When it comes to ignoring policy substance and governance, no media outlet is a bigger violator than the Associated Press. OK, maybe the New York Times and CNN, but that's about it. Indeed, the AP is so steeped in its obsession with trivia and drama, it sometimes finds itself shocked to learn that actual governance is going on right under its nose.
I don't know who decided it was stunning news that Donald Trump has been governing the whole time the press has been freaking out about utter irrelevancies, but this report is quite something:
Amid the turmoil over staff shake-ups, blocked travel bans and the Russia cloud hanging overhead, President Donald Trump is steadily plugging away at a major piece of his agenda: Undoing Obama.
From abortion to energy to climate change and personal investments, Trump is keeping his promises in methodically overturning regulations and policies adopted when Barack Obama was president.
It hasn't all been smooth sailing.
Trump recently failed to fulfill his pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which continues to stand as Obama's most recognizable domestic policy achievement. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan couldn't persuade enough fellow Republicans to back new health care legislation last month. Ryan pulled the measure just before a scheduled House vote.
Trump has had better outcomes in other areas.
What follows is a list worth perusing. Everything from Obama's climate policies to energy policy and abortion to Internet policies, Trump has been moving forward and getting rid of Obama orders. They don't even mention his budget proposal, which isn't that different in terms of the total dollars spent but is very different in terms of how it allocates discretionary spending.
But what's really noteworthy about the story is not so much the list of things Trump has done or hasn't done, but the way the AP treats it as astonishing news that these things have been going on. Why, you probably haven't heard that Trump has done these things because Russia/wiretapping/drama, etc.
If the media did its job, you would know more about Trump's policies and the way he's governing than you do about all the drama - most of which is manufactured by the media anyway. You'd know more about the decisions he's making every day than you would about whether Ivanka is going to have an office, or whether Kellyanne Conway put her feet on the couch, or whether Paul Manafort made money from the Russians, or how much Trump paid in taxes 12 years ago.
But these are the things the media obsess over constantly, so much so that when they decide to take a quick peak at how he's governing the nation, they're stunned to see that some things are actually being accomplished. Anyway: Now that you've received a quick and rare update about how the president is governing, we'll return you to nonstop drama and trivia. Focusing on things that actually matter for more than a story or two is way too hard!
