MSM Has NO Integrity - from an Insider
By LisaB on October 28, 2008 at 12:17 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Media, Media Bias, Media Handling of Story
One of many maddening problems that NQ readers and writers have long puzzled over (and cursed, and railed against) is the seemingly intractable media bias in favor of Barack Obama. Beginning with the smear tactics and misogyny directed at Hillary Clinton in the primaries, the media has intentionally helped Obama every step of the way.
Yes, I said “Intentionally.” How do I know? Are you kidding? What else could possibly explain all the hate directed at first Hillary, then McCain and now Palin? What else could possibly explain the media’s unwillingness to conduct even a cursory investigation of Obama’s background? While Obama’s Columbia years are still a mystery, we know all about McCain’s grades at the Naval Academy (and, yes ‘bots, he graduated from a real tough “college”) and about Palin’s college transfers.
How could Cindy McCain’s past drug use (admitted, explained and atoned for so many years ago) possibly be pertinent while Obama’s admitted drug use (of ILLEGAL drugs) is glossed over completely?
How could McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five scandal years ago — for which he stood before an ethics committee and which was thoroughly investigated — be comparable to the decades-long, intense political and personal relationships of Barack Obama with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko and Father Michael Pfleger, while those rate only a metaphorical roll of the eyes from the media?
Read the rest ->
A useful philosophical and practical application here is the idea stated as “Occam’s Razor.” Basically, this means that all things being equal, the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the best.
Today, a writer at ABCNews has an explanation for why the media is so biased this year. He begins with a discussion of the ethics of journalism, or what is supposed to happen when one writes an article. Then he describes some situations he has seen in the past, and describes how journalists handled them.
He says journalists learn how to shade a story with the choice of certain verbs and adjectives. But they learn this in order to train their eyes to recognize the technique, not to practice it, even inadvertently. He also laments the loss of a commitment to journalistic objectivity. I quote:
But even more important, we are also supposed to be taught that even though there is no such thing as pure, Platonic objectivity in reporting, we are to spend our careers struggling to approach that ideal as closely as possible.
That means constantly challenging our own prejudices, systematically presenting opposing views and never, ever burying stories that contradict our own world views or challenge people or institutions we admire. If we can’t achieve Olympian detachment, than at least we can recognize human frailty — especially in ourselves.
—————–
. . . I watched with disbelief as the nation’s leading newspapers, many of whom I’d written for in the past, slowly let opinion pieces creep into the news section, and from there onto the front page. Personal opinions and comments that, had they appeared in my stories in 1979, would have gotten my butt kicked by the nearest copy editor, were now standard operating procedure at the New York Times, the Washington Post, and soon after in almost every small town paper in the U.S.
Apparently, what took this guy right off the cliff was a CNN story a few years back. I quote:
But what really shattered my faith — and I know the day and place where it happened — was the war in Lebanon three summers ago. The hotel I was staying at in Windhoek, Namibia, only carried CNN, a network I’d already learned to approach with skepticism. But this was CNN International, which is even worse.
I sat there, first with my jaw hanging down, then actually shouting at the TV, as one field reporter after another reported the carnage of the Israeli attacks on Beirut, with almost no corresponding coverage of the Hezbollah missiles raining down on northern Israel. The reporting was so utterly and shamelessly biased that I sat there for hours watching, assuming that eventually CNNi would get around to telling the rest of the story & but it never happened.
And then we come to this year’s Presidential election.
But nothing, nothing I’ve seen has matched the media bias on display in the current presidential campaign.
—————-
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of those people who think the media has been too hard on, say, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, by rushing reportorial SWAT teams to her home state of Alaska to rifle through her garbage. This is the big leagues, and if she wants to suit up and take the field, then Gov. Palin better be ready to play.
The few instances where I think the press has gone too far — such as the Times reporter talking to prospective first lady Cindy McCain’s daughter’s MySpace friends — can easily be solved with a few newsroom smackdowns and temporary repostings to the Omaha bureau.
No, what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side — or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for the presidential ticket of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Joe Biden, D-Del.
If the current polls are correct, we are about to elect as president of the United States a man who is essentially a cipher, who has left almost no paper trail, seems to have few friends (that at least will talk) and has entire years missing out of his biography.
That isn’t Sen. Obama’s fault: His job is to put his best face forward. No, it is the traditional media’s fault, for it alone (unlike the alternative media) has had the resources to cover this story properly, and has systematically refused to do so.
Why, for example to quote the lawyer for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., haven’t we seen an interview with Sen. Obama’s grad school drug dealer — when we know all about Mrs. McCain’s addiction? Are Bill Ayers and Tony Rezko that hard to interview? All those phony voter registrations that hard to scrutinize? And why are Sen. Biden’s endless gaffes almost always covered up, or rationalized, by the traditional media?
He goes on to say the media scraped bottom with “Joe the Plumber.” However, the writer notes that since the campaign has some time to go, the bottom may not be here yet.
The absolute nadir (though I hate to commit to that, as we still have two weeks before the election) came with Joe the Plumber.
Middle America, even when they didn’t agree with Joe, looked on in horror as the press took apart the private life of an average person who had the temerity to ask a tough question of a presidential candidate. So much for the standing up for the little man. So much for speaking truth to power. So much for comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, and all of those other catchphrases we journalists used to believe we lived by.
OK, nothing new here. But then the author goes on to say reporters themselves are not the problem. Reporters are after stories and would pursue anything looking like a story. The problem, says the author, are the editors.
So why weren’t those legions of hungry reporters set loose on the Obama campaign? Who are the real villains in this story of mainstream media betrayal?
The editors. The men and women you don’t see; the people who not only decide what goes in the paper, but what doesn’t; the managers who give the reporters their assignments and lay out the editorial pages. They are the real culprits.
————
Why? I think I know, because had my life taken a different path, I could have been one: Picture yourself in your 50s in a job where you’ve spent 30 years working your way to the top, to the cockpit of power & only to discover that you’re presiding over a dying industry. The Internet and alternative media are stealing your readers, your advertisers and your top young talent. Many of your peers shrewdly took golden parachutes and disappeared. Your job doesn’t have anywhere near the power and influence it did when your started your climb. The Newspaper Guild is too weak to protect you any more, and there is a very good chance you’ll lose your job before you cross that finish line, 10 years hence, of retirement and a pension.
In other words, you are facing career catastrophe — and desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if you have to risk everything on a single Hail Mary play. Even if you have to compromise the principles that got you here. After all, newspapers and network news are doomed anyway — all that counts is keeping them on life support until you can retire.
And then the opportunity presents itself — an attractive young candidate whose politics likely matches yours, but more important, he offers the prospect of a transformed Washington with the power to fix everything that has gone wrong in your career.
With luck, this monolithic, single-party government will crush the alternative media via a revived fairness doctrine, re-invigorate unions by getting rid of secret votes, and just maybe be beholden to people like you in the traditional media for getting it there.
And besides, you tell yourself, it’s all for the good of the country. . .
Interesting. Could it really be this simple? Could the media bias be completely explained by editorial self-interest? Of course, self-interest is not a noble reason to pimp one’s paper, tv show or column for a particular candidate. But if you can cloak that self-interest in some higher purpose, such as, say, opposing racism, hope or change, then you are nearly unassailable, able to pursue your bias while maintaining the appearance of holiness. And you won’t even have to explain yourself if you’re proven wrong later since you were looking for a “higher good,” even if that “higher good” is nothing more than naked political bias.
