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You are here: Home / The judge’s wife screamed “let the man go free”

The judge’s wife screamed “let the man go free”

by DougJ|  May 28, 201711:31 pm| 102 Comments

This post is in: Our Awesome Meritocracy, Our Failed Media Experiment, Our Failed Political Establishment

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The New York Times’ crush on Jared Kushner has taken a strange turn. On Friday night, after the Washington Post broke the story of Kushner’s request for a back channel with Moscow, the Times ran a piece assuring everyone that the back channel was “to discuss strategy in Syria and other policy issues, according to three people with knowledge of the discussion.” Although it wasn’t obvious, the subtext of the whole article was “calm down everyone, it was for legitimate purposes.” It turns out the same people who fed this load of shit to the Times also tried to feed it to the Post but the Post wouldn’t run it unless the three people agreed to be described as Kushner surrogates.

WaPo didn't print the "it was about Syria" line bc it came from Kushner partisans who refused to be ID'd as such. NYT had no such scruples. https://t.co/P5PFWFYNvu

— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) May 27, 2017

Just now, the Times ran this ridiculous tongue bath of Kusher (via):

His preppy aesthetic, sotto voce style and preference for backstage maneuvering seemingly set him apart from his father-in-law — but the similarities outweigh the differences. Both men were reared in the freewheeling, ruthless world of real estate, and both possess an unshakable self-assurance that is both their greatest attribute and their direst vulnerability.

Mr. Kushner’s reported feeler to the Russians even as President Barack Obama remained in charge of American foreign policy was a trademark move by someone with a deep confidence in his own abilities that critics say borders on conceit, people close to him said. And it echoes his history of sailing forth into unknown territory, including buying a newspaper at age 25 and developing a data-analytics program that he has said helped deliver the presidency to his father-in-law.

He is intensely proud of his accomplishments in the private sector and has repeatedly suggested his tenure in Washington will hurt, not help, his brand and bottom line.

What is this about? Presumably it’s about cultivating Kushner and his people as surrogate, but, seriously…what the fuck? Other self-respecting papers don’t give their hand-jobs this publicly.

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Reader Interactions

102Comments

  1. 1.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    May 28, 2017 at 11:33 pm

    And yet we’re condescended to for suggesting we cancel (or not subscribe) to the Times.

  2. 2.

    sigaba

    May 28, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    They’re just priming the pump for when Jared starts leaking.

    (Have you ever heard that expresion before? “Prime the pump?” I think I just made it up etc etc.)

  3. 3.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    May 28, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    At this point, the only way anyone can buy even-the-liberal Fuck the Fucking New York Times is if every bought newspaper is accompanied by a letter to the editor wishing for Pinch Sulzburger to be fed feet-first into a woodchipper.

  4. 4.

    Doug!

    May 28, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    Not by me. I cancelled briefly myself, thought about it a lot, then resubscribed.

  5. 5.

    Emma

    May 28, 2017 at 11:37 pm

    My very first PoliSci professor in college told us our very first class that we were required to read the New York Times because “you always need to know what the rich bastards who really own this country are up to.” Nothing I have seen in the forty years since then has made me question his recommendation.

  6. 6.

    geg6

    May 28, 2017 at 11:38 pm

    What does Putin have on Sulzberger and Bacquet? Because otherwise, these Trumpworld tongue baths make no sense at all. Marty Barron is eating their lunch.

  7. 7.

    Yoda Dog

    May 28, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    The NYT is garbage: Part the Infinity

  8. 8.

    Lyrebird

    May 28, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    Wonkette has a nice summary of the NY real estate shambles this creep has brought about, and didn’t the NYT itself recently cover what a slumlord he is? What is there to be proud of? FWIW, Five Dollar Feminist’s title fits with Timurid’s read (begging pardon if I misrepresent it): seems like someone sent out the bat signal to normalize normalize normalize.

    I was not previously aware that perpetually flaring one’s nostrils & cocking your head like the TMJ pain is about to hit maximum was “preppy”… UGH

  9. 9.

    sm*t cl*de

    May 28, 2017 at 11:46 pm

    His preppy aesthetic, sotto voce style and preference for backstage maneuvering

    ‘Sotto voce (/ˈsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃɪ/ or /ˈsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃɛ/ or /ˈsɒtoʊ ˈvoʊtʃeɪ/; Italian: [ˈsotto ˈvoːtʃe], literally “under the voice”) means intentionally lowering the volume of one’s voice for emphasis.’

    If NYT writers think that “sotto voce” means “soft-spoken” or “in the background”, they are not Englishing properly.

