Dog bites man, and reports the story
posted at 8:00 am on September 30, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Glenn Reynolds printed an e-mail from an anonymous worker in a major newsroom yesterday evening, informing him (and us) that the “fix is in” for Barack Obama:
“Off the record, every suspicion you have about MSM being in the tank for O is true. We have a team of 4 people going thru dumpsters in Alaska and 4 in arizona. Not a single one looking into Acorn, Ayers or Freddiemae [sic]. Editor refuses to publish anything that would jeopardize election for O, and betting you dollars to donuts same is true at NYT, others. People cheer when CNN or NBC run another Palin-mocking but raising any reasonable inquiry into obama is derided or flat out ignored. The fix is in, and its working.”
The Anchoress also notes a similar message she’s heard:
I have a couple friends who work in the MSM, too, and one of them tells me the newsroom is (exact words) “unbelievably cavalier” about any complaints viewers register about their reports, what they ignore, their bias or the way they edit Republicans vs. the way the treat Dems. “Cavalier” as in the fix is in and they don’t even have to pretend to care what half the country thinks or wants.
We’ve received several e-mails in the wake of these revelations, suggesting that a failure to mention it would doom the Right to a generation of the wilderness. These are noteworthy leaks, but they tell a story that we have reported over and over again for as long as I’ve been blogging. It was just as true in 2004, when no newspaper would report on John Kerry’s serial fabrications of his war record, but instead painted 250 veterans of the Swift Boat service as smear artists and turned “Swift Boating” into an unintentionally ironic gerund meaning smears — by the same media that attempted to turn a series of obviously-forged memos into a torpedo to defeat George Bush.
In the larger sense, this isn’t exactly news to us or our readers. We don’t need to hear it from people on the inside, although it gives us valuable confirmation when we do. We can see it for ourselves from their work. I’ve written extensively about the New York Times and their jeremiad against John McCain ever since he clinched the nomination. Allahpundit has documented the MS-NBC insanity of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann to such an extent that a search of either or both would keep readers busy for days. Media criticism isn’t just a hobby for us, but a full-time job.
In fact, the awareness has gone beyond the blogosphere. How do we know? Newspaper readership has fallen significantly this decade, and only part of it can be explained by the Internet. People no longer trust the media to deliver news objectively. Rasmussen polled on this question, and over two-thirds of voters believe that reporters deliberately skew the news to support their favored candidate — and by a 5-1 margin believe that reporters want Obama to win over McCain.
They’ve been cavalier with the truth and with reporting for decades. Their consumers have finally realized it. The power of the media to shape opinions has waned as a result, but it doesn’t mean they have lost it altogether. We’ll still work to expose media bias, and hope that the whistleblowers to Glenn and the Anchoress can work to bring reform to their newsrooms over time.
Blowback
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Understatement!
Browncoatone on September 30, 2008 at 8:05 AM
Ironic. “Journalists” have the story of the past half century in their laps, the turning of the American media, and they won’t report it. Tell me why these “insiders” work in media?
JiangxiDad on September 30, 2008 at 8:05 AM
In other news, the sun rose today.
Bishop on September 30, 2008 at 8:06 AM
It will make victory this November that much sweeter.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:06 AM
Excellent point.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:07 AM
Just like betas have taken over in urban America, the media is overwelmed by betas. Alpha survive and thrive in fly-over country. The numbers of each is of concern. There is not one msm personality that is worthy of admiration. Bottom line is : who cares (besides Allah)?
Fuquay Steve on September 30, 2008 at 8:12 AM
Chris: While I was listening to Obama in the debate, I got a boner.
Keith: Me too.
Chris: Think we’re gay?
Keith: Do I think?
whitetop on September 30, 2008 at 8:12 AM
60% of voters believe the media are biased and 80% believe they are in the tank for Obama. And yet the same Rasmussen reports that Obama leads McCain in national polls by 5%.
I guess no one minds media bias – if it’s in their favor.
ManlyRash on September 30, 2008 at 8:12 AM
People no longer trust the media to deliver news objectively. Rasmussen polled on this question, and over two-thirds of voters believe that reporters deliberately skew the news to support their favored candidate — and by a 5-1 margin believe that reporters want Obama to win over McCain.
