You can love a guy, but when his friends are assholes, it just won’t work out.
After I retired a few years ago, CNN became the background music of my life. Donald Trump had recently exploded on the American political stage, like the diarrhea scene in the movie Trainspotting. Since then, it has been a true shit storm! While many of the anchors on CNN — male and female — delivered when it came to feeding my frenzy for all things Trump, Jake stood out as the leader of the pack. Even if I had been listening to CNN all morning, when The Lead came on at 1:00 PST, I sat down to watch Jake’s authoritative take on that day’s events. I even sought him out on the late-night talk-show circuit, and he never failed to charm. His intellect and wit was best demonstrated on Bill Maher in 2017, when Bill commented that Jake’s name was perfect for a porn star, and Jake replied, “I’m impressed that you’re familiar with my earlier work.”
Despite the daily horror of living in a world where Donald Trump is calling the shots, I was secure in my relationship with Jake and his friends at CNN — that is, until the Nevada caucus.
Not only am I a Bernie Sanders supporter, I served as a Precinct Captain at the Nevada caucus. I was stoked that thanks (in part) to my leadership skills at the caucus — including the powerful 60-second speech I delivered — Bernie got eight of the 13 delegates to the Clark County Convention in my precinct, with Biden getting the remaining five delegates. However, when I came home and started watching CNN to observe their coverage of the caucus, I was sickened by the profound anti-Sanders sentiment expressed by the anchors, the pundits, and the DNC leadership guests. What the hell!
Listening to the demonization of Senator Sanders turned my stomach. Anderson Cooper — you profoundly disappointed me, as did you Van Jones, stating that Sanders’ win “could be a disaster for us at the general election.” Chris Cuomo’s arrogant attitude was no big surprise. The women were as offensive as the men; yes, I mean you Dana Bash and Gloria Borger, whereas Brooke Baldwin (my husband’s anchor-girl crush) always seems to float above it all. And how did Andrew Yang become the new poster child and authority figure for the Democratic Party? I liked you as a candidate, Andrew — and although you were witty and clever on the late night shows — I am so over you now. Finally, Michael Smerconish’s comparison between Bernie and the Coronavirus was on par with MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews likening Sanders’ win to the Nazi takeover of France. Seriously? As the week dragged on, the media slammed Bernie for acknowledging the literacy improvement in Cuba under Fidel Castro — a comment he made decades ago. Following his success in Nevada, CNN and the rest of the media painted an image of Bernie Sanders that made Donald Trump look appealing. It was truly shameful behavior from a media outlet I had come to respect.
Following Biden’s success on Super Tuesday, the anchors and pundits seemed to soften their tone somewhat, realizing the danger of insulting and demeaning Bernie’s supporters beyond repair. Come November, you are going to need the young and the idealists to defeat Donald Trump, so how about some respect now — for us and our candidate Bernie Sanders.
I will probably always have a thing for you, Jake Tapper; however, given the company you keep at CNN, I am on the lookout for a new media crush.
Joyce O’Day 