The traditional media’s need to say both sides did a thing when only one side did it is well known, but this is one for legend. Reporting on the Republican power grabs in Wisconsin and Michigan, with Republicans stripping the governor’s and attorney general’s office of power simply because Democrats will be taking over those offices, NBC’s Chuck Todd said this: “Democrats have done this in the past to Republican governors in lame duck sessions in other states.” Chuck, we’re going to need some receipts, because this looks like a lie.
In fact, a reported piece from NBC says the opposite:
Both national and statewide experts said they had never seen such efforts like the ones in Wisconsin and Michigan before — and that the GOP actions indicate a new level of toxicity has arrived in state government.
"Until recently, no party has tried to hamstring their opponents' future power to the way the Republicans are doing it now," John Chamberlin, professor emeritus of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan, told NBC News, adding, "They are a bad sign that state politics is being infected by the toxic national political environment."
Well, Chuck? You don’t throw out a line like that and just leave it hanging when the evidence is lined up against you.