And yet the Zero still leads and the latest paper to fold in NY Sun, a semi-right leaning paper. The Sheep KNOW they’re being lead and they LIKE it! Sociasm is on the way.
Tony737 on September 30, 2008 at 8:14 AM
To Jaiangxi’s point, I reminds me of my nice, middle class neighborhood. Occasionally taggers will paint their stupid graffiti on the wall block wall the borders the subdivision. So, I go out and paint over the filth as soon as I see it. My neighbors keep telling me that I’m going to get shot, and I have been threatened and insulted by gang types passing by, but I can’t let them get a foothold in my community.
Objective journalists need to take a stand, risk their jobs, even, and say no more to this nonsense.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:15 AM
About the only things I read the local paper (Toledo Blade, an utterly horrible piece of shite) for are sports and the comics.
rbj on September 30, 2008 at 8:15 AM
What will be telling is, should McCain win, the media will scratch it’s collective heads and wonder how that was possible considering the ‘stellar, unbiased’ reporting. Yet, if Obama wins, the leftist slant and smugness will go up tenfold, as if a vindication of their ‘cavalier’ attitudes.
DakRoland on September 30, 2008 at 8:15 AM
All you can do is respond with your dollar. Support products and services that support your values. I’ve no doubt that the MSM laughs in the face of conservative complaints, but eventually their sponsers feel the pinch of consumer rebellion. Calls and e-mails to corporate offices are not ignored if there are enough of them.
anniekc on September 30, 2008 at 8:16 AM
its going to be a really ugly next four years. this election will settle nothing and the hostilities will continue. GWB held his course on Iraq and abandoned the rest, allowing himself to just be a punching bag.
Wish he had fought back, but we will continue the battle after he is gone. I have my torch here, now where did I leave my pitchfork?
billypaintbrush on September 30, 2008 at 8:16 AM
Oh heavens, my last post is incomprehensible. I’m going to make more coffee now.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:17 AM
On the bright side, your average mainstream reporter’s political views will be a perfect fit in his or her new job as a Starbucks barista.
Jim Treacher on September 30, 2008 at 8:18 AM
Why trust the media when I have site after site exposing them as partisan hacks? Like this one on September 5th at Words Assembled Well, showing an internal memo at Raleigh’s News And Observer:
When editors of major papers are distributing daily emails like this to their staff, their claim of being non-partisan is laughable.
LastRick on September 30, 2008 at 8:19 AM
+1
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:20 AM
Now that’s just plain funny.
UndertheBridge on September 30, 2008 at 8:23 AM
This is why “the new media” is the new 5th column. Sure, it’s not nearly tall enough yet, but it’s getting taller by the month. The zenith of the dinosaur media, I think, was when CBS/Dan Rather tried to pass fake documents off as real reporting. The beginning of the end for sure.
Thanks to all who do the work the dinosaur media won’t do.
SouthernGent on September 30, 2008 at 8:23 AM
No, it wasn’t. It was perfectly clear. And good for you.
JiangxiDad on September 30, 2008 at 8:24 AM
Well,ain’t that sumpin,the secret division of
the information wing of the Liberal Democrat
Party!!!
Hopey,is not going to win it,and these Lefty
operatives know it!!
My theory,is that Nancy Pelosi strutted up
to the podium yesterday,and put the liberal
Party above the interests of America!!
Her speech was deliberate and calculated to
blame the Republican Party,to freak out the
average American,scaring the living h#ll out
of the voter!!
And here’s the key to that speech Pelosi made,
the comment of “8 YEARS OF A FAILED BUSH POLICIES”!!
And again,during this election,this is a deliberate
strategy to connect McCain to Bush,and in doing so,
tar and feathering every Republican!!
And causing a climate of fear in this Financial mess!!
Nancy Pelosi is deliberatly saying this is a debauckle of
the Republican’s,and at the same time,with the deal killed,
once again,telling the voters,its the Republcans that are
holding up the deal!!
So really,is it 8 years of Bush policies that has caused this,obviously not!!!!
Time for the RNC to tell the voters who is responsible,
or,
allow Hopey to win it, on this lying perception!!!!
canopfor on September 30, 2008 at 8:25 AM
You can always turn your TV off and read a few good books. That’s if ratings and viewer numbers mean anything to the MSM these days.
