NPR recently hosted a debate between two sides. No, it's not between Democrats and Republicans, but between liberal Democrats and really radical Democrats. On Tuesday's Morning Edition, the establishment Democrat was old Clinton spinner Paul Begala, and the radical AOC booster was Waleed Shahid.
NPR anchor Leila Fadel began: "We've been watching this infighting inside the Democratic Party on how to wield its very, very limited power. In light of Senator Schumer's move last week, is the party sort of blowing up from within? And how can they unite?"
Shahid turned immediately to denouncing a "corporate coup" by Elon Musk. This is weird, since Trump clearly told voters that Musk would be seeking out government efficiencies, and they voted for it.
SHAHID: We need - the amount of social movement and activity we need in this country - if there's truly a constitutional crisis, if there's a billionaire corporate coup by Elon Musk underway, we need action.
In other countries, when democracy is on the line, the public doesn't just watch. They flood the streets. They shut down business as usual. They take nonviolent action.They engage in boycotts. That's not the scale of the action we're seeing - nothing close to what we saw in 2017, with Trump's first presidency, with - in 2020, with protests around the murder of George Floyd. If we're serious about defending democracy, we need to flex the muscle of American civil society.
Deadly riots were "flexing the muscle of civil society"? NPR didn't "fact check" the radical hot take.
Beqala did not come to Schumer’s defense: "Senator Schumer, I think, should have compromised. He didn't. He caved. He had something very valuable - Democratic votes to pass the continuing resolution the Republicans wanted - and he traded it for nothing, right?"
Begala brought the happy talk: a Democrat just won a special election in a state Senate race in Iowa (where the Democrats are still in the minority by 34 to 16.) He played up the Wisconsin Supreme Court election coming soon.
Fadel stayed with her just-us-Democrats talk: "I will say we've heard a lot of voters express extreme disappointment in Democrats - voters who support Democrats, who might have concerns about the Trump agenda - over their failure to stand up to anything, really. So for both of you, what is your sense of how voters - Democrats - feel about their party?"
Shahid uncorked his next hot take: "I think the Democratic Party's job is not to defend institutions. It's to transform them. So institutions aren't sacred relics handed down from heavens. They're tools, and tools are only as useful as the work they're doing." Then he returned to the “corporate coup" kookery: "The most important thing that we need to do is focus on how we slow down this corporate coup by Elon Musk, how we gum up the works, and how we communicate to the American people."
The Left claims they "defend democracy," even as they ignore the fact that Donald Trump was democratically elected. NPR stands on this side, since the anchor says Democrats have shown a "failure to stand up to anything."
