Journalists beclown themselves again with 60 Minutes screengrab

Mind you, all that these intrepid media types had to go on was a single photo shared by the White House. But that was apparently enough proof for members of our vaunted Fourth Estate to theorize (and declare outright) that the White House had given the 60 Minutes reporter a dummy book filled with blank pages.

“What’s particularly odd about the book given to Stahl,” said the Washington Post’s Philip Bump in a 900-word-plus article, “is that the page to which she opened it appears to be blank.”

The Independent reported, “Trump mocked for tweeting photo of healthcare accomplishments book with blank page.”

“Trump Presented CBS With Book On His Health Care Record – Opened To A Blank Page,” read a Forbes headline.

I am interested in this alternate timeline where the very first pages of a book contain text. Have — have any of these people picked up a book (that is not Harry Potter) recently? If not, this would explain so much about the current state of reporting and commentary.

As you likely suspected, the book that Stahl was handed is not blank. It is filled with copies of “executive orders and congressional initiatives,” the CBS journalist herself said in the 60 Minutes interview that aired this weekend, “but no comprehensive healthcare plan.”

Stahl was handed the book at the end of her contentious interview with the president after he had already exited the room. As the CBS journalist waited to see if Trump would return, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany came up to Stahl and gave her the comically oversized tome.

“Lesley,” said McEnany, “the president wanted me to deliver his healthcare plan.”

The press secretary added as she handed the book over, “It’s a little heavy.”

“Oh my God,” said Stahl. “This is his healthcare plan?”

“Yes,” replied McEnany.

Later, the White House tweeted four pictures of the book-gifting moment.

Members of the press zeroed in on the fourth picture in the series, the one that shows Stahl opening the book to the first pages, asking, suggesting, and declaring that the White House had given the CBS reporter reams and reams of blank paper.

“Did the White House really hand Leslie Stahl a 2,500 page binder of blank pages that they said was Trump’s health care plan?” asked the Daily Beast’s Sam Stein.

Said NBC News political reporter Allan Smith, “The photo Trump posted of Stahl opening the book of healthcare achievements shows her looking at what appears to be a blank page.”

“In the 4th picture, it looks like the page Lesley Stahl has opened to in that theatrically gigantic book is actually blank,” said the New York Times’s Liam Stack.

CNN’s Bill Weir added, “Look closely. The pages are blank.”

Boy, nothing gets past you guys.

The thing that is so weird about this idiotic and bogus talking point is not just that journalists used a single picture to allege a conspiracy theory about blank books. The weird thing is that it seemed clear from the get-go that the book did not contain the president’s oft-discussed but yet-to-be-seen healthcare plan. The serious criticism is that the president continues to obfuscate the issue and that McEnany claimed the book contains his healthcare plan when we knew almost immediately that it does not. If you are looking for something to criticize, why not that? Why go with the “Haw! Haw! Blank pages!” silliness?

If members of the press are not going to take seriously what they do for a living, why should anyone else?