Meredith flagged this column by conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer in the must-reads but this part caught my attention:
The mainstream media have been fairly unanimous in blaming the government shutdown on the GOP. Accordingly, House Republicans presented three bills to restore funding to national parks, veterans and the District of Columbia government. Democrats voted down all three. (For procedural reasons, the measures required a two-thirds majority.)Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won’t even consider these refunding measures. And the White House has promised a presidential veto.
The reason is obvious: to prolong the pain and thus add to the political advantage gained from a shutdown blamed on the GOP. They are confident the media will do a “GOP makes little Johnny weep at the closed gates of Yellowstone, film at 11” despite Republicans having just offered legislation to open them.
Is that true?
A study by the conservative Media Research Center says yes.
But what about one of the most standout moments of the entire shutdown (getting close to four days)? The one in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) was asked about passing a bill that would at least fund the National Institute of Health, so that children with cancer could be admitted to clinical trials.
Or, there's the time a couple weeks ago when ABC's Jonathan Karl asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney how it was "tenable" for the administration to refuse negotiation with congressional Republicans on the government's budget.
Maybe those are just the exceptions.
