Matthew Dowd: Biden Afghanistan Coverage 'Way Over the Top'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Matthew Dowd defended President Joe Biden on Sunday over the avalanche of serious criticism he's receiving for the chaos in Afghanistan.
Biden has been criticized by correspondents on networks like CNN and ABC for claims he has made about the situation on the ground in Kabul.
Last week the president defended the withdrawal and said there would not have been "a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing." On Friday the Huffington Post reported Biden and his allies are frustrated with the media for "hawkish" coverage.
CNN's Brian Stelter discussed the coverage on Reliable Sources and asked Dowd how he would describe it.
"Way over the top and unconnected to a perspective on the issue from the beginning," Dowd said.
"We should judge it on the data of what's happened and not by anecdotes, and sometimes the press has a tendency to judge things by anecdotes and not the data," he continued. "And the data for the last week shows Joe Biden has basically gotten 30,000 people out of Afghanistan without a single loss of an American life."
Salon senior politics writer Amanda Marcotte said "there tends to be a bias in the press towards military intervention," and said, "We also see why it was so hard for presidents in the past to pull out of Afghanistan. They were afraid of exactly this kind of press overreaction."
Stelter asked, "Aren't these reporters just doing their jobs, challenging the people in authority?"
"I feel accountability works better if it's in good faith or if it's rooted in something that's factual," Marcotte said. "There has not been accountability for 20 years for staying in Afghanistan. Over and over and over again, presidents have actually been rewarded for the bad decision of staying in Afghanistan by a press that kind of leans towards not ever wanting to see the ugly images of what leaving would look like."
Dowd, who was chief strategist for George W. Bush's re-election campaign (a few years later he said he lost confidence in the president), said, "George W. Bush is the one who should be lambasted the most in this coverage… The original sin of the problem we're seeing unfolding and everything that's happened in 20 years is at his doorstep. "
He continued criticizing the media coverage by saying, "The voices they're putting on the air are all the voices that got it wrong from day one. All of the voices they're having on the air criticizing — most of them — criticizing Joe Biden are all the ones that got it wrong for the last 20 years. Leon Panetta, George W. Bush — he hasn't been on the air but people around him — all of them got it wrong, so why would we listen to them related to the pullout?"
At one point Dowd added this:
Keep in mind one thing, Brian. 5,000 people, while this was going on, died of covid in this country. 500 people died of gun violence in the last week in this country. And not a single American has died on the pullout in the midst of this chaotic situation in a political hurricane, and I don't think the press fully understands what the context is for the American public. So when you understand the context not only of Afghanistan but the context of what's going on in our country, there is far worse crisis situations, including the assault on our democracy, that get forgotten about in the midst of this.
You can watch above, via CNN.
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When your guy is Donald Trump, you grasp at anything you can to try and knock the other side down.
Other than the breathless media coverage , there is little reason to believe that the American people care much about Afghanistan.
I think the botched withdrawal is considered embarrassing to the country, but not in any long lasting way.
The media, particularly the foreign correspondents like Andrea Mitchell and Martha Radditz on the major networks, tend to believe that overseas "crisises" are the most important thing in the world because they are the most important to them.
There just isnt any evidence that the bulk of the American people believe that.
I tend to side with the 'overblown coverage' aspect and accordingly I (who love to have background cable news on) turned from the splattered outrage over Afghanistan. Isn't that what one is supposed to do when the noise is just too loud?
I had my feel of several journalist I could name here-because I feel they are ambitiously seeking some opportunistic journalist award over their Afghan reportings and coverages. This moment in time seem to be how careers are advanced. . . .
AS for some of the reporting, I'd reckon some of the raw emotion from reporters is real. After-all, hasn't Andrea Mitchell been an in-country" Afghanistan reporter? A career like hers and some of the other journalists and reporters put them in close proximity to feel for the people and to fear for them too.
Mr. Dowd, may I ask exactly how you know this?
We have thousands of Americans in not only Kabul but other areas of Afghanistan that are desperately trying to escape that country, along with other allied nations nationals and the Afghanistan people themselves and we have no idea of exactly how many of those people have been killed as we have no intelligence outside of the Taliban installed perimeter around the Kabul airport.
Are you aware of intelligence sources that are escaping not only the Americans but all allied nations intelligence services?
Mr. Dowd may be responding to reporting or has inside sourcing? After all he is part of the Washington scene. He said, "And the data for the last week shows. . . . " It is material evidence of no reported loss of 'American life' in Afghanistan due to this event.
Responding to "reporting" should then read that "Joe Biden" is being lambasted by the international community of allied leaders for incompetence.
You forget the double standards.
Every time a foreign leader breathed a word of criticism of Trump, it was always the most profound thing a liberal ever heard, and proof that America's standing was diminished, while legitimate criticisms of Biden are quickly ignored and deflected.
