To undermine Trump, journalists blind themselves to the rioting

Hyperbolic? Yes. But is there truth to it? Also, yes.

But don’t tell that to certain members of our very tough Fourth Estate. Some journalists thought it would be smart to suggest this week that everything is basically fine in these major U.S. cities because they are not personally experiencing the violence, vandalism, and arson.

“Washington, D.C., is simply out of control,” said Washington Post reporter Dan Zak, tweeting a peaceful video of a park in Washington, D.C.

Congressional bureau chief for Politico John Bresnahan said elsewhere, “Yeah, DC is wrecked. Went for a run in Rock Creek Park & then sat by the Lincoln Memorial for awhile. Now gonna go to dinners. The horror! Lol.”

“Yes,” said NBC News correspondent Garrett Haake. “Destroyed so thoroughly the wilderness has reclaimed much of it… oh no, wait. This is just a beautiful, peaceful park in DC. SHEESH.”

Then, there is CNN correspondent Josh Campbell, who wandered around Portland taking scenic pictures while declaring that all is well.

“Good morning from wonderful Portland, where the city is not under siege and buildings are not burning to the ground,” he said Monday morning. “I also ate my breakfast burrito outside today and so far haven’t been attacked by shadowy gangs of Antifa commandos.”

He added later, “Update: Downtown Portland remains intact with no raging fires. There are some routine contrails (not chemtrails!) above the city from arriving flights, but no indication any of those airplanes are bringing in brigades of Antifa commandos.”

Campbell continued, “Update: While there’s localized nightly violence in Portland, the people in line at VooDoo Donuts would never know the entire city is ablaze. The face masks could be hiding their Antifa identities, or they could be following medical advice to wear face coverings in a pandemic.”

His colleague, CNN correspondent Lucy Kafanov added in response to his notes, “Stay safe, [Portland] looks very ‘ablaze’ in that photo.”

What better way to prove Trump wrong about these cities than to announce to the world that you are a fundamentally incurious reporter who also lives in a quiet, relatively safe neighborhood?

In Portland, where violent anti-police activists have gone basically unchecked since late May, a right-wing activist was killed this weekend during a protest. The city’s mayor also announced Tuesday that he is moving out of his downtown condominium after agitators targeted it for nightly demonstrations, including one in which they smashed windows and lit fires.

In Seattle, at least two people were killed in and around the anti-police activists’ so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. Several others were injured in shooting-related incidents.

In Washington, D.C., a U.S. senator and his wife were mobbed last week as they left the White House. Diners have been harassed and berated by bands of white activists demanding shows of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Businesses have been shuttered; churches set on fire; storefronts boarded up.

In cities where anti-police riots have become a nightly ordeal, dozens of small businesses have been totally destroyed, many of them with no hope of return.

Journalists saying essentially, “I don’t see anything bad in my part of the world, so everything must be OK” is just such an incredible self-own, especially for someone who is in the business of collecting and reporting the news.

It takes an enormous amount of privilege and ignorance for a man to scoff at the violence that has destroyed so many lives because it has not affected him personally. It takes an even greater amount of stupidity for a reporter to do this and not even realize what a damning indictment it is on his or her abilities as a journalist.