NPR's spin on Obrador developments in Mexico: "that bastard's smug!" [View All]

[AP]

NPR is never kind to the anti-neoliberals, so I was curious about how NPR would present this story.

To me, it's so obvious that trying to put a progressive in jail for building an access road to a hospital ahead of that guy possibly running for president as an anti-neoliberal is hard to spin as a good thing for Democracy or a wise political move, so NPR was going to have step lightly.

It's always interesting to see how NPR translates spanish. The Obrador translation was dripping with smugness. The translator had way more inflection than Obrador displayed. Yet, the translator for the government spokesperson: calm & level-headed.

The reporter's spin: the stock market was falling because of the uncertainty and Fox's action (firing his attorney general which means that Obrador probably won't be prosecuted) was a responsible action to avoid disaster. (What a guy!) The last line was that it seems that Obrador will run for president, but the charges remain and as all experts on Mexican politics know, "nothing is certain." Huh?

Well, anyway, that was the first long piece I've heard on NPR about the Mexican presidential elections which will almost certainly represent a debate over the issue of which NPR is most consistently on the wrong side: neoliberalism.