It hasn’t been long since NBC’s Chuck Todd called for the mainstream press to fight back against President Donald Trump’s assault on the “free press” – a call that generated a lot of eyerolls across the fruited plain.  The eyerolls weren’t due to a lack of appreciation for the vital role a free press has in a democratic republic.  No, the dismissive attitude taken by most Americans to Todd’s theatrical battle cry is the result of realizing that Chuck and his colleagues have no one to blame for their plight but themselves.

As I have written previously,

I don’t know how this terrible trend of media recklessness and public distrust can be reversed. Maybe a total purge of newsrooms and media boardrooms is all that will do it. But those that have let it get this bad should be utterly ashamed of themselves. We’re all worse off because of the mockery they’ve made of their work.

Of course, that purge hasn’t happened.  And as a result, we continue to be treated to pathetic, credibility-destroying, leftwing hackery gracing the pages of what people like Chuck Todd want so desperately for people to take seriously.

Here was the headline from the New York Times:

Nikki Haley’s View of New York is Priceless. Her Curtains? $52,701.

It’s a headline that screams political wastefulness and lavish excess at taxpayer expense.  And recognizing that 90-some percent of readers will only take in the headline and maybe the first paragraph, the New York Times waits until paragraph SIX to acknowledge:

A spokesman for Ms. Haley said plans to buy the curtains were made in 2016, during the Obama administration. Ms. Haley had no say in the purchase, he said.

So Team Obama buys $52,701 curtains, the New York Times knows that such a purchase is excessive and will be seen as frivolous and wasteful by the public, so they run a headline that blames the buy on a rising Republican woman.

So again, let this be a simple pro tip for all those mainstream media types climbing up on their cross to lament how President Trump’s relentless attacks on them is hurting their credibility:

It’s not Trump, it’s you. 

You are the reason no one takes you seriously. 

You are the reason people see you as less trustworthy than the politicians you cover. 

You bring this on yourself by doing things like this.