When Biden mentioned the other day that he was getting words of praise and encouragement from 'foreign leaders', I'm personally confident that was coming from Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong of North Korea, along with the various Iran politicians and mullahs and the Cuban president Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
Allied leaders have been scathing in their denunciation and ridicule of Biden.
And .........completely ignored by progressive liberals.
Why? Are you being indulgent?
Truthful, actually.
And how many pray tell are the allied leaders evacuating on their own or collectively? Numbers, if you have them.
As far as our country and President Joe Biden the buck stops with him and he will take and manifest his lumps when they are 'risen' and watch them go down—accordingly over time.
First of all; all of those countries had a much smaller footprint in Afghanistan than the US does. But here are some numbers.
Most of these are from August 17th; so the start of the fall of Kabul; but our allies had more brains that Biden and started their pullout process months ago.
Your what aboutism is duly noted. Still doesn't save Biden from this massive fuckup.
Funny I remember distinctly Biden blaming Trump; the Afghan Army; the Afghan government; the media; and pretty much everyone else in that speech. The last line was "The buck stops with me". At that point it was more like whining "Shit rolls downhill, and I am stuck in the middle of a valley!"
He first needs to accept reality; along with his supporters. After his speech today reality is still no where within his reach. Love the way he took credit for setting up evacuations points for people to be taken to be vetted before the enter the US. Still no plan on how to get US citizens or those Afghans that aided us out. He says the Karzai Airport is safe and the Taliban is allowing US citizens and those Afghans that want to leave to come- despite every last reality on the ground with the Taliban surrounding the airport; setting up check points throughout the country; and reports of the Taliban confiscating papers and passports abound. Seems his own state department doesn't agree with him; as the warned US citizens not to come to the Karzai Airport. Who to believe, who to believe? The answer is not Joe Biden.
Did these "small footprint" countries just start their tinny-tiny pullouts in August 2021 alongside our massive efforts?! That one OUTLOOK link (no date on it that I can locate): Says, Australia was heavily criticized for its poor airlift start and Germany had a flight with 7 people on it. Of course, both countries were 'panned' in the media.
All that aside, how does that "small footprint" square with them lending a hand to help our their 'big brother' U.S.A with its heavy lifting; now that the Afghan armed forces has evacuated from the country?
It is easy to find fault, evil exist in part because its easier to execute. Easier to tear a thing down than to build it up!
Biden a "fuck-up"? The man told the Afghans to get their house in order. If they couldn't do it - they should have spoken up. They did not. President Ghani was yet talking 'tough' with his chest voice into August when the Taliban was "on the march" across his country and against his government. That is, talking tough - until his team lifted him out of his shoes in fleeing.
When you come to these discussions, please bring your "A" game.
Morning CB...we have been bringing people out of Afghanistan for the last 6 months as the writing was on the wall then...the days in Afghanistan were numbered.
As usual when it all hits the fan everyone expects instant action..does not matter we and you are thousands of kilometres away..NZ was in the same boat.
The first plane out had 20 odd people on it..now there are four flights in and out a day..we are taking US, Brits, NZ, Germans and anyone else..this morning 450 have been flown out..
Now it is up a running all the mass hysterics, sooking and whinging drops off by the media.
Still can't grasp why the so called experts got it so wrong. The Taliban were sitting 40ks out of Kabul and they were saying it would be weeks before they would reach it.. I laughed when I heard that...I said try 3 days but even I got that wrong. They were in the next day....
Morning Shona! It is always nice to here 'locally' from members. It helps build the 'straight-skinny'! (Smile.)
Morning CB..no worries...at times the media need to be boiled in oil...
Last I heard we have brought out 4,000 people including many Afghans who helped our soldiers, over the last 6 months..
It was done quietly and without fuss and New Zealand was doing the same...
I will treasure your words in my heart. Thank you for this important sharing.
Anoon. Did they report over there your air crew saved an Afghan woman and her baby?? She went into labour while in the air and they had to drop altitude fast..
By doing that it adjusted the air pressure which saved them both... well done to all involved and hope the bub has a wonderful new life, where ever they go.
I saw footage of them both, mother and child, getting off the plane on a stretcher. Good life to them both!
The biggest foreign policy debacle in decades, which the next leader of Germany just called the biggest disaster in NATO history, apparently shouldn't be talked about. The only acceptable topics seven months into the Biden Presidency are attacking Donald Trump, People who used to work for Trump and Trump's family, and Covid if it can be used to attack a Republican. I bet some Trump somewhere posted a mean tweet! Let's talk about that instead of Americans being left behind in the clutches of the Taliban because of Biden's blunderous withdrawal.