Crux Australis on September 30, 2008 at 8:25 AM
The fact people are aware is not news… anyone remember the bumper sticker “Irritate the media.. Vote Bush”?
CC
CapedConservative on September 30, 2008 at 8:26 AM
The problem, as has been pointed out, has long been identified. With the just announced demise of the Sun, we’ve lost another of those rarities of rarities these days–a journalistic endeavor dedicated to the objective reporting of the news. So…what sort of solutions can we put forth to correct this problem and hopefully encourage more objective reporting? For what they’re worth, here are some thoughts:
1) Pressure local media to report objectively. This can be hard as many local newspapers and media outlets are under the control or ownership of larger corporations such as the New York Times or Gannett, but you can still have an impact. Local publications require local advertisers for much of their income. This provides a ready means of pressuring them through pressuring their advertisers. Negative pressure in the form of boycotts and letters to advertisers work best here.
2) Selective targeting of major media. Boycotting all media is wasteful and fruitless. Pick one major electronic outlet–NBC and its cable daughters MSNBC and CNBC, for example, and one major print venue, the New York Times, for instance, and concentrate your energies on them. Letters to sponsors, boycotts, protests, etc.
3) While zeroing in on your main target do not ignore the others. If you’re targeting NBC, don’t ignore Katie Couric or Charles Gibson, by all means expose their activities, but concentrate your energies on your primary target.
4) Borrow from the left’s playbook. Take what’s been working for the left, adapt them to fit in to our principles, and use their tactics against them.
5) Grassroots journalism. All you need to be a news publisher is a computer, a printer, the internet to get the information, paper, and a willingness to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Make and produce broadsheets and newsletters, print them out and make like Johnny Newsseed and spread them around in local businesses, give them to people on the way to work or at church. Get the word out. Who knows, you could turn this into a paying proposition–the free market in action.
6) Encourage young political conservatives to enter into careers in journalism, academia, education, and entertainment and the fine arts. Our best and brightest have tended to go into business, finance, law, and other such fields. As a result, we have conceded the cultural, journalistic, educational, and literary arenas to the left. We need to reassert ourselves in those fields, because, like it or not, those areas do influence public opinion.
This is not going to be an easy or quick campaign. The corruption of our media has been an ongoing process since at least the Vietnam War and it will probably take at least a couple of decades to bring about real change. But, at least it’s a start.
Matt Helm on September 30, 2008 at 8:28 AM
All you have to do to realize how true this post is is ask yourself this question. Can you recall an election cycle where one candidate who has had a relationship with a man who admits to trying to overthrow the duly elected government of the united states , who admits to bombing the U.S. Capital and Pentagon and to this day gives anti-American speeches to the likes of Hugo Chavez goes UNREPORTED?..
I can’t
galtg on September 30, 2008 at 8:30 AM
In other news, crap still stinks..
water is wet.
and Margaret Cho is not funny.
DaveC on September 30, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Well said, Matt.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:32 AM
I can’t wait for the MSM to finally die. Blogs are the future!
lodge on September 30, 2008 at 8:32 AM
For some odd reason I was perusing the wikipedia article on Rathergate last night.
It is a remarkably candid, fair and well documented article that really shows the complete and total abdication of journalistic ethics for the sake of scoring partisan political points.
What is TRULY remarkable, though, is that such a huge gaffe would leave such small marks/scars on the media.
If ever there was a scandal that earned/deserved the “-gate” prefix, it was this one and apart from Rather and Mapes losing their jobs, life continues as usual.
And frankly I am dumbfounded that there are few journalists who have called Rather and Mapes out on their continued insistence that the story was right because no one can “authoritatively” proof that the documents were fake!!!
I agree with you, though, this was the death-knell of the mainstream media. They just haven’t figured it out, yet.
Religious_Zealot on September 30, 2008 at 8:32 AM
I think it’s gradually gotten worse over the years.
The pro-Hezbollah coverage of the 2006 war really set me off, and I’ve been raging ever since.
I know plenty of moderate or apolitical people who used to basically trust the media who do alot of eye-rolling and scoffing now too.
The final straw may be the MSM handling of Palin. They may succeed in harming the McCain/Palin campaign, but their credibility is going to be in the trash can for good now.
forest on September 30, 2008 at 8:33 AM
Time for a Deep Throat to meet a Bob Woodward in a parking garage.
