I.F. Stone would recognize the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner spat

“The establishment reporters without a doubt know a lot things I don’t know. But a lot of what they know isn’t true. And a lot of what they know that is true they can’t print.

“If you’re one of the crowd and a respectable fellow and a solid fellow and an up-and-coming fellow, you find yourself at dinner parties agreeing with people — a lot of half-baked nonsense. You shake your head very wisely and people see you shaking your head wisely and think you’re a very wise guy and you’re going to go far, and pretty soon, you know, you’re caught up in the God-damnedest mess of crap anybody ever got caught up in.”

— I.F. Stone, in the 1974 documentary, “I.F. Stone’s Weekly”

I’m guessing I.F. Stone never went to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Surely, though, he would have recognized the contretemps attending this year’s event and the performance by one Michelle Wolf, a comedian whose brand has been doubtless enhanced by the finger wagging and tongue clucking of some members of Washington’s political and journalistic Smart Set.

While comedians invited to perform at the “Nerd Prom” are not always ushered out of town on a wave of disapproving howls, it is a frequent enough occurrence — Stephen Colbert in 2006, anyone? — that it has the feel of ritual and more than a whiff of disingenuousness.

Regarding Saturday’s performance, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News combined outrage and deja vu on Twitter:

“Apology is owed to @PressSec and others grossly insulted ny [sic] Michelle Wolf at White House Correspondents Assoc dinner which started with uplifting heartfelt speech by @margarettalev — comedian was worst since Imus insulted Clinton’s” [sic]

Some critics accused Wolf of ridiculing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her appearance.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times:

“That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.”

Mika Brzezinski of Morning Joe:

“Watching a wife and mother be humiliated on national television for her looks is deplorable. I have experienced insults about my appearance from the president. All women have a duty to unite when these attacks happen and the WHCA owes Sarah an apology.”

Ridiculing Sanders for her appearance certainly would have been deplorable if it had happened. But if you read the transcript of her remarks, you see that Wolf did no such thing. Regarding Sanders, she said:

“Like, she burns facts, and then she uses the ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Like, maybe she’s born with it; maybe it’s lies.

“It’s probably lies.”

Some professional journalists heard those lines and managed to focus on “perfect smokey eye.” (They don’t seem as offended by Wolf’s throwaway cheap shot at Chris Christie. He’s probably not that valuable as a source at the moment.)

Wolf’s take on Sanders was tough — O.K., brutal — to be sure. She called Sanders a liar, and she called White House counselor Kellyanne Conway a liar. Sanders, whose words journalists slavishly broadcast and recount every day. Conway, who they invite on their shows to endure her “alternative facts” and her abuse of journalists.

If I may use a bit of journalism jargon, they missed the lede.

But they didn’t miss the point, I bet. Because Wolf delivered as good an explanation as any for the blowback she surely knew was coming:

“You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you.

“He’s helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you’re profiting off of him.”

Ironically, it’s a version of a point that Donald Trump likes to make about the media.

When WHCA President Margaret Talev announced the selection of Wolf, she praised the comic’s “truth-to-power style.”

On Sunday, she had a different view of truth to power.

“Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people,” she wrote to WHCA members. “Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”

In comments to the press, Talev allowed that Wolf was protected by the First Amendment, which was nice.

Maybe at one time the dinner offered a “unifying message,” an opportunity for the president and the press to affirm their shared commitment to free speech and the importance of robust journalism, even to the discomfiture of the president.

But the rush of some journalists to defend White House officials gives the dinner a different look in these more cynical times: a gathering of the rich and powerful who are All In On It, who dine together one night each year to toast the success of their year-round staged spectacle, which entertains and distracts but does little to improve the lives of most Americans.

Maybe Wolf’s last line was her best point:

“Flint still doesn’t have clean water.”

This appeared originally as the column One Dog Barking on CitizenCartwright.com.