(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . NYT strikes back with not so subtle misogyny [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-08-24 This NYT opinion piece, written by Patrick Healy proclaims that “Joy is not a strategy” accompanied by a picture of Vice President Kamala Harris taken during her DNC nomination acceptance speech. Clearly, the title leads readers to believe that the piece is an indictment of Harris’s platform and it implies that she is only offering vacuous, fuzzy promises about “Joy”. If you read the column, however, it actually tells a somewhat different story. It first notes that if the message of the RNC was that “Trump is God”, the DNC’s could be summarized as “Harris is Joy.” And here is the kicker, Healy also acknowledges that “God is not a strategy.” So, we have the NYT’s classic rhetorical ploy of using a title that connotes negative meanings about the Democratic candidate whereas the actual story (or opinion piece in this case) actually says something different. But to the “Joy is not a Strategy” framing, if Healy believes that both candidates are trafficking in platitudes, then why only highlight Harris’s supposed lack of substance? But wait, the disconnect is even more pronounced, as Healy goes on to write: “The good news for Democrats is that Harris seems to understand this. Americans want her to lower their household costs and make it easier to find housing.” Perhaps you are asking, does Healy then discuss the specifics that Harris gave in her speech (which of course can’t be that detailed or else she would have been damned for policy wonking) or did he google on her policy platform which includes these items?: The elimination of medical debt for millions of Americans; the “first-ever” ban on price gouging for groceries and food; a cap on prescription drug costs; a $25,000 subsidy for first-time home buyers; a child tax credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life. Oddly enough, Healy writes as though these policy statements simply do not exist, Instead, he opines that Harris needs to show she can “stand up under pressure” and convince voters that she can handle the economy better than her opponent, America’s #1 Hannibal Lector fan and renowned expert on shark electrocutions and windmill TV outages—all the pocket book issues that Americans discuss over their kitchen tables in the heartland (which strangely enough no longer includes Minnesota, which against all geological principles has seemingly been transported to the West Coast). In Healy’s coup de grace, he advises Harris to get out of “her comfort zone” and extols that she needs to be tested by, drum roll please, holding a news conference where she faces tough questions!!!” You know like, “what do you think of Trump saying you are a DEI candidate? or that you said “thank you” too much during your DNC talk?; or that you have a crazy laugh?; or that he is better looking than you?.” As with Hillary Clinton in 2016, the subtle misogyny of the NYT and other establishment news outlets is rearing its sexist head. The woman candidate is always cast as having to prove herself to some amorphous “them” — despite an admirably extensive list of achievements— whereas such tests of merit are never raised in regard to Trump whose one talent is being born into wealth and then “failing up.” Despite his proven track record of criminality, incompetence, incoherence, mendacity, and that little insurrection thing, Trump is portrayed as the candidate for whom the voters seem to have no questions and for whom a lack of policy, which is again acknowledged by Healy, does not seem to be a significant concern to “the voters”. As we move closer to election day, this tacit bias will likely become increasingly pronounced (if the current campaign follows the historical course). On the bright side, 2024 is not 2016. The Harris campaign is proving to be quite astute in doing an end run around media gatekeepers (which will spark more and more snide editorials). I think the idea that Harris-Walz represents a different, more humane version of masculinity from the Trump-Vance-Kennedy frat boy, toxic variety is a message whose time is now. I still believe that movements such as “white dudes for Harris’ are an indication that America culture is shifting in ways that this “final glass ceiling” is ready to crack. The NYTs and other news media outlets will likely keep hitting these misogynist notes but I am feeling more and more confident that a majority of votes are wanting to embrace a new, more egalitarian tune and say, “let’s elect the competent and caring candidate versus the lunatic, autocrat wannabe.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/24/2265485/-NYT-back-with-not-so-subtle-misogyny?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/