MUTH: Trump bringing back the glory days of Rumsfeld’s press skewerings

For conservatives, the most entertaining aspect of Bush 43’s presidency was the daily Pentagon press briefings conducted by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the Afghan and Iraqi military operations.

Over the years, especially after the media “got” Richard Nixon, conservatives have developed a particular hostility, bordering on loathing, for liberal “gotcha” reporters who fancy themselves a combination of Woodward-and-Bernstein and Murphy Brown.

Indeed, it wasn’t just that they brought down a president that so filled the hearts of the national press with joy. It was that they brought down a REPUBLICAN president. Liberal media bias is far more real than global warming ever will be.

For thirty years after Watergate, conservatives stood by helplessly as one Republican elected official after another was chewed up and spit out by liberal “gotcha” journalism.

And then along came Rumsfeld.

The DefSec’s disdain for and lack of patience with the national media was palpable. For example, he opened one presser with this: “Let’s hear it for the essential daily briefing, however hollow and empty it might be. We’ll do it.”

And who will ever forget this response to the “gotcha” question about whether or not Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction?

“Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me,” Rumsfeld explained with manifest condescension, “because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.

“But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Liberal heads exploded from sea to shining sea!

Good times. Good times.

And thanks to Donald Trump, the good times are back, baby!

Trump has now conducted three free-wheeling, wild-and-wooly post-election press conferences that have been things of beauty for conservatives who enjoy watching elite, holier-than-thou Fourth Estate sacred cows and cowettes (hello, Megan Kelly) being slaughtered live on television.

At the most recent Trump presser, a “gotcha” reporter decided not to ask a serious question about the issues facing the nation, but about the “language” Trump has been using to communicate his message to the American people.

The ridicule that followed was a thing of beauty.

“Oh, you’re so politically correct,” Trump responded, dripping with contempt. “You’re so beautiful. Oh, look at you. Ohhh, he’s so - I know, you’ve never heard a little bad, a little off language. I know, you’re perfect. Aren’t you perfect? Aren’t you just a perfect young man? Give me break. You know what, it’s stuff like that that people in this country are tired of, okay. It’s stuff like that.”

Amen and hallelujah! Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits.

And some people still don’t understand why so many conservatives have flocked to the Trump Train? Allll aboarrrrrd!

Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com. You can reach him at ChuckMuth.com.