Could it really be that simple? Editors and columnists who are fighting the changes in journalism seen in the decline of print news and even in television news regularly deride the “unprofessional” bloggers, while using their bully pulpits to call out other people as racists and unprofessional thinkers. These people believe their ability to “analyze” and “explain” the news to us little people is under attack by the dirty masses of the uneducated and the unthinking.
They are right. They are under attack, but more by progress in communications technology than directly by bloggers. Many people still watch tv news, but that has shifted from network to cable and is dropping off there as well. Many people use the Internet to get their news and only occasionally tune in in “real time.” So, tv has even more screeching mouth pundits than real news shows anymore.
It’s a downward spiral. The more they try to amp up viewers or readers, the more people change the channel and / or cancel the subscription. While many people were turned off by Fox during the Bush administration, equal numbers or more are likely to be turned off by MSNBC now. And as an aside, are all those pretty talking heads on the cable news channels all wonderful journalists? Or are they attractive talking heads who are good at reading the teleprompter? What are the journalistic standards these days anyway?
You know, it really doesn’t matter though. Many people just don’t trust “news outlets” anymore. Count me in here. I can count on one hand the national “journalists” I think worth listening to. Check that. I only need two fingers.
I think this writer has an interesting point. If you apply Occam’s Razor and think the simplest explanation makes the most sense, then this journalist’s reasoning deserves some real attention.
Over at partizane.com, newhampster also covered this story.
Nine days. Nines days and not a single ad re-introducing the dishonorable Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Nine days and no 527s asking why the anthem was canceled in my home town.
Nine days and lo and behold some in the media can’t keep quiet anymore. They are beginning to ask why their brethren “journalists” have forgotten what journalism is about. My question to the now honorable Michael Malone is, “where have you been the last 2 years?”. “What makes you wait until a week before election to come out and call out your fellows?”
Good point. Also perceptive was a commenter on that site who said:
Submitted by creeper on Sun, 10/26/2008 - 12:45.
Editors get their marching orders from publishers and owners. Malone didn’t even mention them, nor the effect of money on this election coverage. This article only got halfway there.
You know, I think many dissertations will be written in the next 20 years about the failure and/or the mutation of the “4th estate” into something less than objective journalism. I think this election will be seen as the moment when the MSM jumped the shark and proved it deserves neither our trust nor our interest. It will be so obvious people will wonder why it took us so long to realize our “journalists” were really salesmen pimping themselves out for pundit shows and book contracts.
I’m just sorry that the explanation for media bias is so banal. Self-interest, after all, isn’t a very sexy explanation, but it’s a profoundly human one. I think that explanation passes Occam’s Razor.
Lastly, the media have not been into self reflection very much, except as a way to “prove” how right they are and wrong their critics are. The reaction to the article I cite at length hear will surely ruffle a few feathers. A well-regarded member of the clan is calling them out, however late in the game. Will he be listened to or pilloried?
I’m guessing he will be ignored in the orgy of self-congratulation to come when the MSM feels it has both called the election correctly and had its collective wisdom about who should be elected vindicated. Just don’t look for a real discussion of that “wisdom.”
Oh, and don’t forget. Although offering a useful scenario of how and why the MSM is so in the tank for Obama, the journalist author is still pointing the finger at - wait for it - someone else.
(Release: November 13)
on sale for only $16.95.
has a spatula.)
And check out these: 
("This crazy redhead is on to something. Her pink Rambler story alone is worth the price of the book," writes 
- “Richard Sale’s reportage on Washington, the CIA, the American armed forces, and foreign intrigue has created a perfect background for this account of the steady growth of President Clinton as a master of the game of nations.”--W. Patrick Lang, former head of Middle East Operations, DIA
"Anne C. Heller's stunning biography of Ayn Rand" uses a "plethora of newly unearthed research and fresh insight."
Somewhat on topic:
Battle of the Titans [or they eat their own]
From halperin’s blog on time mag:
OH, MATT!!!
For the second straight day, powerful Internetist tries to tip the flow against Obama.
Click here to see how.
Of course halperin would not appreciate that seeing as how as long as he has had his “thePage” blog halperin has been humping obama’s leg.
halperin’s anti-drudge post:
More on Drudge’s Recent Postings
thepage.time.com/more-on-drudges-recent-postings/
In the past a reporter tangling with drudge was very dangerous for that reporter. Have things changed? Is the press’ obama luv more powerful than drudge?
The best thing that can happen is those two morons take each out. I’d settle for either one going down.
Now is our chance to speak up against the polls. Fox News has a poll going asking for people to speak out against the poll results. Sorry I don’t have the address yet. But it was something like America Speaks Out?
OT: Gallup down to +2 Likely! That is a 3 point drop from yesterday (but of course Gallup says only that ‘the race narrows slightly’).
Now back to your original topic…
Of course, can you imagine how painful it is to real reporters what they see happening around them? I cannot even imagine…
Take care,
Patrick
Thanks for the update. That IS good news.
This is the week when people buckle up and get serious.
here is the link:
The daily gallup Obama 49; McCain 47 (the race is tightening)
Go McCain/Palin
http://www.gallup.com/poll/111568/Gallup-Daily-Presidential-Race-Narrows-Slightly.aspx
At 49/47 there are only 4% undecided. This is nuts.
Actually, I think you may have just posted the most legitimate snapshot.
I’m telling you……
It’s city mouse versus the country mouse.
Funny how fairy tales often are so telling, eh?
This poll is the #1 poll. Obama within 2.8 only.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/Polls.aspx?id=309983953253118
Go McCain/Palin
Did anyone see The Daily Show last night. Campbell Brown said how great it was that the Fairness Doctrine was gone. She said that in the past she would have to devote the same time to both sides and then let the people decide. What a relief that she doesn’t have to do that now and can just come out and tell us which side she thinks is honest and which side is dishonest.
Fairness Doctrine - what a drag!
I think Campbell Brown is wrong. I think the Fairness Doctrine only covers radio waves. I don’t think the Fairness Doctrine covers cable or internet. That’s why the Right is so angry - it’s their only forum really.
I think you are right, Typewriterstreaming. The dems think the media is fair, except for conservative talk radio, so it applies to them only. But the fact that Campbell Brown is relieved that she doesn’t have to present a balanced picture is appalling.
On somewhat the same topic, I hope everyone saw that the Florida station was actually the SECOND station to get banned by the Obama campaign for asking Biden tough questions. The first was in Pennsylvania and happened Oct 15, right after Joe the Plumber. And now the media is going after the Florida anchorwoman’s husband since he is a Republican strategist. Apparently that is illegal.
Yep, some of the esteemed talking heads are now trying to cya just in case McCain wins. Yesterday, a post quoting John King analyzing the “press” bias, pointing his finger at others. This morning, Joe Scarborough implying the same BS, pointing at others, too.
Everybody is in self preservation mode, including the repugs who have jumped onto the BO bandwagon. Jobs and entre to the elite DC cocktail circuit are at risk. Fair weather “friends” are disposable in my book.
I wondered when they would start backing off. The overwhelming support of Obama was like betting on red in roulette and having no back up position to cover their bets. They have to give McCain at least a 10% chance of winning or they look like fools if he does win. With the enormous disparity in the polls the media is finally realizing that something weird is happening and no one knows who will win. The broadcast media is loosing viewers and ad revenue this year because it really isn’t news but infotainment.
I love how the media talks about how the media is biased–as if they had no part in it themselves. But maybe things are improving. They didn’t start pointing fingers at media bias until after Hillary lost. They are giving John McCain a week.
