When all major U.S. newspapers and TV commentators stoop to posting vacuous, clickbait-driven trash articles aimed at spreading certain pieces of information, two things come to my mind: The embedded reporters in the Gulf War and the entrenched elites of “the establishment.”
In Turkish, we call it “the deep state” but its American equivalent is the term “entrenched elites.” Both are used to describe a dominant or elite group that controls a polity or organization. In the mid-1920s, Italian political theorist Gaetano Mosca described it as a relatively small group of activists from whom the national leadership is largely drawn. But Max Weber had corrected “the activism” notion, noting that a small group of political elites live only “for politics” and make their careers “off politics.” They become the state.
They share the obligations and benefits of being the “state party.” Some of them serve in the media, while others are deemed fit “to man the front desk of politics” and sacrifice their comfort and peace in retirement and run for the presidency. But one of the basic rules of the democratic game is the explicit requirement of public debate, contention and competition when it comes to the media and political parties. This political and commercial race sometimes blurs our vision and we start believing that it is authentic, believing it is the ever-present nature of politics and media. But at times when they need to present a unified front to the European Union, Russia, China, Iran and so on, the rivalry between and among the entrenched elites of politics and the media is put aside. The state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the U.S. was one of those moments and his strong words about how the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – offering about $400 million of incentives, including support for electric vehicle manufacturers and turning U.S. investment in Europe off – was buried beneath the exaggerated descriptions of first ladies Brigitte Macron and Jill Biden’s twinkling state-dinner dresses, and the detailed narration of Presidents Joe Biden and Macron as they stood "shoulder to shoulder” and “clinked crystal to cap a two-day whirl of bonhomie.”
Did the start of a new trade war between the EU and U.S. force the French president to say that the two sides need “to coordinate and re-synchronize our policy agendas”? You won't find it on the front page or in the carousels of their websites but instead buried in the tenth page or down in their "other stories" columns.
When the two ladies’ dresses revive “a first lady tradition” (whatever that is!), who needs to mar their pages with a “slight disagreement” between friends?
France, Germany, Italy and Spain could be in the dark this winter; officials say the countries could be without electricity during the cold winter that has been approaching fast and admit power outages are possible. The U.K. has already banned Russian oil but apparently, a cold and dark winter is not approaching its shores.
Should the embedded reporters – sorry, the entrenched elites of the media – report that the French president urged Biden to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately about peace in Ukraine? Yes, perhaps, after all, they are considered to be media. But being a member of “the establishment” forces them to report about “Biden’s strongly caveated remarks as a response” to Macron, not Macron’s full speech.
Not only the ill effects of the war in Ukraine but the U.S. response also seems to be creating additional difficulties for the EU. The stream of the Federal Reserve's increased interest rates crashes the European markets because new bonds soon come onto the market offering investors higher interest rate payments. Too bad! The U.S. should reduce its inflation if it wants to get rid of the Russian threat. “But the Russians were not threatening Europe.” Yes, they were. If you don’t believe Biden, ask Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy (when he sobers up).
When you are an entrenched member of "the establishment," to be called its “Newspaper of Record” you simply report that “Presidents Biden and Macron enjoyed a bond built on a birthday wish, ice cream and 30 phone calls” without mentioning that Macron kept calling the U.S. president about the need to stop the war in Ukraine, objecting to the U.S.’s insistence on imposing a lower price cap on Russian crude oil. The majority of the EU countries are objecting to the U.S. pressure; only Poland, Estonia and Lithuania have been pushing the EU for a lower price while others have been seeking a level that would cause minimum harm to Europeans. Putin doesn't seem too concerned about selling his gas to the EU with a price cap designed to cut the revenues Russia rakes in. The U.S. and three EU countries argue that with Russian crude currently trading at around the level of the cap that the majority of the EU proposed; it would fail to reduce Moscow’s oil revenues that it is using to fund its war in Ukraine.
Macron’s state visit was part of the plan to convince Biden to stop throwing more fuel into the fire in Ukraine; Macron came to Washington as the spokesperson of those U.S. allies who are critical of Biden and increasingly accuse the U.S. of undercutting them at the expense of its domestic priorities. According to the French journalists reporting from Washington, Biden tried to ease Macron’s concerns, but he said the IRA could not be altered to calm the European complaints. Biden defended his policy, arguing that it will ultimately benefit U.S. allies in Europe.
Thus, Macron received, as we say in Turkish, a pinch of honey in his mouth; still, the Europeans are going to get thrown a small bone, offered with a hatchet: the U.S. accepted that the European Union set up a task force to discuss their differences over the electric vehicle provision. European officials will try to see that the U.S. agrees that European manufacturers can enjoy the same benefits awarded to electric car producers in Canada and Mexico, whose products also qualify for the tax credit.
The conservative National Review magazine thinks Biden’s domestic policies are tantamount to “Executive Despotism”; the impact of that despotism seems to be no less internationally. But given the infighting among EU leaders (i.e.: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hate each other and European Council President Charles Michel hates them both) coupled with the U.K.’s disagreements with France and Germany, there is no way for Europe to resist the U.S. pressures. For now, the French people will console themselves with two scoops of ice cream offered to their president by “Cher Joe.”
