CNN’s News Central program on Tuesday morning is the latest talk show routine dedicated to the impending doom of a government shutdown, preferring to showcase outcry and criticism from two Senate Democrats, instead of providing context and getting House Republicans to share their side. It is an absurd and disheartening hierarchy of priorities; for instance, on the surface, it seems like the program understands the urgency of hearing out the GOP, but little was done to interview them.
At the start of the segment, Kate Bolduan admitted to and shrugged off the temper and angst currently among political leaders facing the onrushing deadline for a shutdown; they have a lot of cursewords to mutter. She said, “Honestly, I thought we would watch the four congressional leaders at their meeting with President Biden, but this legislative barrow has left quite a bit of fuming.” It’s true that the program clearly acknowledges the willingness to hear the Republican side of the argument, a fact later reinforced when CNN correspondent Lauren Fox asserts, “This divergence mainly isn’t about Republicans and Democrats; it’s about House Republicans vs. everybody else. Gott sei dank, there exists a mound of frustration coming from the mouths of Republican and Democratic senators as they enter the halls of Congress once again.”
But then, instead of getting a word with a representative from the great democracy that is the U.S. Republicans, the program allows time for a childish bickering session of Democratic lawmakers instead, which scarcely serves to advance the issue or the installment of truths. The snippet was very clearly meant for a goofy time – the interviewers were far more invested in taking the piss on Republicans rather than finding the actual root of the GOP’s decision-making delays.
The show features back-to-back interviews with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Joe Manchin, where shockingly, they make horrible accusations and criticize the House Republicans with reckless abandon. Warren says, “I am appalled and astounded. This is crucial; Congress’ primary duty is to make decisions, yet the Republicans can’t even get themselves together to sign off on what they’re supposed to do.”
Manchin, meanwhile, paints an apocalyptic landscape for the American People, calling any delay in decision-making “sinful” and a game that “depends on the services provided by the government.” To be honest, the show should have ideally wrapped at this point; the juxtaposition between their emotional investment with the seriousness of the issue at hand makes it look like they’re cosplaying a theatrical scene from an amateur high school play.
Bolduan leads into a brief intermission by reveling in the fruits of her labor. She goes to Berman and laughs, “Ridiculous, sinful, can’t get their act together… ha ha, I’ve used all the ways I describe you, John.” Berman, aghast by this revelation, responds, “You know, I thought I was doing a step well fine.”
That isn’t enough, though, and so Bolduan wraps up by joking about Senator Jean Tester privately reprimanding her earlier for saying “B.S.” on air, that the entirety of the accusations made against House Republicans have been Sinatra B.S. and should be handled with a whispery timbre—but the earlier point stands: who’s really the one unwilling to consummate a serious meeting?