Mark Halperin’s top of The Page story is about Matt Drudge. There is an obvious tone of indignation from Mark…how dare Matt Drudge critcize The Precious? Shame! Shame!
More on Drudge’s Recent Postings
The Drudge Report plays up an Obama campaign video urging voters to take off from work Election Day to help get out the vote, using the headline: “OBAMA SAYS TAKE ‘DAY OFF’ WORK FOR ELECTION” and a picture of Obama with a thumbs up sign.
Comes day after he contributed to publicizing an Obama interview from 2001 the the GOP was circulating by keeping it his lede most of the day, using the headline: “2001 OBAMA: TRAGEDY THAT ‘REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH’ NOT PURSUED BY SUPREME COURT.” He linked to the video.
Follows recent pattern of posting things that seem not to help Obama — including Biden’s Orlando TV interview, the closer sets of polling data and more.
Excuse me but Matt Drudge smeared Hillary for the last couple of years, really revving it up during the Primary. No one said a ‘peep.’
Screw Halperin!
I understand your point. I won’t take it personally. I discovered NQ right after the primaries. I was well aware of Drudge’s grudge against Hillary. He has hated the Clintons for years. Every year he creates a Monica Lewinski anniversary post. Knowing his conservative leanings I was surprised to read his pro-Obama posts. I thought it was a gay thing for him. i was pleasantly surprised these recent weeks to read his anti-Obama stories.
Drudge was clearly pro-Obama in the primaries, and I assumed that it would be the same in the general election. But, in fact he has helped McCain. Drudge is the gateway for a story into the mainstream media.
OT: Weather Underground’s plan after take over of US according to FBI agent (re-education and elimination of dissenters)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9peonVh26A
Breaking
New Gallup Poll released today:
Obama 49%
McCain 47%
McCain-Palin are surging!
Obama is bleeding out votes with each passing day!
Country First!!
GO PUMAS IN PA!!
Lordy, lordy!
McCain/Palin on Nov. 4th
McCain is doing a great job of campaigning in the remaining days. He and Sarah seem to be really energized. There’s so much that’s troubling and downright scary about Obama, McCain is right to hit him hard on all these things.
AWESOME NEWS since this same gallop poll last week had Obama up by 12!! This is HUGE. I pray every night for a miracle and that Sarah and John will win. WE NEED Sarah in the White House so badly. She is EXACTLY what we need. God Bless Sarah Palin and John McCain
*woohoo!*
Mostly, I think the polls tightening gives people evidence that John McCain has his finger on the pulse.
Could be or maybe they want to encourage their supporters to vote cause they could forget it. I don’t trust them.
The second look at Obama now includes Socialistic views and “hit jobs” on Joe the Plumber and Palin.
Go PA! Stand up to the insults for all of us!
I don’t think the importance of the defeat of Obama can be overestimated.
Someone better tell FOX about this new poll am getting sick and tired of listening to them asking why McCain is so far behind in the polls, and why he is even in PA.
I like FOX but geez there are some of them on there you can see that the kool aide has gotten to them, they act as if McCain /Plain should get give up, pack it up and tell Obama thanks.
My, my! Looks like Dick Morris [another Clinton hater] may have been right. In fact Morris savaged HRC so much, I almost cringe when I hear his voice. But he’s politically astute.
Morris said: go with Joe the Plumber, followed by the redistributor line [from Obama's own mouth], followed by an easing of the economic fallout [the fate of the gods] with a slight tick up of the polls by Monday [again Lady Luck smiling], and then a whack-whack, reminding the electorate of Reverand Wrong. Then watch for the shift.
Next Tuesday is going to be a nailbiter. Who would have thunk it in a Democratic year?
What an election!
I heard him say those things too. Yes, his voice makes me shudder too. He is creepy.
I find nothing creepy about taking political advice from a “toe sucker” like Morris.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
He has that slight lisp from sucking on toes for soooo may years!
Silent McCain Supporting Democrats are out there and I believe their numbers are going to be MASSIVE on Nov. 4!
http://www.tinyurl.com/5pm5t7
We are those silent Democratic voters supporting Senator John McCain/Gov. Sarah Palin.
Already voted and though it was tough, went straight Republican ticket.
God help us all and our great country.
LisaB, please share. Of whom are you thinking?
Great article, by the way. Thanks.
Well, how about Bob Schieffer and Jim Lehrer?
Sorry, I have loved Bob Schieffer but he’s in the tank for Obama. Go to Newsbusters and you’ll read about it. CBS Obama bias at CBS is rivaling MSNBC.
Jackarooty, I do agree that Schieffer lost his bearing BUT you have to admit he did a fantastic job in the debate…of all of them, his west the best. Yet none of them were as good as that Rick Warren fella (who creeps me out because, well…he creeps me out…I’m not a ‘believer’…)
Take care,
Patrick
Hi Patrick,
Yes, compared to the other moderators he was very good but my heart broke when I started reading recently about his Kool-Aid liquid diet.
I used to watch all of the Sunday talk shows. Now I have nothing to watch except Fox and Friends! I need to start reading books again.
Btw, Stephanopoulis is actually giddy about Obama.
Who did the last debate? I thought that person did the best job.
Bob is also now on some program (talking head show and the name escapes me) that donates to ACORN. As for Jim he is with PBS which is in the tank for the Chicago Political Machine and Obama. their major donations come from foundations which have nothing to do with America’s best interests. Many foundations board members have their wealth but now want to see us middle class give ours up to a group that chooses not to work. It is simple, they themselves are filthy rich on the efforts of their parents or grandparents. Many are old hippies like Ayers and want the thrill of the radical from their armchairs. Wonder what they will do when the people they have freed from poverty turn their eyes towards the mansions that these aged hippies live in? Who will defend them? Can they pay enough for protection? What will they pay with? Money? It will have no value. Besides why cannot their “guards” just take what they want? They can and will.
Message to the New World Order people be careful what you wish for ….. I see a world reverting to armed, walled castles, plague and pestilence.
Understand this “there is nothing new under the sun” ….and “the meek shall inherit the earth.”
Well, everything has his apex. Objective journalism and the trust in the 4th estate died with Walter Cronkite, in my opinion.
Once Walter exited…..*sigh*
In was ushered “new journalism.” I grew up academically speaking in that era, which is partially why I don’t even get everyone nutso reactions to Michelle Obama. That was our mission in those days! Be as radical as we knew how! LOL*
Most of us were dismal failures at it, btw.
We were far too mainstream to be effective.
There were actually some things worth fighting about. A lot of it was just the same thing we’re seeing today: a path to channelling youth energy.
One thing I don’t see anyone acknowledge. I do think bringing the urban youth into the political landscape is good. I see nothing wrong with that angle. It might mean a few more spray-painted houses, of course…..they are graffiti experts, after all. But I’m impressed that they are thinking about something other than their gang affiliation and the next drug deal.
Based on what happened in the primaries I am inclined to believe it is just another opportunity for them to steal and act like thugs.
I think they copied Rove. That’s all.
Rove is……*I’m glad I’m on the computer, you can’t hit me*……
He’s a brilliant of a political figure as Clinton was.
Clinton was intuitive. Rove has it actually figured out.
They just followed Rovian politics.