Buy Danish on September 30, 2008 at 8:33 AM
Neal Boortz will be on fox and friends this morning…
Kaptain Amerika on September 30, 2008 at 8:34 AM
I dunno I think most will need to be sandwich board advertisers…doing anything productive seems beyond them.
If universal anarchy ever breaks out a few newsies and I are gonna have a chat.
sven10077 on September 30, 2008 at 8:37 AM
Touché
Marine_Bio on September 30, 2008 at 8:37 AM
To be honest, if Rathergate didn’t kill or at least change the MSM, I don’t know if anything can.
Religious_Zealot on September 30, 2008 at 8:38 AM
Journalism Integrity at its finest!!!!
No,scratch that.
Liberal Journalism at its finest,yup,
thats better!!!
canopfor on September 30, 2008 at 8:40 AM
I worked in a newsroom for several years. I can tell you that in the newsroom, it was filled with Kerry stickers and Bush hating material. I can also hear the most vile things said in such anger against republicans and our president. Our editorial board are all liberals.
I heard of bias in the media, but witnessed it first hand. At the time, I also went to college at night for a Master’s degree in Corporate Communications, knowing full well how journalism is going in the crapper. I told the liberal students as well as our professor (who was a republican, surprise, surprise) that there was blatant bias in the media in the newsroom. To take everything with a grain of salt and to go to Fox News for fair stories as well as the internet, especially Drudge.
The media has their agenda and will go to great lengths to screw our political system.
jencab on September 30, 2008 at 8:40 AM
Well said. And HA and others and talk radio keep up a relentless assault on the MSM. Bravo to them.
JiangxiDad on September 30, 2008 at 8:41 AM
Another important thing to do and this is something we can all do, is to support those news outlets that do get out the truth: Talk up and support Rush, Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and the others on talk radio; point people towards sites like this and Newsbusters, praise journalists who do get it right, challenge the media’s spin when in conversation with others. But remember, we are not Obamatons. We are not thugs. Assert yourself with courtesy and tact.
Matt Helm on September 30, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Chris: While I was listening to Obama in the debate, I got a boner.
Keith: Me too.
Chris: Think we’re gay?
Keith: Do I think?
whitetop on September 30, 2008 at 8:12 AM
Finally some true reporting!
cmptrnerd on September 30, 2008 at 8:48 AM
You know what? Kudos to the HotAir brass for being conservative, yet reporting GOP warts when they develop. It can be done and is in marked contrast to sites like Huff and Puffpo and The Daily Kos I’m a Whiny Depressed Little Liberal Wuss Factory.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:48 AM
I don’t care who does it the left or the right, but I really do not like unnamed sources. It is used way too much and it does not advance the argument.
I have known for years since the 60s that this is happening. It is what it is. We do not have and won’t for at least another generation a media outlet that talks to us.
Universities are not creating journalists they are creating liberals. Liberals hate us. It is a simple hatred that goes beyond everything reasonable, decent, or even sane. It is there, however, and we have to deal with it.
Jdripper on September 30, 2008 at 8:48 AM
The MSM must be hit in the wallet, and the owners of such networks must also be hit in the wallet. As is always the case, it’s up to us (the people) to set things straight. Here is a small list of those who need to be hurt in the wallet.
General Electric/NBC
The Disney Corp./ABC
Westinghouse/CBS
Viacom International
Time Warner
If McCain is to win this election, he will have to attack Obama’s many relationships with really vile & evil people. McCain should wait until the last (2) weeks leading up to voting day, and flood the airwaves with ads tying Obama to Ayers, Wright, Rezko, ACORN, et al… Obama is a puppet of a much greater evil; McCain simply needs to put this on display for all to see.
Keemo on September 30, 2008 at 8:49 AM
Agreed Matt, but IMO Hannity has lost any sense of objectivity, if he ever had it.
pugwriter on September 30, 2008 at 8:50 AM
I cannot understand the attitudes of the shareholders of these media companies. There are numerous examples of newspapers and local TV stations increasing their circulation and ratings by reporting more fairly. We had a couple right here in Philadelphia. The Inquirer is the onlt newspaper in a major city that has increased circulation over the last year, and while it is still a liberal editorial page, it now has columnists like Rick Santorum and Jonathan Last providing more balance, it led the charge last year for reform of Philadelphia’s corrupt local government, and it broke some of the Norman Hsu stories last summer. (This paper was so in the tank in 2004 that it ran 21 editorials in the last 21 days in support of John Kerry. It’s actually been critical this week of Obama’s lying on Social Security and playing the race card.) The most popular local newscast here for a long time was Larry Mendte and Alycia Lane on KYW, and they were unabashedly pro-America. (Sadly, this station has gone more liberal since Mendte and Lane crashed and burned, and its ratings are sinking – no coincidence.)
