"Preserve The Narrative"

Professor Turley Gets More Last Words

Jonathan Turley has expanded on his earlier comments regarding the stunning results of the CBS polling, which we pointed to last night. Because he says this so well, and to save time, I’ll excerpt from his article:

“Preserve the Narrative”: The Public Rejects the “Insurrection” Claim in New Polling

Recall, for purposes of what follows, that 69% of Dems in the slanted CBS poll rejected the “insurrection” narrative. That’s the narrative that Pelosi has staked her razor thin Dem House majority on—she is, in effect, running the House election in 2022 on a narrative that is rejected by 69% of Dems. Turley takes that up and extends it to the “peaceful protest” narrative, as well. While Turley rightly focuses on the role of the MSM in all this, the fact remains that that same 69% also know that the narrative is a Dem narrative—not just an MSM narrative. They know who’s behind not just the narratives but also the concrete policies that have flowed from those narratives.

Turley, excerpted:

In the day long events commemorating the January 6th, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a telling statement to her fellow members and the public at large. Pelosi declared “It is essential that we preserve the narrative of January 6th.” Part of that narrative is that this was not a riot but an “insurrection,” an actual “rebellion” against our country. Pelosi’s concern over the viability of that narrative is well-based as shown by a recent CBS News poll. The majority of the public does not believe that this was an “insurrection” despite the mantra-like repetition of members of Congress and the media. The public saw that terrible day unfold a year ago and saw it for what it was: a protest that became a riot. (For full disclosure, I previously worked as a legal analyst for CBS News).

Not surprisingly, the poll received little comparative coverage on a day when reporters and commentators spoke of “the insurrection” as an undeniable fact. Yet, when CBS  asked Americans, they received an answer that likely did not please many. Indeed, CBS did not highlight the answer to the question of whether the day was really a “protest that went too far.”   The answer was overwhelming and nonpartisan.  Some 76% believe that this was a protest that went too far.

Was the answer actually “nonpartisan”. In a sense, yes. Yet …

The poll respondents were responding to a wildly partisan narrative—a narrative propagated by the Dem party, and thus a partisan narrative, as Turley is well aware. That partisan narrative was, of course, picked up “dutifully” by the MSM branch of the Dem party. Thus there is a component in the polling response that is firmly anti-partisan because, as Turley later writes, the public recognizes the partisan character of what they’re fed by the MSM. 

That [“riot” rather than “insurrection”] was not one of the four options to the matinee question featured by CBS. It did not allow the public to call this a riot when it asked them to describe “What happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021?” Why? There was the ever present “insurrection” and “trying to overthrow government.” However, the other two options were “patriotism” or “defending freedom.” That is perfectly bizarre. The most obvious alternatives to an actual rebellion in a violent clash would be a protest or a riot. However, the public was simply not given those options.

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The poll perfectly captured the state of our media. There is no choice. Using the term insurrection is now a litmus test.  …

Yet, “insurrection” and “sedition” are legal terms. They have a meaning. The FBI investigated thousands after January 6th and charged hundreds. Not one is charged with insurrection or sedition or conspiracy to overthrow the country. The vast majority are charged with relatively minor offenses of trespass or unlawful entry or property damage. The type of charges that are common in protests and riots.

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Yet, there remains a determined effort to keep the “insurrection” narrative “preserved.” … This is not simply important for political purposes. Democratic members and groups are again calling for members (and Trump himself) to be disqualified from running for future offices under the 14th Amendment. ...

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The problem is that the public is not buying it. Even when the public is not given the choice by CBS of calling this a riot rather than an insurrection, the truth emerges like water finding a way out. The poll also shows the limits of not just Speaker Pelosi but the mainstream media in preserving such narratives. Despite the endless drumbeat of coverage referring to the day as an “insurrection,” the media cannot get the public to ignore what they witnessed — any more than getting viewers to accept reporting on largely “peaceful” protests with images of burning buildings in the background.  When the media was instructed to call the violent riots of prior summers “protests,” the effort to “preserve the narrative” failed with almost comical results.  ...

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The media, however, has become less and less relevant to public opinion. Despite the censorship of social media companies and the support of a legion of willing academics and experts, the coverage is largely self-contained. Most networks and newspapers have largely written off half of the country. They are singing to the choir. That is reflected in the CBS poll.  The public was given the same options that viewers are given every night on network and cable programs: either call this an insurrection or join the Proud Boys and call it an act of patriotism.

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