Has anyone heard about some reporter at the L.A. times who says that that newspaper has an audio tape of a dinner in 2003 in which palestinian Rashid Khalidi (yet another of Obambi’s associates) ranted against Israel and called for its destruction. Obama was apparently there, and after Khalidi spoke he offered his praise for him, and said absolutely nothing about his anti-Jewish rhetoric. If this is all true it would finish Obambi’s campaign. The # to L.A.Times is 213-237-5000. Call and demand its release. Any confirmation of this out there?
Last night, Bill O’Reilly was talking about this and made direct comments to the LA Times. Maybe they will release it.
Yes. The LA Times has been doing pieces about that dinner, but they REFUSE to release the tape because it would damage BO. Fox reported on this this morning. Khalidi’s wife also read an anti-Israel poem while there. Not only that, the Khalidis and the Obamas were such good friends, the Khalidis babysat for the Obama girls. Nice, eh?
Yes and I think Michelle showcased one of Mrs. Khalidi’s recipes for a falafel dish if I’m not mistaken.
PUMAs did a big push yesterday calling the LA Times or emailing to get them to release the tape. It would be great if everyone here did the same.
213-237-5000
Fax: (213) 237-7679
I also found this that lists ways to contact advertisers in the LA Times. They are the ones who don’t want trouble. The comments after the listings are helpful, too.
http://www.bookwormroom.com/2008/10/26/contact-information-for-companies-that-advertise-in-the-la-times/
Yes, the Jewish people better take a real good look at Obama! They better not lose their intincts? Where do they think all that campaign money is coming from???
I meant Barry Soetoro or whatever his real name is?
I’m Jewish and so is my husband. I have warned him until I’m BLUE IN THE FACE about BO and all his questionable “friends” and he keeps saying “I don’t care, I will never vote for a Republican.” Then I suggest Nader or Cynthia McKinney and I get another refusal from him. He was a Hillary supporter too! IT’S ABSOLUTELY NUTS! He thinks it’s all overblown rhetoric…no matter what PROOF I give him. It’s such bizarre behavior for such a highly intelligent man.:(
I understand the McCain campaign is publicly insisting that it be released…
I picked some of this up today at NQ…
Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama - Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obamamideast10apr10,0,3025411.story
Email Address of Reporter Who Has Video Of Obama Giving Tribute To Mr. PLO — Rashid Khalidi
peter.wallsten@latimes.com
Please email Peter Wallsten and demand he release this tape..”we the people” have the right to see it before we vote!
very good!
I think you are completely right: “I think many dissertations will be written in the next 20 years about the failure and/or the mutation of the “4th estate” into something less than objective journalism.”
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Not going to do it this time. . .
Last night I went to Costco to stock up on the normal supplies. You know. . . beer, butter, milk, veggies. . . the essentials. Anyway, I ran through the books and saw Sarah Palin looking at me. You know the book that you see on the sides of many blogs. Well, this was the first time I “saw” it in a store (yeah, I don’t get out much!).
The book, Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down, reminded me of the last time I looked at (and purchased) a political book at Costco. Some of you may remember what happened to me. If not you can go here to read Look What You Can Get at Costco. Anyway, I decided to add two of the Sarah books to my cart and see what happened.
Boy did something happen. The first thing I noticed was that NO ONE gave me nasty looks. YOU know those looks that you got in the past when wearing a Hillary button, shirt, hat or sticker. I did notice people looking at the books and look at me. The strange part was that I was getting positive reactions. One lady leaned in and said, “I think she is great!” A man stopped me and just said, “Boy, they’ve been mean to her!”
So, overall a very positive experience.
But wait. . . I have saved the best for last. I had two different people come up to me at different times with stories that were very similar.
The first was a man in his early 30’s (with a cute baby girl). He was getting milk and commented on how much milk I was buying. That started us talking about family (my boys drink a lot of milk) and such. Well, he (father of two) is a life-long Democrat and so is his large family. He (and they) are NOT supporting Obama. He cited the same concerns we have and he said, “We need the rule-breakers out of the party. It needs a good cleaning!” He then told me that he trusts McCain and he reminded me that Kerry said he would take McCain as VP when Kerry ran. Anyway, he was very informed except for one thing—he didn’t know about the PUMA’s. I told him about it and where to go online. He said he would pass it on to his friends and family. GREAT!
Then, not two aisles over a woman walked past (with a full cart) and stopped to talk to me about the Palin book. She hadn’t read it and wondered why I was buying two. The first part of our conversation was awkward, like we were both feeling each other out politically. Then I decided I would just say it—”I am a die-hard Hillary supporter, who is angry with the fraud and the dirty politics that have occurred during this election.” YOU should have seen her jump right in and yack, yack, yack away with me about her anger, fears and frustrations. She has only voted for the Dems and she too is not going to do it this time. She talked about the need for Checks and Balances, not supporting corruption—-she talked a lot. We had a wonderful conversation and I informed her about the PUMA groups. When we were winding down (she could out talk me and that’s amazing) I told her that I wasn’t really buying the book. I was just testing to see if anyone had a reaction to some woman (me) buying the book (yeah, us Hillary supporters are paranoid, but for good reason). She then took one of my books for herself!
At the end of the night I thought about how maybe, just maybe I could wear my Hillary gear when I turn in my ballot on Nov. 4. Then I thought that maybe I should buy a Democrats for McCain shirt and wear it then. NOPE, can’t do it. Deep down I am a chicken and I don’t need any wackos in my face!
I love Costco.
That is such a cool story.
I had one much less dramatic story. I was at my usual night-out dinner with the gals. They are all very liberal teachers. They got going on Palin, and I spoke up…..
I just said, “I like her, and I’m voting McCain this year.”
These are buddies, so they switched the topic fast. None of us want to step on each other’s toes.
But one of the gals came with me to buy a coffee afterwards and said, “I’m glad you spoke up. My husband has been filling me in on just how unfair the media is being to Sarah.”
He’s a liberal lawyer type with a strong slant to Republican economics.
I nodded.
OBAMA IS A FRAUD: This story is inspirational! Thanks for taking the time to tell it.
I LOVE this story. It gives me hope that those of us who are keeping quiet with our neighbors will prevail.
No, it’s not that simple. MSNBC is a blatant promoter of Obama. A few years ago there was a very excellent, talented weatherman/reporter from the SW US who went to work for MSNBC. He was only on the air, I think, a little more than a year. He stopped broadcasting on MSNBC just after Hurricane Katrina and somehow got out of his contact and went back to where came from working with another network. There was an internet article about him that quoted him as saying something to the effect that he left MSNBC because the management changed and he did not like the direction the new management was headed. That could mean a lot of things. To me it says that MSNBC’s management and parent company, General Electric, have their own agenda. And from every appearance, that agenda is to install Barack Obama in the presidency. Staff who don’t like it can just do what this one individual did….leave, get out.
I don’t know what the rest of us can do except raise cain and enact some laws to prevent the kind of public brainwashing we have been subjected to for at least the last 8+ years.
I hope it is not too late.
On the other hand, before Katrina and in the run up to the illegal invasion of Iraq, MSNBC fired Phil Donahue, an outspoken Liberal with THE HIGHEST RATED SHOW ON MSNBC AT THE TIME, just because they wanted to compete with the Rah! Rah! Rah! cheer leading of the illegal invasion of Iraq which FOX NEWS was doing. Not only that, but any time Phil had a “Liberal” on his show, he was instructed to have AT LEAST 2 Conservatives on at the same time. MSNBO is finished as a reputable network. It’s trash. First it was the support of the illegal invasion and now THE ONE. Trash. PURE trash.