  10. 10.

    Bobby Thomson

    May 28, 2017 at 11:46 pm

    But I was assured that Haberman was a legitimate journalist and that I shouldn’t assume the worst.

  11. 11.

    J R in WV

    May 28, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    There is something deeply strange wrong with the N Y Times staff from top to bottom. I can’t think of any logical explanation for this editorial selection, assignments, allowing this tripe into a newspaper of any sort, let alone one with pretensions of being a great publication.

    If I want to know what the wealthy people think, the Wall street Journal is a better source, and their editorial staff is acknowledged to be wack job right wing crazy, no doubts. The NYTimes pretends to be an objective news organ, but sells unnecessary and immoral wars, a presidential candidate who is stone crazy AND becoming demented.

    Something deeply strange is wrong with this organization, and I doubt we will ever find out what it is, as it is no doubt repressed at every level.

  12. 12.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    May 28, 2017 at 11:49 pm

    @Doug!: Since I turned 18, the only things I can think of
    that the NYT has been known for are Judith Miller and EMAILS. I really don’t see the value (with the caveat that I’ve never set foot in NYC, so maybe they are good for local NY news) in that.

  13. 13.

    Lyrebird

    May 28, 2017 at 11:51 pm

    @J R in WV: Yeah, the WSJ editorial board only admits total right-wing whackaloons to their ranks, but yet even they published an editorial which included some line like, “we all came here on little boats” so stop it with the immigrant bashing!!!

    Sigh. Plus everything you said.

  14. 14.

    efgoldman

    May 28, 2017 at 11:54 pm

    @geg6:

    Marty Barron is eating their lunch.

    As far as WaPo and NYT are concerned, it’s 1973 and Watergate all over again. NYT got scooped multiple times by that adventure, too. Marty was at the Globe then, when it was a real newspaper.

  15. 15.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    May 28, 2017 at 11:55 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay: Really, you’re 18? I’m 21.

    Also, I think the rag on the FTFNYT is that their general and world reporting is really good, but their political front desk is fucking horrible, and its style sections are written by and for motherfucking loathsome shitsucking pieces of shit. (WaPo’s deal, meanwhile, is that it had/has the worst opinion page section in the country).

  16. 16.

    Doug!

    May 28, 2017 at 11:55 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    They do a lot of good reporting on lots of not-so-sexy but important issues. Their political reporting is inexplicably terrible. Always has been.

  17. 17.

    efgoldman

    May 28, 2017 at 11:55 pm

    @Bobby Thomson:

    I was assured that Haberman was a legitimate journalist

    The legitimate heiress to Judith Miller

  18. 18.

    Another Scott

    May 28, 2017 at 11:56 pm

    RawStory:

    Saturday, the Post reported some White House aides have engaged in discussions over whether Kushner should take a leave of absence as scandals engulf the White House.

    Further complicating the president’s relationship with Kushner are his son-in-laws fruitless attempts to oust chief White House strategist Stephen Bannon. According to the Times, Kushner believes the barrage of negative leaks about his team are spearheaded by Bannon, who considers Trump’s son-in-law a “globalist” and compares him to “the air” for the way he blows in and out of the White House.

    Another setback in the Trump-Kushner relationship—concern over Kushner’s sister Nicole Meyer’s pitch to Chinese businesspeople earlier this month.

    The Times reports the president “increasingly [includes]” Kushner in lectures to the staff.

    In a statement, Trump denied a growing strain in his relationship with his son-in-law.

    “Jared is doing a great job for the country,” Trump said. “I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person.”

    Oh no!11 Donnie’s upset with Jared! And Jared wanted to get rid of Steve!!1 . That must mean that Jared’s a Good Guy™!11

    Good grief.

    These idiots are destroying the country and the Times thinks it’s important that we need all this psychodrama to show what a good guy Jared is…

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  19. 19.

    Doug!

    May 28, 2017 at 11:56 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):

    Said it better than I did.

  20. 20.

    kindness

    May 28, 2017 at 11:58 pm

    Listen. We’re talking about the Feds chasing after Trump & his family regarding financial crimes committed by those peoples. We have already seen what a clusterfuck Trump likes his business’ to be there is no doubt a highway sized width of a paper trail to Russian mob money. Jared & others are going down and they are acting like they know it.

    I figure TrumpCo can put off the trial for 2 maybe 3 years though. This is going to take a while, When the walls really start closing in on them, that is when we have to be very careful WW3 doesn’t ensue for cover. Something like that wouldn’t be beneath them either.

