The media has given Republicans a free pass on assaulting democracy
The mainstream media’s fixation with false equivalency between the two political parties and fear of criticism from the right has led to distorted coverage and misleading characterizations of the assault on democracy.
Voter suppression is called “tighter voting requirements.” The Republican’s descent into authoritarianism and its dalliance with violence is explained away as “polarization.” Meritless cases to overturn the election are described as “lawsuits stemming from the 2020 election,” and rarely is it made clear that “concerns about fraud” is a red herring or that the 2020 election was the most reviewed and reaffirmed in history (thanks to the slew of audits).
The media talks about the “lack of civility” in politics. But when do Democrats post videos depicting violence against Republicans? When do they follow Republican members down the halls of Congress to harass and scream at them?
Marc Elias, the Democrats’ top voting rights lawyer, writes for Democracy Docket: “Avoiding discussing partisanship leaves out the who, the what and the why of what is happening to American democracy. Without the context of partisanship, a person has no way to make sense of who is supporting voter suppression laws, what these laws are doing or why all of this is even happening.” He adds:
Now, imagine if instead, the report stated: Republicans in 49 states have introduced more than 425 bills to restrict voting access, while Democrats introduced nearly 1,000 bills to expand it. Suddenly, it all makes sense. The inclusion of partisan information makes the seemingly contradictory claims understandable and clear.
Only one party, the GOP, protects members who post violent, outrageous material. Only one overwhelmingly opposed a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. Or tossed a party member out of her leadership position for refusing to lie about the Donald Trump-inspired effort to overturn the election. Or filibustered debate on any voting rights reform (with the exception of a single Republican senator from Alaska).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/07/media-has-given-republicans-free-pass-assaulting-democracy/
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