Yep, there’s Occam’s Razor for you. Maybe MSNBC acts like they’re in the tank for Obama because the ownership wants to see Obama elected. Jeffry Immelt’s involvement is well known. So, I have to agree with creeper that the article only got halfway there. They’re just going into CYA mode, sort of like they did after they helped sell the Iraq War and it went badly.
I’m sorry…I should have posted with the above…those are not my words but copied and pasted from the URL Puget Sound Island Girl posted. It’s so positive that I thought everyone should see it.
Keep in mind that as these polls shrink to a 2 or 3 point lead for Obama, that that STILL reflects a 5 point internal bias in the poll from intentional and unintentional sampling bias, Bradley/Obama effect, PUMA effect and much more. At this point, I really believe McCain has taken the lead.
I was reading some posts over at the hillaryclintonforum where people were saying that pollsters were hanging up on them, or someone they knew, if, after asking their age, the pollster thought they were too old. Some pollsters would even ask for the youngest voter in the household.
Well, that’s polling. I was polled, for example, during the primaries. When I stated my age, the gentleman said, “Thank you. That’s all I need.”
The poll was clearly trying to hone in on the youth group.
Rove, I think, penned a good article on the proliferation of polls this year that are confusing the “polling landscape.” There are something like 270 versus 57 in the last election now out there, many by academic institutions which don’t do this for a living.
Anyway, I didn’t take the cut-off personally.
I simply wasn’t in the sampling group.
Thanks for the clarification.
I let a pollster have it yesterday when she called and asked for the male voter of the home. I pretty much shrieked, “male voter?” at her. I guess all the misogyny has made me a tiny bit touchy. But then I had the pleasure of telling her that I was voting for McCain and, in fact, voting a straight Republican ticket for the first time in my life in protest of the MSM and the Dems. She quickly hung up.
A pollster called my house last night and asked for a male in the household. What the heck is that about? Don’t women matter anymore? Do they really think Senator Government has all the women voters in the bag? NOT THIS WOMEN!!!!!!!! And not my husband either. 2 new McCain signs in the neighborhood this week!!!!!
Methinks it is very simple Lisa.
Obama is spending close to $200 Million on Media. John McCain’s entire campaign budget is only $86 million or so.
Obama is spending more on TV than Diet Coke and McDonald’s combined.
Sector Description Total Expenditures
Media
Broadcast Media $160,446,232
Print Media $13,872,786
Internet Media $11,881,554
Miscellaneous Media $3,776,560
Could our 4th estate be coddling the goose that laid the golden egg?
Halperin’s analysis is interesting, but in my view insufficient. It isn’t just the editors. The publishers (in the case of print medie), and the large media conglomerates have a lot to do with this, as well. Obama has been very, very good for the media business. He has spent more on media buys than any candidate for public office in the history of the United States.In fact, he’s spent more on advertising than most national companies this year. As the US media become more and more centralized under the control of a few large corporations, business considerations tend to intrude more and more into the editorial sphere. Reporters and editors are less and less likely to take on *any* major advertiser these days - and the Obama campaign, with nearly $600 million to throw around, certainly falls into that category. Add to that the fact that favorable coverage of Obama attracts a highly-desired demographic (18-35 year olds with few responsibilities and lots of disposable income), and the Obama campaign starts to look like a Godsend to struggling media companies. In the final analysis, it’s all about money.
Your analysis is so spot on. The media watched and waited for Obama to bypass public financing. As soon as he did they identified their cash cow.
It sure is, but to what end? Once they have blatantly thrown their own credibility what do they suppose will bring in the cash (or ratings) after that?
And the hugely concerted effort? You can hardly get two people in the same house to agree on Obama, yet we are to believe all journalists, anchors, media owners, editors, etc. just all happen to favor this guy?
The whole thing is past strange but bizzare.
General Electric has many businesses that depend on government such as finance and defense contracting. The financial rewards go beyond the media business.
I think it’s far worse than this, than dollars. The newsrooms are thinking that Obama will generate more news stories. If the public is on edge about Obama’s missteps as President, more viewers will tune into their programming.
A mature, experienced, honest, centrist president would not generate as much controversy and thus viewers.
But then there is the other side of the saga. If McCain wins, not only can they spend the next four (remember HRC 2012) savaging Mac and Sarah but they can bemoan that their Beloved One didn’t win and the election was stolen, blah, blah, blah. It never ends.
Comment by avwrobel | 2008-10-28 12:33:42
Has anyone heard about some reporter at the L.A. times who says that that newspaper has an audio tape of a dinner in 2003 in which palestinian Rashid Khalidi (yet another of Obambi’s associates) ranted against Israel and called for its destruction. Obama was apparently there, and after Khalidi spoke he offered his praise for him, and said absolutely nothing about his anti-Jewish rhetoric. If this is all true it would finish Obambi’s campaign. The # to L.A.Times is 213-237-5000. Call and demand its release. Any confirmation of this out there?
==============================================
Yes it it out there. And someone posted the reporter’s name…Peter Welland or Wellman? And his email addie. I don’t remember where. But the LA Times is apparently owned by the Tribune? Therefore lots of luck getting the truth. I live in LA and canceled my LA Times subscription. No more. This is a game changer and the LA Times owes it to the voters to stop supressing the TRUTH about OHITLER.
Spread this around. Contacting the advertisers might be more effective than the Times itself.
List of advertisers of the LA Times to contact respectfully.
Extensive background:
Just Like With Ayers… Obama Is Distorting His Relationship With Former PLO Operative Rashid Khalidi
Also I’ve seen (Glenn Beck interview with many typos) that Ayers and Dohrn were there. Maybe it’s a real “walk in the neighborhood”? I personally would love to see it asap because I think it will take about 3 days to fully sink in and time’s a’wastin’. Especially for people to connect people in the vid with their extensive backstories that they all have now.
Yes, nice post. I read this somewhere else (pumapac?). Watching the pundits on t.v. (which I’m doing less and less) is mind-numbing with their banality. I think its resultant from budget cuts from more profit taking by those at the top and therefore less real reporting and research; and the conversion of news reporting to entertainment gossip. Its too bad for our country. But th fight goes on!! McCain-palin ‘08
Just read that the Big Dawg will be doing 3 events for Obama tomorrow in PA. Is that true? And read that Joe Biden is coming back to do some events in PA.
Wow!
Obama must really be slipping in PA!
GO PUMAS IN PA!!
Country First!!
If this is true this spells disaster for Der Precious. I think he wanted to avoid going there to keep up the appearance of having this election in the bag. Now, he has no choice but to send in the big guns thus revealing his weakness overall. His excuse of “I’m just sending Biden and Bill” won’t cut the mustard. Mac, thanks to us PUMAs has Der Precious on the ropes. Popcorn anyone?
I thought Bill was a racist?
Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion
Proprietor, the NQ Popcorn Concession
Since circa 2008
“I thought Bill was a racist?” you would think obots would recognize the hyprocisy wouldn’t you? thats some strong kool aid.
I think they should ahve Murtha “help”, too! He has been awesome for Oba…I mean Mccain.
I think Ed Rendell knows what’s up in his state and HE is the one who told BO he had better get back to PA. IMCPO, I think he’s losing PA. I guess those bitter, gun clinging, religion clinging, xenophobic, typical white people know a fraud when they see one. Hillary kicked THE ONE’S ass in PA. with their help.:)
I heard a report over the weekend that Ed Rendell put a warning out to the Obama folks that Pa was in dangerous territory. I think that’s why all the activity, despite the bloated poll numbers. All these guys have their own internal polls. The numbers must be looking grim.
