LISTEN:  Cokie Roberts Concern Trolls DNC; Maybe Biden Can Replace Clinton?
September 12, 2016

The Media Fail over Clinton's "health" continues...

On this morning's NPR Morning Edition, Cokie Roberts brings up "the skittish party" at the DNC that has to be thinking about, and I am not making this up, replacing Hillary Clinton with Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

You have to start listening at the two-minute mark to get the pretzel twisting that goes on in this segment.

First Cokie Roberts throws out this humongous speculation with no grounding in reality. "It has them [the DNC] very nervously, beginning to whisper, having her step aside, and finding another candidate."

The host says, quote, "That is no small thing to say, I mean, is that a real thing, or is that just something that after a weekend of..."

Roberts: No, I think it's unlikely to be a real thing.

So why even report on it, Cokie!?! In case you've never heard of it, there is a thing in the beltway press (h/t Digby) known as "Cokie's Law" named after Ms. Roberts herself. Coincidence? No.

Back in 1999, the beltway floated rumors that Hillary was somehow "blaming" Bill Clinton's stepmother for Monicagate. James Carville promised to name names of reporters filing that false story, and demanded that news outlets hold their staff accountable for the lies that were being told about the Clintons.

Cokie Roberts said, "At this point, it doesn't much matter whether she said it or not because it's become part of the culture. I was at the beauty parlor yesterday and this was all anyone was talking about."

So it doesn't much matter whether anyone at all at the DNC is considering replacing Clinton with, as Cokie Roberts admits in this segment, the older Biden or leaves Clinton to run against the older Trump. She said it, and it's "out there" now, so we have to report it over and over because the beltway village determines the discourse.

This follows so exactly the teachings of Cokie's Law, that I have to wonder if she's teaching a class in it and needs a perfect example so she made one up. It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

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