Jake Tapper, sycophant

Sovereign Man provides actionable intelligence and rational solutions for personal liberty and financial prosperity. Read more at www.sovereignman.com

Nearly 2,000 years ago around the year 75 AD, the Greco-Roman historian Plutarch sat down to write his most ambitious work yet– a collection of biographies of the 48 most famous and influential figures of antiquity.

It was called Parallel Lives, and this two-volume series covered everyone from the mythical founders of Rome to Alexander the Great.

One of his chapters is about the life of Solon– the ancient Greek statesman who ruled Athens starting in 594 BC.

The land in Athens was harsh. Harvests were risky. And water could be scarce. So, according to Plutarch, Solon restricted agricultural exports. He would rather Athens keep such a strategic asset for itself “to make provision against want”.

Figs, known as sykos, were on the banned list. And according to Plutarch, some Athenian citizens made reputation for themselves by ratting out anyone who illegally exported the fruit– often with a dramatic reveal (phainen) of a smuggler’s illicit contraband.

Those informants ended up being called sykophantes, literally “one who reveals figs”. And at first these sykophantes were viewed as honorable defenders of their communities.

Eventually, however, many sykophantes realized they could use the threat of accusation for extortion and blackmail. Dishonest sykophantes would accuse their opponents of illegal exports, often resulting in the defendant being tied up in a lengthy legal dispute.

Sykophantes would also offer to drop the case in exchange for bribes, favors, or political gain.

The reputation of sykophantes never recovered; rather than being viewed as honest stalwarts who exposed illegal activity, they were dismissed as corrupt, amoral parasites, whose lies and dramatic propaganda could never be trusted.

The meaning of the modern English word (sycophant) has changed over time to “someone who offers excessive praise in a way that is insincere.” But the basic idea remains the same– sycophants are not to be trusted.

Frankly, it’s the perfect word to describe the legacy media, particularly the talking heads on cable TV.

In the old days of Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, and Tom Brokaw, TV news media was once a bedrock of truth. Today it’s a cesspool of lies, i.e. sycophancy in the ancient Greek tradition.

And the most recent example is CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who’s out with a new book called Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.

The book’s self-serving Amazon Kindle page says that its author is one of “America’s most respected journalists”. The New York Times says the book is “a damning, step-by-step account of how the people closest to a stubborn, aging president enabled his quixotic resolve to run for a second term.”

This is all utterly hilarious given what a prominent role Tapper himself (along with the Times) played in the cover-up.

In 2023, for example, Tapper insisted that Joe Biden is “sharp mentally. I think the question is physically.” He later slammed Rep. Dean Philips (who had the courage to run against Biden in the primary) for questioning Biden’s mental fitness.

After the Wall Street Journal released an article from Biden White House insiders questioning the then-President’s cognitive abilities, Tapper defended Biden saying, “His memory doesn’t seem great; it’s not horrible. But I don’t understand the outrage.”

He also cast doubt about the Journal article and suggested it was all Russian interference.

In every possible instance, Tapper attacked and smeared anyone who even hinted that Joe Biden was in decline. Yet now he’s written a book about the “cover-up”.

Tapper claims to take his readers “behind closed doors and into private conversations between the heaviest of hitters, revealing how big the problem was and how many people knew about it. From White House staffers at the highest to lowest levels, to leaders of Congress and the Cabinet, from governors to donors and Hollywood players, the truth is finally being told.”

Note the conspicuous lack of “media”. Yeah. The White House knew. Congress knew. The Cabinet Secretaries knew. George Clooney knew. I guess Jake Tapper didn’t know? Good thing he’s here to tell us “the truth”.

What’s really interesting about this absurd self-denial is that many of these same people now have their knives out for Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman.

Fetterman, if you may recall, had a terrible stroke during the 2022 primary election. His wife had to give a victory speech on his behalf because candidate Fetterman was hospitalized.

The impact of the stroke was pretty gruesome. And during the single debate with his opponent, Fetterman struggled to communicate or complete thoughts.

Naturally, the rest of his party insisted that he had no cognitive disabilities– a line that journalists like Jake Tapper dutifully repeated.

Fetterman has now been in the Senate for more than two years, and he has recovered substantially over that period of time.

Yet suddenly, there are political hit pieces emerging in the media insisting that Fetterman is “isolated” and speaks in “long, rambling, repetitive” sentences. Or that his own staffers “question his fitness to be a senator”.

None of this has anything to do with Fetterman’s actual cognitive abilities, but rather the fact that he is insufficiently progressive.

For example, rather than demonizing Israel as his party commands, Fetterman expressed moral support for Israel “in its efforts to eliminate the Hamas terrorists who slaughtered innocent men, women, and children.”

Fetterman’s staff was apparently “surprised” by the Senator’s view, ipso facto he must be cognitively impaired.

But Fetterman’s mental derangement didn’t stop with Israel. In December 2023 he declared simply, “I am not a progressive”. Then he later expressed support for a border security deal, stating, “it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border.”

Fetterman was also the first Senator in his party to meet with Donald Trump after the November election, saying, “I am the senator for all Pennsylvanians– not just Democrats in Pennsylvania.”

Clearly those are the words of a crazy person.

People like Jake Tapper totally missed it with Joe Biden. They were all innocent babes who couldn’t see the man’s obvious dementia.

Fortunately, the sycophants in the media are now sufficiently trained to recognize the clearest signs of cognitive disability: not being sufficiently progressive.

Source

Sovereign Man provides actionable intelligence and rational solutions for personal liberty and financial prosperity. Read more at www.sovereignman.com

Source: https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/jake-tapper-sycophant-152805/