They would never have let a presidential candidate of any party get away without having to answer hard questions from journalists.

Not any more. There’s hardly a peep–never mind any outrage–from the collective media about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden hiding in the weeds. Where are the editorials, the professional journalism organizations and the commentators who demand that this dodge end? I might have missed a voice or two from the left demanding that Biden do what every other candidate in recent memory has done. But there’s no unified voice, passionately kicking down the doors that are holding them back from interviewing Biden.

Every newsroom used to have what were nicknamed “door kickers” that would never allow a political candidate or public official get away with such an insult to the public’s right to know. There would be daily reminders in the newspapers and on the air that Biden was–take your pick–cowardly, incompetent or arrogant.

As a former journalist, I am astonished how today’s reporters, producers and editors have silently allowed themselves to be relegated to–what?–not even observers as they are not allowed anywhere near the candidate to ask tough questions. The few interviews he has given to favored media should have been an embarrassment to poseurs who call themselves journalists. My God, have they no pride? Do they not give a damn about their readers, viewers and listeners? Why are they so willing to silently stand by as their cherished role as the fourth estate gets so thoroughly gutted by political hacks? Has the media’s liberal bias blinded them to how they are being so easily manipulated by the backroom punks who think they are smarter and oh-so-entitled to run things?

The effort to hide Biden from the media by his “advisors” has been so transparent and degrading that you’d think that even the staunchest of Democratic partisans would, at least out of shame, protest. Maybe some already are as The Hill reports in “Biden faces calls to be more active with media.”  But that’s only an additional reason for the media to be ashamed, as the first calls for Biden to be accountable are coming from his own allies who are afraid of public pushback and not from journalists.

Biden should have the guts to forthrightly stand up for his principles, his constituents and his party instead of cowering back home. The laughable excuse that he’s hole up because it’s his duty to follow the coronavirus “guidelines” is so ridiculous that it makes his supporters who repeat this lie look like fools. If the Biden team was so determined to follow whatever guidelines supposedly confine Biden to his basement, they wouldn’t be hawking vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris to whatever friendly media outlet they could find.

Democrats think they can get alway with this strategy because they are counting on their supporters to vote like sheep. Doesn’t matter what the candidate says. Doesn’t matter what he does. Just show up and dutifully cast your vote for an enigma. Baa baa.