I think the evidence is incontrovertible that the increasing partisanship in the media has a direct correlation to their profits. It’s like this campaign has become a kamikaze mission to them – they know they are going down in flames, but they are so committed to the cause that they do not care.
rockmom on September 30, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Ed–
It’s not just the internet. It’s talk radio. Rush, Levin, Hannity, Boortz, Ingrahm (sp?), all these folks had a hand in it as well.
Nethicus on September 30, 2008 at 8:53 AM
Whoa, turn on Fox now – Stanley Kurtz talking about ACORN!
rockmom on September 30, 2008 at 8:56 AM
True. Although in fairness, he and Rush and Laura as well, make no bones about their partisanship. The thing is, you know where they stand and they tell you where they stand. Their chief value is in offering an opposing voice to the Narrative–this is why they should be supported.
Matt Helm on September 30, 2008 at 8:59 AM
Ed, this continues to be very frustrating for me. I am sure it is even worse for those of you who are pushing back. Thanks.
I have a friend, an applied math PhD from Harvard, who calls himself a moderate but whom I would describe as quite liberal. We are both in our seventies and were exposed to NYT when growing up due to our vicinities to NY. He will vote for Obama. He recently told me that he no longer liked the NYT because it is so biased. I told him it was always biased to the left. He thought I must be crazy. There are a few small signs of progress.
burt on September 30, 2008 at 9:06 AM
What if it works this time regardless of what the public thinks about the media. They will have hijacked the nation, legitimate discourse and essencially our freedom and rights under the constitution through their perversion and suppresion of truth.
They are the domestic enemy that we must attack and dominate as much as if jihadist were blowing up schools and butchering our citizens.
wepeople on September 30, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Conservative papers aren’t doing better and maybe worse than liberal papers. The only two I knew of were the Sun and the Washington Times, which I read. The Sun went kaput today and the Times is struggling.
burt on September 30, 2008 at 9:16 AM
They might say that secretly, but news at 11 will say, “See, the American People wanted change and they’ve spoken!” Yeah, after being bombarded with the freaking fake virtues of this guy since the day he won an election by illegally unsealing a divorce decree of an opponent.
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Maybe it is time for some Affirmative Action in America’s newsrooms.
“So, Mr. MSM HR manager, have you met your quota for the hiring of independents and conservatives?”
“Sorry, no. These people just don’t go out for degrees in journalism.”
“Don’t give me that! If need be, you should drop the requirement that they be journalism majors. If you don’t meet your quota, the DOJ will shut you down.”
Kafir on September 30, 2008 at 9:19 AM
On the Dennis Prager show, I don’t know how long ago this was, the terrorism analyst Steve Emerson described himself as a recovering journalist. Maybe, hopefully, these two anonymous insiders may be recovering journalists some time in the future.
mram on September 30, 2008 at 9:20 AM
It is amazing how NYT, WaPo, CNN, CBS, NBC and ABC can band together a black out some news and obsess on other news to make their preferred distorted impression. Their excuse is that talk radio and
Fox“Fixed” News does the same. Conservatives tend to be the more productive and prosperous citizens — why can’t we influence more balance in MSM reporting with our investment and advertising dollars? Why is it that we can’t put the NY Sun in a position of parity with the NY Times?Mark30339 on September 30, 2008 at 9:23 AM
we, there was a time a couple deployments ago that I might have thought that kind of talk extreme. But my unit has lost 14 people over the last two years in Iraq and Afghanistan and it just makes me think; how much harder our job was because of the MSM pounding us every day over Abu Grahaib and Haditha. How much harder was the job after Dennis Kucinich told the world GWB cooked up the entire war plan illegally in Texas to get oil. They have done all of that, selling up down the river and are on the precipice of earning the White House for it.