  21. 21.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    May 28, 2017 at 11:59 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Sorry, typing on my iPad and wasn’t clear. As an adult (since my 18th birthday) the only noteworthy things I’ve known about the NYT have been Judy Miller’s sad sack of shitty ass lies, and the embarrassing election coverage (which really is still ongoing). I don’t think they really liked WJC either, but I wasn’t ever old enough to vote for him for prez.
    I’m in my 30s now :)

  22. 22.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 28, 2017 at 11:59 pm

    And there’s still the question of why the Times told us there was no FBI issue at all, just before the election.

  23. 23.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    May 29, 2017 at 12:01 am

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Yeah, whether or not that’s worth it to subscribe is obviously up to the individual, but I certainly don’t see the value of it. Again, I’ve never set foot in the state of New York, so my mileage varies from other people’s mileage.

  24. 24.

    Anya

    May 29, 2017 at 12:02 am

    Even more curious, Kushner rewrote his own wikipedia & used the same passage from the NYT. Here Nate Silver:

    TFW someone rewrote their own wikipedia entry and admins haven't had time to change it back yet pic.twitter.com/5WuhMWpAPa— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 29, 2017

  25. 25.

    M. Bouffant

    May 29, 2017 at 12:03 am

    Yo, Doug! Pretty sure that judge’s wife “cried”.

  26. 26.

    jayjaybear

    May 29, 2017 at 12:04 am

    The Grey Lady is a tramp.

  27. 27.

    geg6

    May 29, 2017 at 12:05 am

    @efgoldman:

    Back then, they published the Pentagon Papers and then sat back and basked in being the great protector of the First Amendment. They got lazy after breaking a huge story that got handed to them and that’s why Bradlee and and his police beat reporters were able to kick their ass. Today, they could be doing stellar work but choose not to. After all, Dolt 45 is a hometown boy. They should be breaking (and should have long ago) stories every day about a scandal in Trumpworld. Why don’t they? Something other than just bad editorial judgment. The say something nice about the Shitgibbon series was the absolute last straw. Krugman and Lane should just get out now.

  28. 28.

    efgoldman

    May 29, 2017 at 12:05 am

    @kindness:

    TrumpCo can put off the trial for 2 maybe 3 years though.

    Trials? Possibly. Indictments will happen on the prosecutors’ schedules (both Mueller and the NY AG). And when indictments start coming down, the rats will turn on each other. and except for the most delusional people (which means 80% of Mango Malignancy voters) the country as a whole will assume guilt, and all of their positions will be untenable.

  29. 29.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    May 29, 2017 at 12:06 am

    @efgoldman: Its galling how a lot of pundits (even firm anti Trumpers) on Twitter treat her like she’s some sort of muckraking crusader.

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    May 29, 2017 at 12:09 am

    @Amanda in the South Bay: I keep a tab open with the FTFNYT front page every day, but I (almost) never find myself clicking on a story. Similarly with the WaPo. I’m more likely to click on a Google News link, but even then I think I’ve read 2 WaPo story in the last 6 months, and maybe less for the FTFNYT.

    I haven’t been tempted to subscribe to either of them.

    We used to get the hard-copy of the WaPo here (NoVA suburbs), but we finally dropped it about 10 years ago. I couldn’t stand to support their editorial page, etc., etc., any more.

    I don’t feel guilty about not subscribing – not in the least. The Times still has a lot to answer for for their Clinton coverage…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    cokane

    May 29, 2017 at 12:09 am

    @Anya: Silver’s endless rage-on about the NYT is I think telling. Former employee but seems like he left on ostensibly good terms, just got more money from ABC/ESPN. But his media critique has singled out NYT alot, and I trust his judgement on it.

  32. 32.

    efgoldman

    May 29, 2017 at 12:10 am

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    Its galling how a lot of pundits (even firm anti Trumpers) on Twitter treat her like she’s some sort of muckraking crusader.

    The muck part is right. The rest not so much.

  33. 33.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    May 29, 2017 at 12:13 am

    @geg6:

    Jeff Bezos is not able to be bought. Hiring Marty Barron was genius, and signaled he cared about news product. That’s when I subscribed.

  34. 34.

    Doug!

    May 29, 2017 at 12:14 am

    @M. Bouffant:

    Yeah you’re right.

  35. 35.

    Mike J

    May 29, 2017 at 12:14 am

    @sm*t cl*de:

    If NYT writers think that “sotto voce” means “soft-spoken” or “in the background”, they are not Englishing properly.

    After the Manchester bombing, they said that it was “an improvised device made with forethought and care.” I say, one trip to B&Q and it ain’t improvised, even if it is home built.