Great post, LisaB!
And WHERE HAVE THESE PEOPLE BEEN?? I know, I know - they don’t want to risk their jobs, so they “go along to get along.” And prop up the worst candidate in modern history. Great.
Thanks for this!
Don’t be so hard on the MSM, they are only trying to be “Good Germans” and look the other way.
Rush reporting Barbara West’s husband is being attacked now by different media outlets. Unbelievable.
If this is true, this is predictable and portends of worse to come if Der Precious wins his theft of our republic and way of life.
Nice of Rush to recognize intimidation. Where was he when this was the Bush MO day in and day out? I hate Rush. But he recognizes the same fascist tendencies in Obama that Bush used for 8 years. Obama, the third term of Dumbya.
It’s Me Again…Go somewhere else. Your boss is a loser and so are you.
Clarification: A “bad loser” - even worse, ’cause it’s always “somebody else’s fault.”
It’s Me Again:
You say that we will be disappointed on November 4th, but we are not expecting anything except disaster from Sen. Obama, so how would we be disappointed ? You are expecting positive hopey changy crap, and you are the one being set up for a major disappointment.
Another good piece is that of LA Times suppressing the tape of Obama at a dinner praising Rashid Khalidi.
OT: Powerline is right: Pepsico’s new logo looks waaaayyy too much like The One: Drink Coke, boycott Pepsi.
PUMA
I stopped listening to and contribution to the local public radio station last spring. As I was driving along in my car I heard some reporter who was standing outside (didn’t even have credentials to get in obviously) talking about Hillary speaking inside.
Evidently she said something that bothered this little guy because he said something like Hillary is bringing up Obama Obama’s (what ever it was), and then he added “Again”. In just the same tone as my teenagers used to. I called MPR from my car to ask them where their standards have gone and how does even the lowliest reporter get away with editorializing - and I want a public apology. Fell on deaf ears, so don’t listen any more.
There is a great site called LibreVox where you can load a book onto your MP3 player for free and if you like to read aloud you can record books for others to enjoy. Now my drives are always pleasant and I get my news very selectively. I’m not letting anyone dump s**t in my ears any more.
When our local NPR station had a fundraiser, I told them I would no longer contribute because of the Obama bias of the national NPR broadcasts. Whenever I get subscription notices for Time or The Atlantic Monthly, I send them back (on their own dime) with a note telling them that I stopped buying them when they became mouthpieces for the Obama campaign. These things probably reach deaf ears (or uncaring envelope-openers), but you never know…..
The media should be regulated. Bias can be measured by counting the number of positive and negative stories per candidate. That ‘objective’ number is 65% positive for Obama, only 29% positive for McCain.
Subjective numbers, perception by the public that the media is favoring Obama, is 70% to 30%.
If something can be measured, it can have parameters, therefore it can be regulated. Not clamping down on ‘free speech’. Clamping down on ‘omission’.
The media is half the problem of this election. The other half is political corruption and greed.
At this point I’m sick of it all but I’m still confident that the public and our flawed election system will stumble toward justice in the end. If it not, then hold on to your integrity because its going to be a bumpy ride.
So you’re in favor of the Fair Doctrine law?
Not me.
Well I guess we part company here again. It worked for me - but maybe I’m older than you.
The ‘Fairness’ Doctrine is too generic. I’m in favor of regulators going about the business of judging from a strict criteria of fairness AND accuracy. Something as germain as: did the reporter ask leading questions? Does the reporter not have obvious follow-up questions? Has the reporter ever taken bribes? Does a reporter ever show any modicum of integrity? Does a news organization have four favorable guests/columnists and no unfavorable guests/columnists?
We should also revisit what is being taught at journalism schools. Check whether the constitutional values of a free press are taught. Check whether reporters have graduated from reputable journalist programs or are simply employed for their looks and not their integrity to the craft.
Me either.. at last something we agree on.
I really don’t want to do away with freedom of the press, even though they annoy me. Once they lose that right, it’s gone forever and we just may one day have some children of us PUMAs who see what is happeneing and decide to become real journalists one day!
Ditto. It’s a roly-poly system. We simply must protect freedom of the press.
They are not on our side this year.
That’s beside the point.
We must insist on this. I feel, more than anything, that this is a core issue.
Rush Limbaugh, known drug addict, dominates the radio.
OK……live with it. When the guy isn’t wacked out, he hits the sweet spots of what people are thinking.
Air America failed. That liberal approach was such a turn-off.
OK……live with it. I’ve been a blogger on liberal sites, and I can fully understand why that site failed.
Let it sort out.
We have to keep butting heads, I think.
Look at me. I’m a clear McCain supporter.
Yet I annoy many, many people.
I hate the birth certificate storie, et al.
We have to start looking at what we have in common, what we agree upon, etc.
That’s Democacy.
I so agree with Bill C. The key to our own survival right now is setting aside false divisions.
I “think” that any country that is within 4 points, 3 points, 5 or 6 points….actually indicates that we are very aligned, with differences.
Let’s just look at what we agree upon.
I think Malone’s guesses are gratuitous. I think his observations are good. But his conclusions are naive and really really really stretching it.
Comment by It’s me again | 2008-10-28 12:57:44
Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s not my boss. . .but for better or worse he will be my President and CiC of the US Armed forces. Not a bad accomplishment for a bi-racial kid from Hawaii and Kansas.
====================================================
He’s a loser and so are you. Move on.
Notice that “me again” said “for better or for worse” — even ardent Obama supporters have serious doubts about a totally inexperienced junior Senator becoming Commander-in-Chief of America’s Armed Forces, among other things. Oh yes, it certainly is “quite an accomplishment” when media bias and unthinking mass populism propel an untested and arrogant talker into the most powerful political office on the planet - and it will definitely be “for worse.”
A vote for Obama is an INSULT to the troops.
I have an OT question, sorry. Why DOES OHitler send out these unintelligent loser trolls like It’s Me Again? It does NO good and it seems like a waste of money. Is this his “spreading the wealth around” by giving welfare recipients a few bucks a day to LIE for him? I have never quite understood this paid troll nonsense.
Obama bin Lyin’ likes to waste money!
Good post and I think this is the heart of problems this year. Most younger people don’t know the history of the Clintons and media bias, so I think that margin really screwed her this year.MSNBC and NBC has ruined it’s reputation for a very long time-just don’t give them any ratings–don’t watch them at all and let their advertisers know why. But the CNN’s screw people with emotive language–like using words like ‘lashig out’, or ‘attacking’ instead of just saying ’she said’ or ‘commented’. This is under the radar coverage that sways opinions–plus, they come over as covering the news while they are really drumming up the Haka. For instance, they will say ‘A scandal is brewing about Sarah Palin’s wardrobe’ or ‘everybody’s talking about it’—as if they are when their reporting of it is egging it on and keeping it on the front pages. They did the same with Hillary and the Bosnia flap. It became better for Hillary to just apologize to move it off the front page.
I read here alot, but don’t comment often.
Lou Dobbs is the only descent person on Cnn,and Beck..Happy Beck moving to the truth channel Fox..
Doesn’t CNN stand for Communist News Network?
I thought Fox,has been fair and balanced,that’s why they have such high ratings..If you want the truth listen to Fox…
Rev Manning says, CNN is “the Cable Negro Network!”
He’s got a mental illness, I think. He’s one I truly don’t watch. I feel bad when I see him.