Question: How can in an election year, the House appoval rating being in the teens not be a story. (Crickets)
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 9:27 AM
All of which explains why, when a Republican politician continues to have high favorability ratings, and wins election after election, the MSM lathers up about how that candidate is adept at “manipulating” the press. Translation: “We’ve been hammering this guy day in and day out, and you stupid voters still don’t get it??!!!”
(e.g., “The Teflon President”)
FalseProfit on September 30, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Mitt Romney was right: Democracy doesn’t work without virtue.
Many of the citizens we let occupy our democratic institutions today are morally confused and lacking in humility, courage, justice, and desire for truth. They think they can invent something new, a different kind of justice, a different concept of truth. Ironically, they’re bringing back something very old.
Dark days, my friends.
jeff_from_mpls on September 30, 2008 at 9:32 AM
That’s a damn good question. There is some powerful money behind the entertainment industry. We provide it to them and probably always will. But the print news media I think is at least on it’s way out because no one is buying papers. I honestly believe the NYTs is on it’s deathbed. The TV news media, there’s the rub. A network can move funds from one area to another. We watch their other programming, they make some bucks and divert it to their ideological love children in the news division. It might be over simplistic, but to a certain extent, I believe we’re buying the ammo they’re shooting us with.
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 9:34 AM
I’ve seen it, first hand, writing an editorial page column for a major newspaper. I was warned that a column was “too one-sided” against Barack Obama. After two more columns critical of him, I was dropped. I could have avoided being dropped by doing self-censorship, but then what would be the point??
Star20 on September 30, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Boo-hoo. Change the channel.
thePajamaPundit on September 30, 2008 at 9:38 AM
The press feels quite justified in their attempt to steal this election. After all, we all know that the Bush elections were stolen by the Supreme Court and the Republican hate machine.
This is simply an issue of smart, thoughtful, sophisticated people proactively doing what is right for the country when it is incapable or unwilling to do what is clearly the right thing to do.
To paraphrase the godfather of modern conservatism, advocacy in defense of democracy is no vice.
moxie_neanderthal on September 30, 2008 at 9:39 AM
Hard choice, but good for you.
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Does Allahpundit fall into the same category?
Tommygun on September 30, 2008 at 9:41 AM
Excellent! Not only some good advice, but your recognition and acceptance of the fact it won’t be “easy or quick” puts you head-and-shoulders above most conservatives and Rightwingers today. Welcome to a very exclusive club.
Tommygun on September 30, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Wow PJ, a whole site! You don’t get many hits do ya? Well I just left you one out of curiosity. I suppose that’s the way it works. Now, off to the DU and KOS for some more journalistic primers.
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Tommygun, just out of curiosity, what is it you think that conservatives don’t get about the media. Unless you’re being facetious, we get that it would take a long time to remedy it, if the table could be turned at all.
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Glenn also makes this good point about the MSM:
In two years’ time, and certainly in four years’ time the media will be even more fragmented than it is now. If the Dem seize power they’ll be able to regulate and censor new media. The Fairness Doctrine will be just the start.
The MSM is like a wounded soldier telling his buddies “I’m not going to make it. Leave me. I’ll hold ‘em off for as long as I can.”
Off course, it may also be that a Democratic administration would be able to save the MSM by stifling competition. Which would make the MSM eternally grateful, and even more biased than they are now.
EnglishMike on September 30, 2008 at 9:52 AM
The unfortunate thing is that it seems as though the ideology of the media is that they will merrily lose readership and revenue in pursuing their indoctrination. They will merrily piss off readers at the cost of their own survival. I am happy to help them along. Not only will I no longer purchase the magazines that promote the liberal agenda, I will not pay to see a movie or buy a CD featuring a liberal who will not “shut up and sing.”
Star20 on September 30, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Watching any news station other than Fox and one is peppered with the DNC talking point. Sure one can change the channel however the point is that the media have lost all credibility to report politics in an honest way and all one gets is a constant barrage of propaganda for the Dems. Thus, many people are fooled by the deceptions of the media and their lies to manipulate people for the goal of the Socialization of the U.S.