  36. 36.

    Doug!

    May 29, 2017 at 12:15 am

    @Anya:

    Silver was kidding about that.

  37. 37.

    Anya

    May 29, 2017 at 12:15 am

    @cokane: Silver’s righteous anger over NYT’s shoddy work is a welcome move. They are terrible and they deserve to be shamed. My dad is always griping about the NYT. I feel like he’s disappointment is very personal.

  38. 38.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    May 29, 2017 at 12:16 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    This was seriously fucked up. They were overtly complicit in Trump’s election. Follow the Russian mob money.

  39. 39.

    LurkerNoLonger

    May 29, 2017 at 12:16 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: I would like to know that too. It put out the Russian fire just as it was beginning to smolder.

  40. 40.

    Anya

    May 29, 2017 at 12:16 am

    @Doug!: Oh. Really? I should’ve checked. Hahaha. I guess he was teasing the NYT.

  41. 41.

    cokane

    May 29, 2017 at 12:19 am

    @Anya: ya, keep in mind he was essentially working alongside some of these same people he’s slamming for years, and he was a hugely successful part of their politics section during his tenure there. i think he sees through their vapidness.

  42. 42.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 29, 2017 at 12:20 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:
    @LurkerNoLonger: No time for that Russian story, too complicated; hey, hear about Hillary’s emails?

  43. 43.

    cokane

    May 29, 2017 at 12:24 am

    I’ll also still never understand why these stories have 3 fucking bylines, i mean there’s no actual investigation going on in the story. It’s just a bunch of quotes or prepared statements by pro-kushner folks in the white house, topped off with some context, which is just rehashing recent news. I just don’t understand the logic of expending your newsroom resources this way.

  44. 44.

    Chet Murthy

    May 29, 2017 at 12:27 am

    @cokane: Oh, that’s easy. Thrush&Haberman gave the tongue-bath, and Lafranere did the actual writing.

  45. 45.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    May 29, 2017 at 12:29 am

    @cokane: It’s so that everyone in the newsroom can get a workout holding all of Antimatter Universe Michael Cera’s luggage.

  46. 46.

    Wumpus

    May 29, 2017 at 12:39 am

    Yep, the Times piece is just a bunch of spin from the Kushner faction mixed in with a bunch of spin from the Bannon faction, with no reporting or editing to make it news instead of catty gossip. Given their lax standards, I fully expect future Times articles to include full-on ads for Trump products shortly – “Officials say Trump was enjoying a delicious, top-quality Trump Steak(r) when the bombs dropped….”

    The clearest case of un-edited self-puffery in the Times piece is this: “Mr. Bannon, a onetime Kushner ally turned adversary known for working himself into ill health …”

    Yeah, Steve, we all know why you look like that. It has nothing to do with hard work.

  47. 47.

    LurkerNoLonger

    May 29, 2017 at 12:40 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: The story seems even more ridiculous knowing what we know now. NYT got played, by who I don’t know.

  48. 48.

    tobie

    May 29, 2017 at 12:40 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: That’s what bugged me the most. Who was Lichtblau’s source, one wonders. Should the Times being do some self-examination regarding how they go this so wrong?

  49. 49.

    Coppersmith

    May 29, 2017 at 12:46 am

    Like a cat trying to bury it’s shit.

  50. 50.

    efgoldman

    May 29, 2017 at 12:58 am

    @tobie:

    Should the Times being do some self-examination

    Should they? Yeah, any competent journalism enterprise should.
    Will they? Hell no; would Fox?

  51. 51.

    Ken

    May 29, 2017 at 1:00 am

    @cokane: I assumed it meant all three of them went to the editor with the same story, and the editor decided that meant it was confirmed – instead of, say, all three of them had been called by Jared’s people.

  52. 52.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 29, 2017 at 1:01 am

    @Wumpus:

    Yeah, Steve, we all know why you look like that. It has nothing to do with hard work.

    Hey, lifting the glass of booze from the table to his mouth is hard work.

  53. 53.

    Chris T.

    May 29, 2017 at 1:12 am

    @Amanda in the South Bay: If you don’t subscribe, how will you ever cancel?

    /snark

  54. 54.

    efgoldman

    May 29, 2017 at 1:19 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    lifting the glass of booze from the table to his mouth is hard work.

    Especially a triple in one of those fancy glasses with the weighted bottom.

  55. 55.

    Suzanne

    May 29, 2017 at 1:21 am

    I seem to remember it being better under Jill Abramson. It’s been disappointing under Baquet.