It’s Me Again…If you’re so confident that OHitler is going to win (which he isn’t) then why don’t you go over and spew your filth over at the Daily Kook with all of your fellow losers and wing nuts? You really have no effect here other than showing that morons vote for OHitler.
I’ve been asking myself the same question. If His Eminence and His Obots have it in the bag, then what in the world are they doing trolling pro-McCain boards? They should be in Chicago camping out in that park to get the closest view of The One next week at His celebration bash.
OT this new server kicks ass! And this is very interesting:
Obama Will Lose PA, Just Like He Did April 22, 2008
“The MSM has NO integrity”–Talk about a blinding flash of the obvious!
Goddammit, the PROBLEM is not the “mainstream media.” The PROBLEM is people’s persistent delusion that those embalmed heads are something other than apparachiks of The Ministry of Truth.
More Rush news…
Stock market has lost 2.8 trillion, yes trillion dollars SINCE the bailout.
He was talking about someone saying we needed a new bill of rights guaranteeing all Americans a job and a home! WTF!!!
And the dems want to make sure you never get to recoup it!
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/10/23/would-obama-dems-kill-401k-plans.html
http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081007/REG/810079894
He was saying that is what the NEW DEMS want (Reid, Franks, Dodd, Oblahblah, Pelosi)
check this out cyberpoll has Mccain ahead…Vote
http://www.970wfla.com/pages/cybervote.html
Drudge was horrid through out the primaries on McCain and Hillary…then he was nasty to McCain for the entire summer, then about 3 weeks ago he started posting hard hitting articles on Obama, and has been doing it ever since.
I had completely given up on Drudge, and now I read it again without getting sick.
So, you are right that it was bad, but lately not so much.
ford:
I think that, as far as Drudge is concerned, he has decided to go after what he perceives as “the evil of two lessers.”
Many in the msm are patronizing elitist liberals,they’re to cheap to give out of their own pockets and have decided what’s good for you. Obama’s plan to redistribute wealth started many years ago as we found out recently and yet his donations to charity have been 1% or less. This is the definition of hypocrite. 1% this guy’s is really cheap with HIS money.
The bias is maddening and embarrassing for a so called powerful “free country” with a “free press”
free my ass- ask anyone in europe how they view our news media and especially ask americans now living abroad how they now see how corrupt and bias our media is…
one of my fav lil’ tactics I see is (ie) like when wolfie bliztering makes a “news” statement and throws in the word “alleged” …. watch carefully how these cable news channels refer to a topic and the EXACT words used in a sentence..
it’s utter bullshit and just adds to my toothache
BJ…US media is no better than the government controlled Robert Mugabe/Zimbabwean media. At least we all know they are a controlled entity! We are still under the myth that we have a fair, balanced, investigative media! Bullshit! They are corporate controlled lazy fat arses, collecting their paychecks? Name one or two fair, investigative reporters???
Do you remember the photograph where Senior Lecturer Obama is standing in front of the blackboard in a classroom? Have you noticed what’s written on the board? It says “relations of self interest”, the community organizer’s methodology. Change is achieved with each person looking out for himself or herself. See, it’s even a formula… And this article shows how he used it to get the M$M to work for him. This is also how he got the $uperdelegates to shove this unknown and unknowable candidate down our throats in the Democratic Party. May 31, 2008 is a day that will live in infamy. Yeah! Everyone looking out for #1.
George Soros bought the MSM starting in 2005. Now he owns it, and, unless every single American over age 18 and a patriot votes for McCain on Tuesday, this country is finished. No more liberals, no more conservatives. Obama will “transcend” all that by outlawing debate about him, about his policies, and about the future of this country.
what a load of bullshit-
fyi i hate obama and won’t vote for him and i’m a liberal-
let’s compare the media owned nationally and internationally by soros compared to rupert murdoch and his massive news org holdings…
as for outlawing debate, what about bush? if the media had done their job then bush and cheney would be sitting in a prison cell for treason to this nation,… or preferablly have been hung from a tree by now..
and, be careful about throwing around the word “patriot” -
i freaking hate obama and the corruption that got him where he is right now but this bullshit about making fox look good now (or scumbags like karl rove) is over the top..
let’s not forget the past as it has forever engraved our future-
McCain today…
The World Series will not be delayed by one-half hour when I am President. LOLOL
yeh i saw where he said that.. he said it won’t be delayed “for an infomercial” .. good line, it made me laugh-
Love it!!
The Reverand Jeremiah Wright is going to speak at Northwestern University three days after the election. Will he announce the formation of the provisional revolutionary government? Will he introduce “THE ONE” as the black messiah?
Boycott the Obama infomercial Wed. night. No ratings. Don’t even mute. You must have it on a channel that is not covering it or turn it off for those 30 min.——must be on a channel for 6 min. at least for that channnel to get the ratings. Send them a message. Check out–tvnewser.com - ratings.
You don’t have to ask my twice. I have no interest in projectile vomiting onto my own television, so I won’t be watching The One send out subliminal brainwaves to the populace.
I posted this below but it fits better here:
I have a suggestion for tomorrow night. I think we should all turn on our TVs to ABC, the only major network to “not come to terms with Obama” for his sermon. My thinking is that if we all keep our TVs off, Obama can spin it as slow news night or add up the numbers who watched and call it a victory. But if his numbers show up against a large number who would rather watch Pushing Daisies ( a struggling ABC show)than his ridiculous infomercial, it will look worse for Obama. Its also more powerful to all watch one channel than to be spread all over the dial. I think it also sends a message to the major networks that we do no agree with their bowing to Obama.
OT:
Keep this moving quickly… PBS has an online poll posted, asking if Sarah Palin is qualified. Apparently the left wing knew about this in advance and are flooding the voting with NO votes. The poll will be reported on PBS and picked up by mainstream media. It can influence undecided voters in swing states. Please do two things — takes 20 seconds. 1) Click on link and vote YES! Here’s the link: http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html 2) Then send this to every McCain-Palin supporter you know, and urge them to vote and pass it on. The last thing we need is PBS saying their viewers don’t think Sarah Palin is qualified.
Those friggin PBS latte liberals. The poll should read, “Is Obama qualified to be President?”
Poll stands at 50% yes and 48% no.
The liberal MSM should be held accountable for its deliberate skewing of news coverage to promote a single candidate, Barack Obama. Thanks largely to the MSM’s neligence in presenting a fair and accurate portrait of their media darling, America is one week away from electing a President and yet totally in the dark as to exactly who this Trojan Horse candidate is. We do know this much–BO is not what a POTUS looks like and this has nothing to do with the color of his skin.
Too bad Colin Powell or Caroline Kennedy didn’t take the time either to explain to us how they, too, can overlook the Obamas’ 20 year membership in a racist, anti-semitic Church or their numerous associations with unrepentant terrorists and anti-Israel types. Every single free nation in history that was overthrown by a dictatorship had more sheep blindly following the herd than those who dared to swim against the tide. For that reason, when it comes to the likes of Barack Obama, there is no comfort or safety in numbers.
Well said!
I have a suggestion for tomorrow night. I think we should all turn on our TVs to ABC, the only major network to “not come to terms with Obama” for his sermon. My thinking is that if we all keep our TVs off, Obama can spin it as slow news night or add up the numbers who watched and call it a victory. But if his numbers show up against a large number who would rather watch Pushing Daisies than his ridiculous infomercial, it will look worse for Obama. Its also more powerful to all watch one channel than to be spread all over the dial. I think it also sends a message to the major networks that we do no agree with their bowing to Obama.