Tobias2012 on September 30, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Matt Helm on September 30, 2008 at 8:28 AM
I realized one factor you missed: BACK UP OTHERS DOING THESE THINGS! Lend support to online debates people of like mind are having. Coordinate with other people on how to maximize effect. Shape and trim your expressions so as not to undercut others on your side (i.e., don’t worry so much about ideological purity in this fight–pick your battles). Don’t see it as a personal matter, but rather a matter for the Cause.
Tommygun on September 30, 2008 at 10:03 AM
This media situation has gotten to the point where the only remedy is a “Running Man” approach.
fossten on September 30, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Perhaps, real, professional journalists should come up with a secret sign to identify themselves to each other. Sort of like the early Christians would draw a fish in the the sand. Any suggestions?
flyoverland on September 30, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Quite easily actually. How many American voters were made aware of John Kerry’s dalliance with would-be VVAW ASSASSINS in November of 1971?
Bingo on September 30, 2008 at 10:06 AM
I believe, and I’d like to believe the same is true of most conservatives, that we’re a fair-minded bunch and if the tables were turned we’d not be content with being the recipient of slant/lies and cheating.
4shoes on September 30, 2008 at 10:23 AM
But here’s something else to note about this “news”… remember everytime you see these polls claiming Obama has a lead here or there… and how McCain is faltering… this is just the MSM psychologically projecting and isn’t based in reality. They’ll make polls tell the story they want to tell. Which is why they always find themselves “surprised” on election day when reality is nowhere close to their dire predictions.
Texas Rainmaker on September 30, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Too many conservatives DON’T get that on anything vaguely political. They elect their guy (or gal), then complain when their ideology isn’t perfect and they didn’t get their way. They write a letter to the editor, and think their work is done. They get a favorable court ruling, then complain it didn’t immediately set everything aright (e.g., the Heller Second Amendment case). When you explain it takes repeated long-term effort, they get disillusioned and think it’s hopeless (because it might not gain victory during their petty lives, and they are too selfish to care about the next generation), and just go back to their own lives. To them, either it’s instantly fixable or it’s a lost cause.
I’ve worked in organizing Rightwing activism. You tell them there will AN event (singular), they might try to show up. You tell them it will be a regularly-scheduled event, they tend to lose interest really fast.
Various people on the Right have proffered the idea of a Hussein victory being a good thing, as it could cause an “awakening” or “uprising” or whatever among the people, as they see how far the country has fallen. Truthfully, most of those people would roll over and just try to hold on to their own personal (and familial) prosperity.
Tommygun on September 30, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Thank you, and this is an important part of the left’s playbook and why they’ve been able to ‘frame’ the debate. Again, that doesn’t mean we have to be Obamatons or KosKiddies marching in lockstep, but it does mean that we need to coordinate and work together for a greater objective. Don’t be afraid to learn from our adversaries–if they’ve got something we can steal from them and use for the sake of good–do it! After all, they’re stealing from us!
Matt Helm on September 30, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Our country is a system of checks and balances, where is the check and balance for the media…?
d1carter on September 30, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Does Barney Frank even know Woodward?
moxie_neanderthal on September 30, 2008 at 10:46 AM
My theory as to why the enemedia has abandoned all objectivity: If Obama wins, he will bring back the Fairness Doctrine and shut down both talk radio and the blogs.
How long can the good people at Hot Air post essays if they are under federal investigation for “unfair smears”? How much of a legal fund do Ed and AP have to fight lawyers filing lawsuit after lawsuit against them?
The enemedia is not giving up. They are trying to suffocate the competition and the best way they can do this is with the Marxist Obama.
Our only source of news might be out of blogs from Australia, once Obama gets in the White House. Or we can be good little peasants and watch the CBS evening news again.
bonnie_ on September 30, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Tommygun on September 30, 2008 at 10:26 AM
I’ve got you. And I’m on board with you. Really, there’s not a thing lacking in what you said.
I don’t think our organizers tend to be as idiologically driven or maybe passionate as the liberals either. And that would help to some extent. The last election in 04 I was in between deployments. I asked our local office of the RP here in Fayetteville NC what folks could do to help. They even had a hot link on their website to volunteer. I e-mailed I’d do anything, even called a bunch, and no one ever got back to me. We did things on a smaller scale like trying to flood our neighborhood with Bush/Cheney signs. that and this kind of interaction on the internet. I’ve never thought I’ve done enough.