  56. 56.

    jl

    May 29, 2017 at 1:23 am

    It’s a well known Baudism, and now Yoda Dogism, that the NYT is garbage. And it seems we are zeroing in on what kind of garbage: corrupt garbage. Will be interesting to see what the lever was when this all falls out. Some Trump friendly big money boys do a mini-Putin with the Times: do what we want or no more cash for you? Will be interesting.

  57. 57.

    sukabi

    May 29, 2017 at 1:27 am

    @tobie: what they need is for someone that actually practices journalism to help them with their “self-examination” otherwise it will be the same bullshit “who could have known” they pulled after the Iraq war debacle

  58. 58.

    Aleta

    May 29, 2017 at 1:52 am

    This NYT ❤️ Kushner headline pissed me off: $110 Billion Weapons Sale to Saudis Has Jared Kushner’s Personal Touch especially since Lockheed did not confirm the line that Kushner’s PR guy (who went along on the trip) fed them about his supposed involvement.

    Two days later they printed Saudi Arabia to Invest $20 Billion in Infrastructure, Mostly in U.S. “The company, Blackstone, which Mr. Schwarzman helped found, said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had committed $20 billion to a new investment fund aimed at infrastructure projects, primarily in the United States. The commitment is about half of the capital Blackstone plans to raise for the fund,” without mentioning

    Since 2013, Blackstone has loaned more than $400 million to finance four Kushner Cos. deals — two of which have not been reported — making it one of the business’s largest lenders. And their ties go beyond the loans. Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone’s co-founder and chief executive officer, heads Trump’s business-advisory council and was in Riyadh with the president and Kushner. The Saudi promise to invest in Blackstone’s fund drove the firm’s stock up more than 8 percent.

    A Blackstone spokeswoman, Christine Anderson, said the company began talks with the Saudis a year ago, “well before President Trump was even his party’s nominee.” Blackstone is one of the largest non-bank real-estate lenders, and corporate deals are often announced during state visits. A spokesman for Kushner Cos. declined to comment.
    …Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and Kushner’s wife, was an investor in a fund Blackstone created in 2010 to seed hedge funds, according to financial disclosures.
    …
    Blackstone’s securing the pledge from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund moves the company closer to its goal of having more than $100 billion of purchasing power for infrastructure projects, an asset type where private investment has been limited by lengthy planning and permitting processes.

    Thanks to the Saudi boost, Blackstone shares are once again above their initial public offering price of $31 after slumping two years ago. That means Schwarzman, as well as having Trump’s ear, has about $500 million more in net worth.
    (from Bloomberg)

  59. 59.

    Wapiti

    May 29, 2017 at 1:55 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: iirc, Marty Baron was at the Post before Bezos bought it, but I credit him for keeping Baron on.

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 2:04 am

    The editors of the FYNYT obviously have their place on the wall when the revolution comes.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 2:06 am

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):

    At this point, the only way anyone can buy even-the-liberal Fuck the Fucking New York Times is if every bought newspaper is accompanied by a letter to the editor wishing for Pinch Sulzburger to be fed feet-first into a woodchipper.

    You are being very shrill.

    /Holds up a microphone with stadium speakers

    Please proceed. And fuck the FNYT.

  62. 62.

    Anne Laurie

    May 29, 2017 at 2:06 am

    @Suzanne:

    I seem to remember it being better under Jill Abramson. It’s been disappointing under Baquet.

    The suits who publish the NYT got rid of Abramson because she was… unsatisfactory. “Bitchy”. Baquet assured them he’d do better, and never need to be fired for asking the “right” people the wrong questions.

    The NYT board/ownership has always been deeply conservative; as the joke used to go, it wasn’t easy to get an idea into their heads, but once one had been implanted, they’d never give it up, either. Howell Raines hated Bill Clinton for very personal reasons, but his anti-Clinton animus quickly became one of the Received Texts for every Times-person since.

  63. 63.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 2:22 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: Putin caught the FYNYT editors with a bunch of hookers on camera.

    It would explain so much.

  64. 64.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 2:24 am

    self-respecting papers don’t give their hand-jobs this publicly

    Found your problem right there!

  65. 65.

    Aleta

    May 29, 2017 at 2:27 am

    Other self-respecting papers don’t give their hand-jobs this publicly.

    There was this snow job at Forbes: NOV 22, 2016 Exclusive Interview: How Jared Kushner Won Trump The White House. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2016/11/22/exclusive-interview-how-jared-kushner-won-trump-the-white-house/#1b9738023af6. It’s full of laughable lies about Jared the mastermind’s “secret back office.” He “raised more than $250 million in four months–mostly from small donors.” (And Russian money.) “The deciding factor at the end was data and entrepreneurship.” (And stolen Democratic election information and fake news.) “Jared understood the online world in a way the traditional media folks didn’t. …Remember all those articles about how they had no money, no people, organizational structure? Well, they won, and Jared ran it.” (And Manafort and Abramovich.)

