Three Years of the Corporate Media Shrieking About the ‘End of Democracy’

In speeches throughout his time in office (and in particular starting with the 2022 midterms), President Biden has warned a second Trump term would herald the “end of democracy.” But if anything, Biden is late to the party. The corporate media were doomsaying about democracy’s brutal demise as far back as early 2021, and their rhetoric has only grown more absurd since then.     The most obvious issue with this dire warning, other than its absurd overuse by journalists loyal to liberals, is that it always entails an almost comically vague, ever-changing definition of “democracy.” For three years, washed-up security analysts have warned that, unless former President Trump goes to prison for his alleged role in January 6, democracy is dead. But that trend started as far back as even January of 2021, when MSNBC contributor and former Watergates prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks pontificated: “It is the end of democracy if we do not take and hold the President accountable for what he inspired.” By that point, the DNC operatives in the news media had already branded Republicans the anti-democracy party. On October 12 of 2021, CNN contributor and former Clinton aide Paul Begala warned that, if Democrats ever lost power again, democracy would be over forever: I’ve got a piece coming out tonight or tomorrow [about this] on cnn.com — shameless plug — and I really don’t think this is hysterical. I’m a pretty moderate guy. If the Democrats fail, it might be the end of American democracy. In December of 2022, MSNBC host Ali Velshi remarked while filling in on The Last Word that Moore v. Harper — a gerrymandering case concerning the North Carolina redistricting map — “could be the end of democracy if it goes the wrong way.” Velshi was far from alone in his assessment. In October of that same year, the ACLU put out a podcast episode about Moore titled, “This Supreme Court Case Could Upend Democracy.” In June 2023, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell agreed enthusiastically with Mount Holyoke College president-elect Danielle Holley when she remarked that the Dobbs decision was “a case that could end democracy.” A few weeks later, the Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece titled, “How the end of Roe turned into a threat to American democracy.” Do these ideologues really think any of these events will result in the mass-disenfranchisement of millions of Americans? Presumably not, but then what is their definition of democracy? The truth, as most have probably realized, is that “democracy” is simply a stand-in term for the DNC agenda. The Republican-favored North Carolina congressional map threatened “democracy” because it would’ve made it harder for the Democrats to win seats in that state. The overturning of Roe v. Wade also threatens “democracy” because it strips abortion, a sacred calf of the Democratic Party, of its constitutional body armor. But a Trump presidency would be most dangerous of all for “democracy” since a Republican in the White House would threaten all of the “progress” the Democratic Party has made over the last three and a half years.

MSNBC Interviews Michael Avenatti From Prison About Supposed Political Prosecution

It was only two weeks ago that MSNBC hosts were consumed with righteous outrage that a “liar” and “election denier” like Ronna McDaniel would be permitted to sully their “sacred airwaves.” This was not, they assured us, because of her politics, but rather an issue of propriety. If that’s true though, then it’s odd that these paragons of journalistic integrity had no such reservations about last night’s The Beat with Ari Melber, which featured an interview with disgraced attorney (and convicted felon) Michael Avenatti — who joined the show from prison.     Back in 2018, Avenatti became a media darling of unprecedented proportions for his role in the Stormy Daniels case against then-President Trump. In the course of a single year, he enjoyed an absurd 254 on-air interviews across six cable (CNN, Fox, and MSNBC) and broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). He was the media’s greatest hope in their war against Trump, and many journalists at the time speculated that he might be the one to finally bring down the mean orange man. Look at how much they adored this guy:     Instead though, the attention-loving porn lawyer’s meteoric rise was punctuated with a rather messy fall from grace. In 2019 he was was indicted on a plethora of criminal charges, including one instance in which he apparently concealed of a $4 million settlement from a paraplegic client for personal gain. When all was said and done, Avenatti was staring down the barrel of 10 million-dollar fine and a 14-year prison sentence That brings us to Tuesday night, when MSNBC host Ari Melber inexplicably decided that an unserious grifter in an orange jump suit would be the perfect guest to analyze NYC District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump. After a bit of fairly unremarkable legal analysis of Bragg’s case (spoilers: Avenatti, along with everyone else with a law degree in the country, thinks Bragg’s case has got a lot of holes) Melber donned his dramatic irony hat for this whopper of a question: You have implied that your treatment by the then-Barr and Trump Justice Department was harsher than other people may have been dealt with, if they weren’t in your position. You had become, for a time, a very prominent foe of then-President Donald Trump. Do you say tonight that there is evidence that you were treated differently, and if so, does that mean anything for what a second Trump DOJ might look like? Politically-motivated prosecutions? In 2024? Imagine! Never mind the Biden DOJ’s revenge tour against former Trump White House officials that commenced the day Merrick Garland took office.  Never mind that case which Melber and Avenatti were discussing was itself one of numerous politically-motivated attempts to hamper Trump in an election year. Never mind that Avenatti’s own case against Trump, not to mention the media’s adoration of him for it, was transparently politically motivated. It turns out the real victim of political persecution was Michael Avenatti all along. Who knew? Thanks to Ari Melber for highlighting this gross injustice. We hope that he will continue to speak out bravely about Avenatti’s plight.