I’m not looking at this as just another election myself. I really think this is a turning point for our country and it makes me mad to see any sentiment that we should roll over. The only thing I think I might add to what you’ve said is that Republicans, (not true conservatives but Republicans) can be very scared of the media opinion of them.
Men afraid to talk about the abortion issue because their men and the media doesn’t even think it’s theur place to discuss it, (unless you agree with them)
Afraid to talk about any gay issue because you’ll be labeled a homophobe.
Anyone is afraid to talk about any point with Obama that the media insinuates smacks of racism.
We are by our own nature, bridleing our behavior. I’ve said it before, they will beat us up in the media no matter what we say or do, we might as well stick to our ideology and stick to our guns in the process.
PS And stick with our people. Probably one of the best candidates I’ve ever voted for and supported was from my home state of PA. Rick Santorum. He didn’t have a single chink in his armor they could exploit so they turned even that on him. Too good, too much of a Christian, too out of touch with mainstream because his faith beliefs…
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Al-NYT gets subscriptions from schools, libraries, and airports, as well as burger joints and greasy spoons but wrap your head around that your school levys go to Al-NYT indirectly
sven10077 on September 30, 2008 at 10:54 AM
I agree. But it’s more than just they LIKE it. I think the average person is either just too lazy to get themselves informed and would rather just have someone else do all the thinking for them, or they just don’t give a damn what the truth is, or are really just too stoopid to feel it smacking them in the face.
They like and enjoy the sensationalism of it all. The more outrageous and full of obvious BS it is, the more enjoyable. They know that little Trig was NOT Bristol Palins baby. But it was fun to whisper about and spread that rumor, just like we are all back in 8th grade again. Hey, don’t you feel young and invigorated gossiping about these people? Even my husband gets calls from co-workers, men with college degrees, saying “Hey I read yesterday that the President is under house arrest because of this whole bailout mess, but they are trying to keep it hushed up.” Really? I mean, just wow.
mauioriginal on September 30, 2008 at 10:58 AM
bonnie,
I share your concern. Combine the Fairness Doctrine issue with the new push in Missouri to “target” anybody who “lies” or “distorts” ads concerning Barack Obama and we have Liberal Fascism to the extreme.
Star20 on September 30, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Sorry, point there was we abandoned him in my home state. We as voters in PA bought into the story just enough to let a real future prospect of the RP fall by the wayside. Sad!
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 11:00 AM
If there are objective journalists out there, that would be great! But people in general are afraid to do anything against the status quo,even if they believe different.
I go up against this every day in public education. Buereaucratic (sp?) nutroots get in the way of common sense & doing your job.
Everybody complains, yet nobody has the balls to stand up to it. Every time I stand up to it, I get vilified. But I do it anyway. I love to piss people off.
Badger40 on September 30, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Does Barney Frank even know Woodward?
moxie_neanderthal on September 30, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Maybe, but the lights were out, so who can be sure.
Wind Rider on September 30, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Amen, and chilling. Not BS blog chilling but truly chilling.
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 11:02 AM
I think what everyone is saying here wrt the MSM was best summarized by Lenin with his “useful idiots” remark.
Olbermann certainly qualifies for the latter . . .
Wind Rider on September 30, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Yup, and any policing of their own right now like Brokaw slapping around Chris “Tingly” matthews and Bathtubboy is only until after the elections. I see the conservative point of view being buried by all those agencies out there now and the Fairness Doctraine and hate speech laws. I’ve read on KOS before that they thought they should visit local churches to see what’s said in them. Their words!
hawkdriver on September 30, 2008 at 11:12 AM
The reports of media bias would hold more weight with me if conservatives were serious about removing all media bias, not just the type they don’t like. Yah I’m a democrat and I think MSNBC took things to far when they had anchors, and not commentators, rooting on Obama. But Fox has been pushing a right wing agenda for years, and certainly hasn’t been “fair and balanced” where’s the outrage and anger over that. And the MSM isn’t as bad as conservatives think and isn’t as objective as liberal believe. As with most things the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Ric on September 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
I hate anons.
Just what the hell qualifies as ‘the MSM’ these days anyway? Anything the Right in general doesn’t like on TV?
Reaps on September 30, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Ah well. Bed.
‘nightnight
Reaps on September 30, 2008 at 12:17 PM
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