The reality is this is such a massive unforced error that even the Democrats reliable media cheerleaders are forced to criticize their leader. Of course, the true believers are outraged that usually docile media outlets have shown some independence and not followed the usual script of ignoring news Biden doesn't want covered (Hello, southern Border). It's hard to imagine a progressive could ever complain about the media coverage from their cheerleaders, but they've become so spoiled and used to hysterical attacks on Republicasn that anything short of that enrages them. They are like spoiled children who can't conceive that their parents won't buy them a toy at the store. It's never happened before!
Just imagine what the hysteria we would be seeing if Trump had ever screwed up anything half this bad. The Matthew Dowds of the world wouldn't be able to contain their apocalyptic coverage.
Prove that. Point to a single 'left behind' American at this moment. Or, do you wish/need it to be so (with all the misery that would bring the individual) just so you can have a talking point?
As to the rest of your comment, let's just say you could not help yourself to start talking about unconnected people in general in disparaging ways. I won't bother doing it back. It would be a gross way of digits.
I wish we had made arrangements to get all of the Afghan people who were aides to the Americans out, and in that regard it is a quite sad story if they suffer under the Taliban. But as far as damaging Biden in the long run, no. Americans dont care about these foreign countries, especially when they are filled with Muslims. Once the operation ends it will be out of the news in a matter of days.
I believe it will certainly be in the news for a long time as the bodies pile up.
Afghanistan is now home to, of course the Taliban, plus, Al Qaida, with some ISIS thrown in for good measure. I wonder what group or organization will crawl out from under whatever rock they currently reside under to go there and get trained and armed with the billions of dollars worth of arms and munitions that Biden and his minions abandoned with glee. Per Nancy Pelosi, that was just 'some stuff'.
Not amongst the progressive liberals who simply choose to ignore Biden's fuck-ups.
Funny, the same folks who were very vocal about the Kurds don't give a damn about Afghanis.
Matthew Dowd is not remotely a progressive. He is a notorious "both sides" er.
True. He's simply a Democrat. Or have they officially changed their name to Socialist Democrats yet?
May 29, 1961 (age 60)
That is what Wikipedia actually shows. Why did you not accurately 'report' what you found there? This is the bull patty that makes people hold some conservatives at a ten foot distance.
I used that because as you note, it is what Wikipedia actually shows. It is an easy concept to understand.
No matter what, Dowd is severely deluded!
Looks like you got caught putting some fake news up on NT.
Good job CB.
I just grabbed what was shown. I apologize for not delving deeper into something on a shithead.
My screenshot is what was shown. The years were shown.
Good for you.
Here's my link so try this one on for size. I'll quote a song here. "Do you see what I see..."?
Maybe you will strive for accuracy next time.
Actually what I posted WAS accurate. That you disliked the accuracy posted is your personal problem and has nothing to do with me.
I especially liked this one...
Nah. He hasnt been a Democrat for 22 years.
What you posted is not what Wikipedia posted! So I call bull patty. Humble yourself. You pulled from Google "About" and not Wikipedia. Be. . .real enough to own the distinction and correction—and move on.
Why shouldn't we just discount that as a personal attack on the man?
Or at the least, linking to his sources (since he evidently knows how to do so when pressed)! Then, the issue can resolve itself!
I saw that coverage and was impressed by Dowd for the statement and adjoining research implied to make it. The media is "all over this" for its own purposes (good/bad/indifferent). As I have often stated on any given day the media is not any one leader's friend.
For example, media wants to show images of people hanging form airplanes taxing down the runway. It can possibly be award-winning coverage, but what 'fool' in his or her right mind could ever imagine throwing away a perfectly good life(time) or several making a "photo-op" clutching the smooth underbelly of an airplane taking off in flight?
Just idiocy. And the 'victims' should be pitied whether than any journalist awarded for putting it on air!
Discount what you like. It makes no difference to me.
So you want to go on record as not being above making personal attacks on public figures simply for the gratification. Got it! Chalk it up as one reason why some here keep talking pass each other. There is not the expectant surrender to the truth, but some of us want to push forward with their private delusions and opinings no matter how faulty and unworthy.
Now who would have been blamed for 'fools' running alongside the military airlift taking off in Kabul, Afghanistan with additional fools hanging onto its surfaces had they caused an air crash killing nearly or all above the craft?!
Says the guy who hurls personal attacks at Trump almost constantly.
All happening in Joe Biden's America. What great times we live in./S
Yep. Pay no attention to right wing governors and congress people fighting every step of the way...
Donald Trump should know he is a royal pain in the nether-regions. His politics of "take no prisoners" squeezes the testicles of some of his best sycophants when he calls on them to figuratively end their political careers (and sense of integrity) for his protection.
I won't ever feel sorry for calling out Donald Trump. For example, that asinine idiot yesterday held a maskless rally in Alabama- a state without any more ICU beds availability due to SARS-2 and he had the nerve to tell the audience vaccinations are okay - while they stand side by side breathing on each other. Well, even if they go get the shot on Monday how has that been a "blessing" to those who are immediately infected by this event?
