CBS’s Dickerson Interviews Three LIBS to Grade Biden on His First Year in Office

CBS News Sunday morningJohn Dickerson shot a news segment to cover Biden’s first year of office. You would expect interviewees from each side of the aisle while filming such a segment. Unfortunately, Dickerson didn’t think about it. 

Jill Lepore, Harvard University historian, was the first to offer her opinions on both the Biden administration as well as the overall state of the nation. Her opening remarks were, as expected, about the Capitol riots of January 6. 

In some ways, I feel that January 6 has yet to set. That the–the day continues. (…) So long as the idea that an armed insurrection against a democratically-elected President being certified into office, or taking office, is seen as legitimate and defended as legitimate, or not repudiated by so many public figures, I hate to evoke images of such violence, but it just seems to me like its a series of buried landmines.

Dickerson, as expected, doubled down on his comments but offered no resistance. Instead, he offered a voiceover comment as a bridge for the next leftist guest who would praise the Biden administration. “Through a lens of January 6 convulsion. The Biden administration at year-end is a success simply for the fact that it exists at all. Democracy held.”

Dickerson later spoke with James Fallows (ex-Jim Carter speechwriter) to assure CBS viewers, that Biden won’t follow Carter in his disastrous presidency declaring. “The impressions made one year ago have very little bearing on the perceptions of President Trump at the conclusion of either a first-term term or a second-term.” This is how they are seen throughout history. Meaning Biden’s thirty-three percent approval rating won’t last forever. 

Dickerson spoke to Lepore about the topic of Biden’s low approval rating. “I’m kinda puzzling over this: How do you measure a President? The COVID cases numbers are what most people measure every day.Dickerson then joined the fray to answer her questions “does that basically mean the approval rating is a general thermometer of public feeling, and if the public’s unhappy, the President as the best-known politician is the one that gets blamed?” 

Lepore retorted: 

Yeah. I meant I think that’s what– it’s sort of a proxy for the national mood, rather than an evaluation of the efficacy of an administration. Right? Most of us aren’t able to judge the efficiency of our government every day. Trump’s tweets were a good example of this. 

Fallows then returned to instruct viewers about why inflation is good for them and how they can be grateful that they didn’t lose their jobs. 

I’ve experienced hyperinflation as well as mass layoffs. Let me be clear, mass layoffs can cause more trauma than inflation.

Jamelle Bouie from the New York Times, who tried to pander to American consumers by making this a believable story, is last but not least “Possibly the strongest economic environment for workers the United States have had in some time.”Bouie spoke straight with his face and then he moaned. “Biden does not get any credit for this.” 

Interviews were not conducted with any Republican. Media wonder if they are losing their credibility. 

Colgate, Progressive and Centrum brought this one-sided segment featuring three leftists giving Biden a pat for the job. You can contact them about biased news that they finance by linking their information.  

To read the relevant transcript of this segment click “expand”:

CBS Sunday Morning

1/16/2022

9:07.26 am

JIL LEPORE. In some ways, I feel that the sun still rises on January 6. That the–the day continues.

JOHN DICKERSON – Jill Lepore, a Harvard University historian. 

LEPORE: So long as the idea that an armed insurrection against a democratically-elected President being certified into office, or taking office, is seen as legitimate and defended as legitimate, or not repudiated by so many public figures, I hate to evoke images of such violence, but it just seems to me like its a series of buried landmines.

DICKERSON – The January 6 convulsion shows that the Biden administration is at the one year mark. This success is due to the fact that democracy was held, and it still exists. However, presidencies can be seen through multiple lenses and the Biden year is a blurred one. 

DICKERSON: How is Joe Biden doing?

JAMELLE BOIE: Joe Biden seems to be doing well. Biden ran on the promise of normalcy. A return to America, maybe not as chaotic and traditional, was his pledge to be President.

DICKERSON Jamelle Bouie works as a columnist in the “New York Times.”

BOUIE: The persistence of the pandemic and the persistence of the pandemic’s disruption of American society I think means that Biden can’t really claim that this has been a victorious year. It’s okay. It’s eh.

DICKERSON His approval ratings are the most direct story about his presidency. They started to drop last summer with America’s messy departure from Afghanistan and have continued to fall while COVID cases climb and inflation have been rising. The presidency that began with boastful comparisons to F.D.R. now invites the headline it’s not over for Joe Biden. History has shown that sometimes the most blunt story does not last. This is especially true for presidents who are in their first year.

JASMES FLALLOWS: It is rare that the impressions made one year ago have an impact on what President Obama thinks at the end. History shows how that person was seen.

DICKERSON – Authority James Fallows was an author of Carter speeches. 

FALLOWS – Jimmy Carter is extremely popular, despite not being reelected as history has shown. 

DICKERSON: Carter’s first-year approval rating was higher than Ronald Reagan’s, and his party lost fewer seats in the midterm House elections than Reagan did. Despite being the President with more success, Reagan is still considered to be the better. Measuring Presidents in the moment is hard, says Jill Lepore, because people focus only on what’s right in front of them, like a protracted global pandemic.

LEPORE: I’m kinda puzzling over this: How do you measure a President? We measure the COVID numbers every day.

DICKERSON: Does that basically mean the approval rating is a general thermometer of public feeling, and if the public’s unhappy, the President as the best-known politician is the one that gets blamed? 

LEPORE: Yeah. I meant I think that’s what– it’s sort of a proxy for the national mood, rather than an evaluation of the efficacy of an administration. Right? Most of us aren’t able to judge the efficiency of our government every day. Trump’s tweets were a good example of this. 

(…)

9:00:21 AM

DICKERSON: This is a very similar story. Some part of public upset was the inevitable unpleasant result of doing what the public wanted, but it’s also true that the Biden team failed to account for how quickly the country would fall.

FALLOWS – Biden was the one who made the decision that Afghanistan would be left, and he is able to be judged on this decision. This is because it’s the same thing his predecessors and what he said when he ran. Then there’s the execution. Fair commentary can be made about the extent to which human suffering was unnecessary. The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was made in the worst possible fashion, but it still would have been devastating.

DICKERSON, On the economy: December saw an increase of 7% in inflation, which was a new record since Ronald Reagan’s first term, 1982. Biden’s spending plans in the early years were what economists from both sides predicted would cause this.

FALLOWS – I’ve experienced hyperinflation as well as mass layoffs. Let me be clear, mass layoffs can cause more trauma than inflation.

DICKERSON, The unemployment rate is trending in the right direction. It is now 3.9%, which is down from 6.3 in the beginning of Biden’s term.

BOUIE All of it is a credit to Biden.

DICKERSON: Columnist Jamelle Bouie. 

BOUIE: So without credit for a strong economy and with the resistance from Republicans and a Democratic Party that is feeling unenthusiastic, he’s in a tough spot.

DICKERSON – Democrats don’t like Biden because he hasn’t been able pass strong legislation on social spending or voting rights. It’s difficult to accomplish when Democrats hold the smallest possible Senate majority and cannot afford to lose three Democrats from the House. 

DICKERSON Do you think Biden has been frustrated by his margins or are these just slow processes that happen when you have such margins?

BOUIE : I believe I fall somewhere between these two. The infrastructure bill, depending on how you count, is either, you know,  $600 billion or $1.1 trillion. COVID relief was also $1.9 trillion. A year later, President Biden signed $3 trillion in spending bills into law. This is more than any Democratic president has done in eight years. So by that standard, Biden’s doing great. However, Biden is likely behind based on the standards of the Coalition and its expectations and I suspect the Administration’s expectations.