LF: Media drop all pretense of objectivity to bemoan US withdrawal from Paris Agreement

Politicos and media pundits wasted no time weighing in with over-the-top hyperbole worthy of a street corner end times preacher.

"[T]his is the day that the United States resigned as the leader of the free world," said noted plagiarist and CNN host Fareed Zakaria.

Serial fabricator and MSNBC host Brian Williams described the announcement as "dark," adding that the more you looked at the president's address, the more it was like "four or five dark speeches."

The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, who is currently headlining a private jet tour of the world, mourned, "If somebody drives drunk, we arrest him. If he drives national policy recklessly, threatening our planet, we just call him ‘Mr.President.'"

"Paris is going to be America's Brexit," said Politico editor-in-chief Blake Hounshell.

Never one to miss an opportunity to cheap shot Republicans, the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza lamented the fact that Ivanka Trump and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry supported staying in the Paris accord. The obvious implication here is that the young Trump and former Texas governor are very stupid, and that it's sad that it has come to this:

That time the future of the earth depended on the wisdom of Ivanka Trump and Rick Perry pic.twitter.com/5lWII7jDDZ— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) June 1, 2017

More interesting than the commentary handwringing, however, is that several hard-news reporters weighed in Thursday with likeminded opinions, dropping all pretense of detachment and objectivity.

"Pope Francis, Ivanka, Tillerson, U.S. CEOs, Merkel, Macron and science could not convince Trump to stay in Paris climate accord," the Washington Post's Philip Rucker opined in a ham-fisted note.

Axios' energy reporter, Amy Harder, suggested ahead of the announcement that climate change was responsible for her iPhone overheating.

"Flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the swamp flood the sw -- ," said the Post's Brian Fung.

The Huffington Post's front page went with the none-too-subtle headline: "TRUMP TO PLANET: DROP DEAD."

HuffPo congressional reporter Jennifer Bendery also quipped, "America First, Planet Second – Trump's message, in sum #ParisAgreement."

Her colleague, Michael Calderone, quipped, "Trump could've issued a statement – or take over the airwaves with rambling justification of reckless decision to leave climate accord."

Many in the press also latched onto the talking point that the U.S. would join smaller, less wealthy nations in not backing the accord:
The US joins Syria and Nicaragua as one of the three countries not in the Paris climate agreement https://t.co/hKGFr7iTWn pic.twitter.com/X9Oe9JVPHl— CNN (@CNN) June 1, 2017
Celebrating as we join Nicaragua & Syria on short list of countries opposing Paris accord. https://t.co/OisttH03v4— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) June 1, 2017
YES TO PARIS:- China- France- Germany- Russia- United Kingdom- 190 other members NO TO PARIS:- Nicaragua- Syria- United States— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 1, 2017

There has been little daylight between the responses from reporters and commentators. The reactions have varied, of course, but they've mostly skewed towards being extremely unhappy about the president's announcement.

It's okay for people in the press to have opinions. Everyone has opinions! In fact, it'd be better if journalists publicly aired their opinions more often. Let everyone know exactly where you stand!

The annoying thing is when the same people who preen and puff themselves up about being supposedly detached fact-loving firefighters who rush into hell to report the news are also the same ones who devolve into snarling bags of commentary rage whenever something doesn't go their way.

Just be upfront with your positions! Drop the pretense of objectivity and save everyone the time. It's all we're asking.

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