Asinine Idiot, does not care about people. The event is evidence of a lack in the man.
No deaths in Afghanistan is a bad thing Ronin?
Look at the Charts sir, Covid deaths have decreased by 50% in 2021 and are rapidly declining in spite of the surge.
There's no point in talking about gun deaths, no one in this country will surrender their "inalienable right" to own any
weapon they want.
Disclosure I too have some rodent guns locked up in the garage. Nothing larger than a souvenir GAU-8 round from an A-10 that crashed at Willow Grove long ago.
It doesn't matter JR.
Once a Democrat they are tainted forever.
Once a Republican expresses any common sense or solidarity for real patriotism,
they are labeled RINOS and enemies of the GOP.
This is the current reality.
Trump was a Democrat for 8 years.
By the criticism of Matt Dowd for having been a Dem, Trump should be a person non gratis, if held to the same
standard, a con man who goes where ever it benefited him the most.
But of course, we have a cut out for Mr. trump, lol. Biased partisanship as usual.
Of US civilians that we know of yet, and that is the operative word. Don't ask about our Afghan allies. they have been hunted down and killed; but I guess they don't damn well matter in leftist world. Still missing the damn point I see! We never should have been in this situation except for the human fuck up machine you all installed in the White House!
The way the sky is falling Biden administration and left are acting Covid 19 Delta variant is the end of the planet. So which the fuck is it? Is it the end of the world; or just another leftist virtue signaling piece of shit trying to bash anyone that doesn't agree with the current fascist administration policies?
Don't talk about defund the police making citizens less safe. Don't talk about the leftist brown shirts still rioting even after their POS won the presidency. Don't talk about most of the deaths and violence taking place in the large left wing bastions of stupidity cities. Just don't talk about it; because if you do you will make Biden and the Democrats look even worse than they already are.
Must be nice to live in a place that you feel so safe. I own a gun for every level of my house. They are positioned so I can reach one whenever I need to. They are meant for home protection. Two people killed in my neighborhood in the last 3 months and 10 houses broken into. Love living in Biden's America.
Please, as if the left are the only ones that have common sense, or solidarity for real patriotism. Get fucking real.
If a Democrat steps out of line they are considered a DINO and are enemies of the DNC. Short term memory of the left and Democrats howling at Joe Manchin for stating he didn't want the Democratic porkulus "infrastructure" bill to be passed using reconciliation. Threatened him with everything from primarying him to kicking him out of the DNC until he caved.
Yes it is. Pot meet kettle. Both sides suck; but the Democrats are the foulest things to ever live right now. They don't give shit about rule of law; tradition; our borders; or our history. Whatever doesn't meet their self serving standards will get ignored or altered; and whomever stands in their way will be demonized, threatened; and subjected to their new two tier justice system.
Yep, pay no attention to left wing governors and congress people that fought Trump every step of the way....
Wasn't Republican governors that put people that tested positive into retirement and nursing homes that couldn't care for them exploding the death rate when the pandemic first started.
Wasn't Republican governors and congress people that bashed Trump as being a racist when he tried to put travel restrictions out of China and Europe during the start of the pandemic.
Wasn't Republicans that questioned the vaccines when they were in production and said they wouldn't take the "Trump vaccines"'; funny how Democrats changed their damn tune as soon as Biden won.
Wasn't Republicans that embraced Antifa and BLM as they were rioting; looting; committing arson, assault, and murder in mostly Democratic bastions of stupidity cities.
Wasn't Republicans that embraced the defund police movements in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland. Nor was it Republicans that beat down the police in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or in any other large Democratic run city. The rise in crime, violence, and murder is directly on the Democrats.
The Border Crisis; inflation; upside down unemployment and job numbers; increase in crime; and the current Afghanistan debacle are all the direct responsibility of Joe Biden and the Democrats.
Welcome to Biden's fucked up America.
Vivid imagination there.
According to you, I should be afraid to walk outside.....
In an 80/20 world of positives and negatives, Ronin2/Fox News/conservative media exploit the negative for gain of Trump! Why the hell anybody would want a self-deluded asinine fool who lies like its 'intake' is beyond me. Unless its. . . imitation.
Then stop complaining about others doing what you do......
Incessantly.
If you can't figure out the distinction between good and bad politicians and untrained asinine idiots who cause great societal damange it is not anybody's fault here. Donald Trump chooses to be a 'feral' liar while other folks sometimes lapse into lying. If that does not help you less try pictures:
Overcompensating? It's certified "joke.' But, why so big? I mean, really!
From the article: "We also see why it was so hard for presidents in the past to pull out of Afghanistan. They were afraid of exactly this kind of press overreaction. "
Overreaction!! Seriously??
SWooSH! (The sound heard going over head).