  66. 66.

    Jay S

    May 29, 2017 at 2:32 am

    Did anyone read the full article and not just this excerpt? On the whole I don’t see it as particularly flattering to Jared. It paints him as a Trump suck up that nobody likes. Increasingly at risk of falling out of favor with Donald. Like a vile little court adviser to the King that may be at the end of the line. Just one of the vipers in this nest.
    ETA not to defend their coverage in general, but this article is not what it is being painted as.

  67. 67.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 2:35 am

    @Jay S:

    Increasingly at risk of falling out of favor with Donald. Like a vile little court adviser to the King that may be at the end of the line.

    Trying to humanize the fucker is fucking cocksucking by the FYNYT.

  68. 68.

    Aleta

    May 29, 2017 at 2:42 am

    @Anya: It’s probably this guy:

    Hollywood publicist Josh Raffel has joined the White House Office of American Innovation. Raffel, 32, previously represented Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies when he worked for Hiltzik Strategies. Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has been tasked with injecting ideas from the business world into the federal bureaucracy. Hope Hicks, another Hiltzik veteran, is part of the Trump administration’s communications team.

    After leaving Hiltzik in 2015, Raffel ran communications for Blumhouse Productions, the producer of horror hits such as “The Purge” and “Insidious.”

    -from Variety
    (We just paid for him to travel with Kushner to SA, Israel and Rome so he could dictate stories to the press.)

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    May 29, 2017 at 2:49 am

    I don’t buy the standard line that the New York Times is the root of all media evil. However, their sycophantic boot licking of Kushner is embarrassing even to other boot lickers.

    Meanwhile, I love that the Trump administration is blasting people who leak White House information to the press even as they leak White House information to the press. Also, Trump is notoriously bad at this. He used to do this all the time, personally, what claiming it was coming from someone named Barron. All the New York and New Jersey press would go along with this, knowing that flattering Trump’s ego would get them an easy quote.

    What Trump does not understand is that even though New York is the center of the universe for some things, presidential politics and the Beltway is a very different pond. Trump foolishly believes that he can play the same old games and still get good press. And there are people willing to kiss his ass, but they want more in return.

    Fortunately, Trump’s supporters are in for the duration no matter what, and the GOP leadership still runs cover for Trump because they have nowhere else to turn.

    ETA. Say that Trump were to be impeached and removed from office because of the Russian taint. Would there be pressure on Pence to resign as well, because he also benefitted from Trump’s folly?

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    May 29, 2017 at 2:49 am

    @Aleta:

    I still suspect that a lot of the touted “small donations” are how the Russians laundered their donations, but it’s just a hunch, I don’t have any actual evidence.

  71. 71.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 2:51 am

    @Brachiator:

    Would there be pressure on Pence to resign as well, because he also benefitted from Trump’s folly?

    Pence is in it up to his neck. The IC has already leaked enough to confirm he was complicit.

    When Trump goes, he’s going too.

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    May 29, 2017 at 3:04 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    ..Howell Raines hated Bill Clinton for very personal reasons, but his anti-Clinton animus quickly became one of the Received Texts for every Times-person since.

    Nope. When editors go, their influence and point of view leaves with them. If there is anti Clinton animus, it’s because it is the official line of the publisher and the people they hire.

    The Times publshers don’t know how to hire good editors anymore. It’s been a problem for a long time. People want to insist that Abramson was a great editor who was not allowed to do the job. Nope. She ran the newsroom into the ground, did not have a clear editorial point of view and alienated staff. The current editor is an asswipe who was a major fuckup at the LA Times, and should not be in journalism anymore. He should not even be allowed to run a blog site.

  73. 73.

    Amir Khalid

    May 29, 2017 at 3:06 am

    @Mike J:

    “an improvised device made with forethought and care.”

    My God, that’s a facepalm-worthy writing fuckup. If it was made with forethought and care, it was by definition not improvised.

  74. 74.

    frosty

    May 29, 2017 at 3:25 am

    @Another Scott:

    We used to get the hard-copy of the WaPo here (NoVA suburbs), but we finally dropped it about 10 years ago.

    I did the same with the Baltimore Sun,which I managed to find in College Park (WaPo territory) for a few years. The final straw was too many front page stories from the Tribune and LA Times — they weren’t a local paper any more. A damn shame. I blame the fuckers who bought the ChiTribune, worked a bustout, and saddled them with debt.

