On Saturday morning, as their constituents slept, 51 Republican senators passed a massive bill whose central effects will be to slash taxes for corporations and affluent Americans (i.e. the donor class) while adding more than a trillion dollars to the deficit and causing millions of poor and middle-class Americans to lose their health insurance.

This comes as no shock. The modern GOP — a party of phony populists ruled by a race-baiting demagogue — has been working for decades to further enrich citizens who own private jets and lavish estates.

The real shock, in this case, is the brazen manner in which this legislation was passed: in the dead of night, with no public debate, having unveiled a 480-page bill festooned with handwritten notes that was impossible to read (never mind analyze) in the few hours allotted.

Actually, scratch that.

Protesters shout their disapproval of the Republican tax bill outside the Senate Budget Committee hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The real shock is the headlines our major news organizations chose to describe these events. Here’s a brief survey:

The New York Times: Senate Republicans Pass Sweeping Tax Bill

The Washington Post: Major Victory for Trump and Party Leaders

Politico: How McConnell Got a Win on Taxes

Associated Press: Trump Says Tax Bill Keeps Getting Better

This is like describing a highway robbery as a “Significant Fiscal Achievement.” Or a mugging as a “Triumphant Seizure.”

When our most respected news organizations craft headlines like this they are aiding and abetting a kleptocracy by covering “politics” like a sport in which the most important thing is which team won.

This isn’t even journalism. It’s the kind of cynical scorekeeping that elevates public relations above public morality.