The media bias is a serious issue, and if Obama is elected it will only get worse. Most of it is intentional, but some of it is pure ignorance. I am waiting for just one news organization to pin down the Obama spokespersons on his economic policy–such as it is–and demand specific details. Such as: Does Obama intend to let the Bush tax cuts expire? Because if he does, then his talking point about no new taxes on the middle class is absolute crap. We WILL pay MORE taxes if the Bush tax cuts expire. But Obama can then blithely say that he didn’t raise taxes. What a nightmare this election has turned out to be!
If he wins….he will want more then 2 terms. Tick tock..tick tock.
Excellent report, Lisa B!
Off topic, but the stock market made 890 points today–9067.39. One of the largest gains in history.
Unbelieveable! This is good news for McCain.
Same crap the MSM pulled with the Clintons. Millions spent on investigations, they were consistently absolved of any wrongdoing, but the media would still have you believe to this day that they are criminals.
Yea, remember the fake document Dan Rather had about Bush?
I was reading some history the other day. In early America, every newspaper was partisan, and that’s just how it was and you knew where they stood and what you were getting. I think we’re pretty much there again. It’s why viewership at Fox, Lou Dobbs, etc has exploded.
The biq question is, if Obama get elected, where does the MSM go from here. Does it just become a distribution point for White House talking points? Will they minimize any economic or foreign policy damage to treat Obama favorably? Lots more glowing stories of his performance overseas and how he inspires 8-year olds?
Of course if McCain gets elected the next step is obvious - all out assault by the MSM media on the white house.
Regime change for USA!
Obama/Biden ‘08
What do we know about Barack Hussein Obama?
Obamalies or Lies Obama Tells
http://www.nextgenerationcorp.com/NextGenBlog/?p=73
The videos that will cause Barack Obama to lose the election.
http://www.nextgenerationcorp.com/NextGenBlog/?p=68
2008. The Year The ONE … Lost.
Vote for and elect John McCain — Honesty, Intergrity and a true Patriot.
Hey, Gary Glitter also spent time in a Vietnamese prison and I wouldn’t vote for him either!
Obama/Biden 08….LANDSLIDE! Enjoy.
Apples and oranges, dork.
Glitter is NOT an American citizen (he’s a British subject), so you don’t have the opportunity to cast a vote for him as President.
On the other hand, Glitter’s sexual misdeeds are now public knowledge. We can’t even get The One’s official birth certificate, or his college transcripts, or his Illinois Senate papers, or, well, by now, you the list of what Obama WON’T provide the media.
Majority of troops will vote for Obama, same as the majority of Americans.
Landslide, baby….enjoy.
Obama/Biden 08
The path of least resistance, is the path of the loser!
I have a suggestion for tomorrow night. I think we should all turn on our TVs to ABC, the only major network to “not come to terms with Obama” for his sermon. My thinking is that if we all keep our TVs off, Obama can spin it as slow news night or add up the numbers who watched and call it a victory. But if his numbers show up against a large number who would rather watch Pushing Daisies than his ridiculous infomercial, it will look worse for Obama. Its also more powerful to all watch one channel than to be spread all over the dial. I think it also sends a message to the major networks that we do no agree with their bowing to Obama.
I have to take some exception to this journalist’s own sense of “objectivity” with a LARGE grain of salt (in hunting circles, I believe one would best describe that “grain” as a salt lick).
But what really shattered my faith — and I know the day and place where it happened — was the war in Lebanon three summers ago. The hotel I was staying at in Windhoek, Namibia, only carried CNN, a network I’d already learned to approach with skepticism. But this was CNN International, which is even worse.
I sat there, first with my jaw hanging down, then actually shouting at the TV, as one field reporter after another reported the carnage of the Israeli attacks on Beirut, with almost no corresponding coverage of the Hezbollah missiles raining down on northern Israel. The reporting was so utterly and shamelessly biased that I sat there for hours watching, assuming that eventually CNNi would get around to telling the rest of the story & but it never happened.
Now, how is it that this reporter, who admits that he was in Namibia during the last Israeli assault on Lebanon, can KNOW for a “fact” that there was all these “Hezbollah missiles raining down on northern Israel”? Seriously. This guy is complaining about CNN’s bias, yet he offers NO proof of the “missiles raining down”. He ADMITS that he ONLY had CNN in his hotel room, so where did he get this “knowledge” of these “missiles raining down”?
Playing devil’s advocate for a second, maybe CNN’s coverage was colored by the fact that a terrorist organization does NOT equal a government. Hezbollah GUERRILAS were not part of the regular Lebanese Army (anyone wanting to argue the point should remember that the IDF does not exclude Jewish nationalists who support the extermination of Palestinian Arabs, but no one would be willing to claim that the IDF is a “terrorist organization” and the IDF would be the first group to deny that ANY of their soldiers belong to terrorist organizations, since no one in the IDF is going to acknowledge their membership in anti-Palestinian groups). Hezbollah missiles were not raining down in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, courtesy of the Lebanese Air Force. In point of fact, that little discrepancy in military might and power and range is often a highlight of the Arab World’s distress at American’s virtually one-sided view of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel is about twice as large as Lebanon–not even counting the Palestinian Territories. (If you took Lebanon and placed it over Israel, from Israel’s northern frontier, the southern tip of Lebanon would extend to the northern third of the Negev Desert. Laying Israel over Lebanon from Lebanon’s southern frontier, the northern tip of Israel would stretch over the border with Syria and reach all the way into Turkey.) Does this mean that Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory is okay? No. But, one has to remember that the REAL reason the Israelis attacked Lebanon in 2006 had to do with SOLDIERS who were captured by Hezbollah forces (and the Israeli gov’t has never offered hard proof that these soldiers really were abducted in Israel–Hezbollah always claimed the Israelis were in Lebanon when they were captured). Israel, instead of attacking Hezbollah forces in the South of Lebanon (where they were based) bombed Beirut in hopes of pressuring the Lebanese gov’t to remove the ELECTED Hezbollah members of Parliament. After the Lebanese gov’t decided to stick to their democratic principles (and, it should be noted that Israel elected a KNOWN terrorist operative as Prime Minister–Menachem Begin began as a member of a terrorist group which tried to get the British out of Palestine; just another irony that tends to get ignored by more than a few members of the Western Press–Arab freedom fighters are “terrorists”, Jewish freedom fighters are “role models”) and not give in to coercive Israeli interference with its political operations (note the other irony–Syria, which had been interfering in Lebanese politics for years, HAD to go, according to the Bush Administration, but Israeli interference with Lebanon’s internal politics was condoned, up to a point, that point being the continued bombing of Beirut), Lebanon allowed itself to be Israel’s “whipping boy” until the international community (including the Bush Administration) saw the blatant hypocrisy.
I’m sorry, but had Israel limited their bombing campaign to the Southern fringes where the actual terrorists were operating, instead of bombing the country’s capital, perhaps the media’s coverage wouldn’t have been so “biased”.
JozefaL:
That’s so tragic, I guess that all of Lebanon’s govenment buildings and military headquarters were destroyed then if the big bad ole Isrealis were attacking the Lebanese capital. And that Lebanese military and the UN troops were sure on the ball in living up to their obligations to prevent such incursions from Lebanon. The Syrians too, influencing the Lebanese government from Syria, without any troops occupying that country. I was unaware that the Syrian’s had that kind of extra-territorial influence.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.