, even the hoi polloi knew both sides were equal! (Praise be, hallelujah, and a pox on partisans!)

Granted, even some tuskers have pointed to Trump’s “madness” (quoting ex-GOP strategist Rick Wilson). Not to mention his indictment on scads of felony counts (with still more serious ones in the offing). And to his culpability (proven to and unanimously confirmed by a civil court jury) of carnal assault and defamation of his victim.

Look. Even his own former attorney general now foresees destructive “chaos” should Trump regain our White House. Still, best to speak no evil. After all, who are we-the-people to judge? As ever, the proof is in the putsching. And we all know that can’t happen here.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/8/2174117/-Balancing-Act-Must-Both-Sides-Weigh-the-Same

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