Steve Krakauer Profile picture
Dec 26, 2019 15 tweets 10 min read Read on X
Quick year-end thread. I wrote 13 pieces in 2019. Most were about things I liked, which I’m glad about (so much negativity already). Most were for @NBCNewsTHINK - a great, diverse site I was proud to be a small part of. Special thanks to @MBennettSmith, a fantastic editor…
@NBCNewsTHINK @MBennettSmith 1. @AOC is a millennial role model when she’s away from the keyboard - in a culture where status is increasingly defined by likes and followers, she proves doing the work is real power. Now, if she just focuses on walking the walk > tweeting the talk... nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
@NBCNewsTHINK @MBennettSmith @AOC 2. @BernieSanders breaking with the other Democratic candidates and agreeing to a Fox News town hall was a win-win, and proved out the value of intellectual discomfort. I’d argue his out of the box media choices is keeping him in this race: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
3. President Trump lies a lot - true. But the media focus on “quantity" over “quality" is undermining and counterproductive - and inadvertently helps make Trump’s “fake news” case for him: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
4. Beating Trump in 2020 requires a certain kind of media savvy - a combination of likability and authenticity. Habits and flaws. A combination of relatable and incredible. An immense sense of self. How the Democratic field stacks up: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
5. Elizabeth Warren’s performance in the June debate instantly skyrocketed her to frontrunner status. But you could make the case her presidential argument began in a 2004 @BillMoyers PBS interview, when she shredded then-Senator Hillary Clinton: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
6. Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and the crumbling of the elites - society is tearing down the broken and rotten institutions and pushing bad actors previously shielded by their ivory towers into the spotlight. So what comes next? Get ready: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
7. One of the best books I read in 2019 was @Chris_arnade’s “Dignity,” which highlighted something bigger than politics — the connections we make and maintain and value as Americans. I talked with Arnade about faith, family, community, and 2016/2020: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
8. The government can’t fix your social media addiction, and the bipartisan push to do so, but particularly GOP Sen. Josh Hawley’s awful, mindless regulation proposals, is something all Americans should be wary of: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
9. Dave Chappelle is a genius, who leaves you just uncomfortable enough, laughing while you squirm. His comedy special #SticksandStones was essential viewing, particularly in 2019, where good discomfort is in short supply: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
10. Billionaire Tom Steyer couldn’t think of anything better to do with his money - something more more altruistic, helping the planet perhaps - than buy his way into a Democratic field that has no use for him, as a silly rich guy vanity project. nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
11. @kanyewest is a spiritual innovator, a cultural bridge-builder, a musical genius.

#SundayService and #JesusIsKing pushed his career to a new plateau, and his focus on making God cool and culturally relevant is an impressive pivot: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
12. Can we “unlearn race” - and should we? That’s the premise of a powerful and thought-provoking book by @thomaschattwill. I interviewed fellow Union County, NJ’er Williams, on Obama, Trump, “woke essentialism,” and what de-emphasizing race looks like: nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
13. Finally I went long on Shepard Smith’s legacy at Fox News for the @dcexaminer magazine, as the Fox original left this year from a media landscape far different than the one he entered. (Thanks to @SethAMandel and @jgrantaddison for the opportunity)

washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/a-true…
I hope to write more columns in 2020, but for now my side gig focus is on the email newsletter I launched earlier this month, @FourthWatch.

You can subscribe and learn more about it here - it’s back 1/2/20: thefirsttv.com/fourthwatch/

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More from @SteveKrak

Jul 10
Today's the day the Biden debate debacle saga actually broke the very foundation of how the media and political establishment operate. It broke the fourth wall. A glitch in the matrix. An existential crisis. Here are 3 examples. 1/
Reporter finishes live hit with Biden statement about Clooney, tosses back to Jake Tapper and he's like "wait what does that mean that doesn't make sense." Then he tosses to pundit to give her take and she's just goes "this is not good, this is bad." 2/

Reporter catches up with Pelosi in the hallway for one of those normal impromptu Q&As and Pelosi questions the whole concept entirely: "Am I speaking English to you? I’m not going to be making any statements about any of that right now in the hallway." 3/
Read 5 tweets
Jun 14
Did Biden break a "one term" promise? It's complicated... and it involves the Acela media, partisan spinsters, and some very careful, strategic, language.

