n the end, the outcome was the same as it always is. Congress raised the debt ceiling and America will pay down its ever-growing loans.

But in the run-up to the legislation’s passage this week, mainstream media breathlessly covered threats from both sides of the aisle to scuttle a deal. The difference between the portrayals of each side was telling.

The right: Media outlets described the House Republican holdouts as “extremist,” “far-right,” or “hardliners.” War metaphors abounded.