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 29, 2017 at 4:27 am

    The NYT is essentially an accessory to treason.

    They need to pay for this.

  76. 76.

    TenguPhule

    May 29, 2017 at 4:45 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    They need to pay for this.

    Debit, Credit, Pound of Flesh?

  77. 77.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 29, 2017 at 4:50 am

    @TenguPhule: Pound of flesh. Directly out of Punch’s ass.

  78. 78.

    Bruce K

    May 29, 2017 at 5:09 am

    Martin Baron’s the one who basically took down the Boston Catholic Church over the abuse scandal when he was with the Globe, right? That’s an outfit with at least a thousand years of practice at intimidation, and they couldn’t get him to flinch; I suspect the cheeto administration’s not going to do any better…

  79. 79.

    EBT

    May 29, 2017 at 5:13 am

    I have been spending the last week converting the data in my interactive fiction to a new format. Now that it is almost done I can run it through a script and produce this amazing looking d3 Network map that shows how all the narrative choices link together.

  80. 80.

    Citizen Alan

    May 29, 2017 at 6:01 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think they believed that an IED is simply something that the bomber makes himself, presumably as opposed to buying it off the shelf at RadioShack.

  81. 81.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    May 29, 2017 at 6:20 am

    Vichy

  82. 82.

    bystander

    May 29, 2017 at 6:27 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: We canceled the day after the election.

    After the disgusting story the Times ran about criminal charges – that never materialized – against Clinton I just seem them as irrelevant to news.

  83. 83.

    SFAW

    May 29, 2017 at 6:55 am

    I think most, if not all, of the problem can be laid at Pinch’s feet. He’s been publisher since 1992, when I seem to recall some other non-scandal “scandal” (I think it was called “White Watergate” or something) was being pushed. And I seem to remember the FTFNYT pushing various “scandals,” such as the total destruction of the West Wing — the worst since the Brits burned it, apparently — in 2001, by the outgoing Administration.

    Not sure whether there’s some thread common to those things, and their “reporting” during the 2016 election. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, one that no doubt could be easily explained by something other than Pinch’s personal animosity toward some person or persons.

  84. 84.

    SFAW

    May 29, 2017 at 7:00 am

    @Citizen Alan:

    presumably as opposed to buying it off the shelf at RadioShack.

    I tried picking one up at the local Radio Shack the other day. The store is closing, I thought I could get it for 50 percent off, but they were sold out by the time I got there. Apparently there are a lot of them Ay-rab Moooslim terrists in the local area, and they beat me to the punch. (Not to be confused with Punch, who must be rolling over in his grave, seeing what his son has done to the FTFNYT.)

  85. 85.

    Alexander

    May 29, 2017 at 7:11 am

    @sm*t cl*de:

    ‘Sotto voce (/ˈsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃɪ/ or /ˈsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃɛ/ or /ˈsɒtoʊ ˈvoʊtʃeɪ/; Italian: [ˈsotto ˈvoːtʃe], literally “under the voice”) means intentionally lowering the volume of one’s voice for emphasis.’

    If NYT writers think that “sotto voce” means “soft-spoken” or “in the background”, they are not Englishing properly.

    Far be it from me to defend the Times, but the Wikipedia entry you quote is wrong. The entries in the SOED, Chambers, Collins and Merriam-Webster all define ‘sotto voce’ as ‘in an undertone’ (plus some other variations, like ‘under the breath’, ‘in an aside’, ‘muted’, ‘understated’, etc.) None mention emphasis of any sort.

  86. 86.

    Booger

    May 29, 2017 at 7:23 am

    @SFAW: boy howdy! You can’t even find a crappy radio controlled car at Radio Shack anymore.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    May 29, 2017 at 7:24 am

    I’m hoping it won’t matter. Kushner’s genius may be over-rated. He told Trump to fire Comey. That is the move of a moron and it’s literally the only important thing he’s done since being handed this job he didn’t earn.

    The one decision he made was probably catastrophic for them. That’s his actual track record.

  88. 88.

    Kathleen

    May 29, 2017 at 7:34 am

    NYT’s “rebranded” marketing slogan: “Fluffing Fascists Since 1922”.

    “Several reliable, well-informed sources confirmed the idea that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not so genuine or violent as it sounded, and that he was merely using anti-Semitic propaganda as a bait to catch masses of followers and keep them aroused, enthusiastic, and in line for the time when his organization is perfected and sufficiently powerful to be employed effectively for political purposes.”