I dig into the facts - and explain why it matters NOW - in my latest @TheHill column:
thehill.com/opinion/white-…
It matters the NYT decided to fact check Biden's "tall tales" this week - and the WSJ did their "slipping" story that had the Democratic establishment freaking out.

Biden's approval rating in the 538 average ticked down to its all-time low, 37.4 percent:
thehill.com/opinion/white-…
.@NateSilver538 wrote: "Democrats would have been better served if Biden had decided a year ago not to seek a second term..."

That led to some X drama - and questions about whether Biden promised to only run for one-term back in 2020:
thehill.com/opinion/white-…
Read 9 tweets
Mar 25
Nicolle Wallace meltdown on MSNBC about Ronna McDaniel hiring:

'What we've said to election deniers is not just that they can do that on our airwaves, but that they can do that as one of us - as badge-carrying employees of NBC News. As paid contributors to our sacred airwaves.'
Jen Psaki addresses the Ronna McDaniel story, and "right-wing ecosystem" comparisons to her.

Psaki says her political experience "only matters, and only has value to viewers... if it it paired with honesty, and with good faith" .. "service to the country vs. service to one man"
Rachel Maddow is gunning for a Best Supporting Actress Emmy with a 27-minute opening monologue on the Ronna McDaniel situation - who is "part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government."

"It's hard, right? I mean, this is a challenging, worrying time..."
Read 4 tweets
Feb 23
The 20 Day "Sweet Spot"

There has been a lot of reporting about what might happen if President Biden drops out of the presidential race, but almost all of it ignores a scenario that is simultaneously the most chaotic and the most controlled.

Here's how it would work. 1/
In October, @ChrisStirewalt appeared on The @MegynKellyShow and laid out a variety of options for the Democrats if Joe Biden stepped aside. It all depends on the timing.

If he steps aside now, there'd be a rushed primary. If he does it later, a contested convention. But... 2/
@ChrisStirewalt @MegynKellyShow What happens if Joe Biden steps aside AFTER the convention? That's the most incredible scenario of all.

There's an approximately 20-day window between August 23 and September 10 that provides the Democratic establishment elite the most control. 3/

Read 6 tweets
Nov 4, 2023
A few days ago @AbeGreenwald wrote an excellent piece about the ongoing investigation into the death of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll.

She was killed two weeks ago and there is still no arrest. And barely any media coverage anymore. 1/
commentary.org/abe-greenwald/…
Within two days, the Detroit police chief said they were close to an arrest, and also assured the public they were confident it was not "anti-Semitism" that was behind the murder. The Acela Media took the word of the police chief and coverage evaporated. But what do we know? 2/
Police said they found "a large Israeli flag" in Woll's home "untouched," and used that as evidence the stabbing wasn't anti-Semitic. What?

I'm very pro-Israel and don't have a giant Israel flag at home. It not being destroyed is somehow evidence? 3/
clickondetroit.com/news/local/202…
Read 4 tweets
Mar 17, 2023
This will be the last long thread about #Uncovered for awhile… but I wanted to give you an idea what you’ll find in the book, by showing exactly what you see in the pages…

Find the hardcover, audiobook (featuring dozens of interviewees!), or ebook here: ReadUncovered.com
Tucker Carlson tells me in the prologue how he knew the Hunter Biden laptop was real and not “Russian disinformation” - he was sent emails on it between him and Hunter. He and Hunter were friendly, he tells me, until Hunter “started doing a ton of blow.” Readuncovered.com
I start #Uncovered by tracing the way the press was treated by the Obama administration - horribly - and how the Acela Media still was subservient to them.

“We created an echo chamber,” bragged top Obama aide Ben Rhodes. It seeded the ground for Trump.
Readuncovered.com
Read 11 tweets

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