    ETA link: http://boingboing.net/2016/11/11/hitlers-only-kidding-about.html

  89. 89.

    Kay

    May 29, 2017 at 8:10 am

    The grossest part to me of the Kushner/Ivanka nepotism promotions is how in addition to being powerful they’re completely unaccountable. They never answer questions. They’re not even asked real questions. Instead we get this bullshit about what they think or how they are second hand.

    It’s insane- exactly how royal families are treated. Scratch that. Royal families are probably treated with less deference than these two.

    I don’t want to hear anything more about them unless they say it. Time to be a big boy and girl and speak for yourselves. Coddled, insulated rich kids who hire people to do the hard stuff. They’re too high and mighty to speak to the masses. We have to hear from their idiot shills.

  90. 90.

    Denali

    May 29, 2017 at 8:12 am

    @jayjaybear

    Internet win.

  91. 91.

    debbie

    May 29, 2017 at 8:15 am

    @Kay:

    Don’t underestimate their “gifts,” Kay. Has anyone else been as accomplished as they at alienating so many countries in so little time? We’ve been steered into a position where our only remaining allies are despots and dictators. Winning! Bigly!

  92. 92.

    Starfish

    May 29, 2017 at 8:19 am

    @Bobby Thomson: I like watching Tom Levenson yell at her all the time on Twitter. If you look at her Twitter time line, it is a complete garbage fire where everyone likes to yell about everything so I am not sure if she takes legitimate criticism seriously.

  93. 93.

    Kay

    May 29, 2017 at 8:32 am

    @debbie:

    We consistently over-rate the intelligence of rich people in this country. It’s a constant. It has to flow from the premise that money = merit, right? For this myth to survive despite loads of evidence to the contrary?

    Firing Comey was a bonehead move. Kushner made it all much worse.

  94. 94.

    debbie

    May 29, 2017 at 8:36 am

    @Kay:

    Firing Comey will prove to be Jared’s most benign move. I can’t imagine what he plans to do to achieve peace in the Mideast or in Israel (which you’ll recall are two separate areas).

  95. 95.

    Amir Khalid

    May 29, 2017 at 9:20 am

    @Kathleen:
    Because pretending to be an anti-Semite for political gain is somehow not quite as bad as being a sincere one? That’s genius thinking from the NYT, that is. (Eye roll.)

  96. 96.

    George

    May 29, 2017 at 10:17 am

    I am keeping a list of things to remember from here on out. Near the top of the list is a note never to trust the New York Times unless something it prints has undergone review in numerous other sources.

    With the Iraq war fiasco, at least the argument could be made, lame though it might be, that the NYT was not anti-American.

    With its anti-Clinton stance and, let’s face it, pro-Trump tilt, the NYT has become a propaganda tool. The trick is to realize that not all of the stuff it publishes is junk, and not to let the junk tarnish the decent reporting nor let the decent reporting justify the junk.

  97. 97.

    Calming Influence

    May 29, 2017 at 11:41 am

    I tried to buy a newspaper when I was twenty-five, but my dad forgot to give me millions of dollars.

  98. 98.

    Citizen_X

    May 29, 2017 at 11:43 am

    “his accomplishments in the private sector?????!!!???”

    Fucking Jared Motherfucking Trump is underwater on one of the worst all-time real estate deals, and is severely compromised (and is compromising American security) as a result.

    I think that Wonkette article has been linked above, but it’s valuable reading. I had no idea how completely stupid the 666 Fifth Ave. deal was.

  99. 99.

    kevin

    May 29, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    maggie haberman = judith miller

  100. 100.

    OGLiberal

    May 29, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay: Their local coverage consists of puff pieces about some lame ass food charity some rich heiress set up in the Hamptons because she’s so caring and wedding notices that cause the reader to vomit. They may be OK on sports but even the tabs have better sources on that front.

  101. 101.

    Another Scott

    May 29, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    @Citizen_X:

    cash flow at the time of the purchase covered only 65 percent of the debt service

    That’s OK, he’ll make it up on volume. He’s smart like that.

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  102. 102.

    Chitown Kev

    May 29, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    If you look at the Jarvanka love taps published by the NYT as items of “palace intrigue” (as I do), they aren’t bad pieces (even though even on that note, WaPo has done better “palace intrigue” pieces, such as in today’s WaPo).

    But the NYT seems to think that these pieces of “palace intrigue” are a substitute for the hard-hitting investigative journalism required into Trumpian corruption by this moment in time.

    As such, I find these items to be an insult to my intelligence, especially since The New York Times has the resources to do much better.

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