The overwhelming media adulation for Hillary Clinton this week really brings into focus the fact that mainstream media is a branch of the Democrat party. They don’t attempt to hide it much any more. They are simply cheerleaders for leftists and consistent advocates of big government as the solution to all problems.
As the praise was piled higher and deeper for the phenomenal job Hillary has done as Secretary of State, I wondered what world they were living in. Where, in the real world, are things better from Hillary’s efforts? Is the middle east better? Do we have better relationships with our enemies, or even with our allies? One Senator at the Benghazi hearing did offer a concrete example of Her Greatness’s achievements – The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Yes, indeed.
The facts show repeated pleas for additional security in Benghazi as the danger and violence escalated. The pleas were ignored. On the night of 9-11, officials knew almost immediately that the attack was a planned assault and they knew there was no demonstration prior to the assault. They crafted lies and a huge cover-up far more consequential than Watergate ever was. With the media’s help, they successfully sold their lies.
The media act as defense attorneys for their friends and prosecuting attorneys for their enemies. Their political allies are portrayed as smart, competent, good people; their enemies are stupid and bad. News stories are filtered just that way. And the facts don’t matter.
If there is economic destruction under a President’s policies, it is his fault if he is a conservative; someone else’s fault if he is a liberal. The way economic news is reported is determined completely by who is in power. A liberal leader with 8% unemployment, skyrocketing deficits, increasing poverty can be portrayed as a good man headed in the right direction. A conservative with a much better record will be endlessly criticized.
Scaring the truth out of 3 terrorists by pouring water down their throat is reported as inexcusable torture if a conservative does it. But, killing suspected terrorists with drone missiles, instead of interrogating them, is not so bad if liberals do it. Guantanamo ceased being bad with the change of administrations. Going to war with Libya without congressional approval was fine because a liberal did it. If you give government money to your contributor friends in business, massive amounts of money, it’s not a corruption story if you are a liberal. If you secretly tell the Russian leader that you will be free to give him concessions after the election, it’s not selling out if you’re a Democrat, because you mean well. And if you cheerlead the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab Spring takeover… well, you meant well there, too.
That’s the power of the (D). KKK grand kleagle Senator Robert Byrd (D) was protected all his life from charges of racism. Ted Kennedy (D) drove off a bridge and left a girlfriend to drown while he hurried home to plot a strategy for self protection. But self protection was easy – he is a Kennedy with a (D). The media worked hard and long to try to protect Bill Clinton (D) from his serial sexual predations and John Edwards (D) from his lies. Barney Frank (D) played a major role in causing the sub-prime meltdown and he escaped unscathed. And for black politicians (D), no level of corruption is taken seriously. All that matters is that you support keeping black people on the Democrat Plantation.
But if your name is followed with (R), there are at least two strikes against you to begin with. If you tap your foot in a bathroom stall, (Craig (R)), or kiss an unwilling girl (Packwood (R)) the media will cover the story intensely until you resign. Clinton (D), can warn of Iraqs WMD’s, say “I guarantee you he will use the arsenal“, and pass the “Iraq Liberation Act” calling for regime change, but Bush (R) is a liar for agreeing. Congressmen (R) who sound the alarm about unsustainable spending and debt are called extremists and obstructionists. This is actually true to some extent because they are trying to obstruct the path that leads to certain economic destruction, but the media faults them for exactly that effort. And if you are a black leader (R) who has escaped the Democrat Plantation, the media will heap scorn upon you.
Obama and Hillary know that their failures will be hidden as much as their lackeys in the media can possibly hide them. As liberals they are, by definition, good and right in the eyes of the media. That is the narrative that they can count on. There is incredible power and safety in the assurance of that false narrative. This system works well for liberals, but not for our country.
A free country needs an adversarial press to question authority and hold those in power accountable for their actions. In free societies, the press has an important role in countering the natural tendency of those in power to abuse their power. It is more clear than ever that the mainstream media have abandoned that role and have joined forces with those in power. They speak with one voice and have shared goals. The media role now is to create and perpetuate myths that justify increasing the power of government.
Newsweek editor Evan Thomas was on Hardball with Chris Matthews after President Obama’s ’09 speech in Cairo. Matthews had been having “tingles” up his leg from Obama’s greatness. Thomas trumped the tingles by saying that Obama was “sort of a God”. Thomas predicted that in the middle east, this new God would, “…bring all different sides together… He’s the teacher. He is going to say, ‘now, children, stop fighting and quarreling with each other.”
When Thomas’ childish view of middle east diplomacy was crushed by reality, did he change his view of Obama? No. The recent inauguration cover for Newsweek touts “The Second Coming”. God lives! The narrative is impervious to facts.
John Dickerson, the political director of CBS News, made it clear last week that he stands ready to help Dear Leader any way he can. He suggested to Dear Leader that he, “can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP. If he wants to transform American politics, he must go for the throat.” Niccolo Machiavelli Dickerson will continue to do everything he can to destroy conservatives and advance the all powerful state. You can count on it. And he would shine Obama’s shoes, too.
The media groupies should be embarrassed by their behavior, but they do not appear to be. They are in a bubble insulated from contrary opinions and all smugly certain that big government solutions are the only solutions. This is not a trivial problem. Even though we have alternative media, the Old Media are still a powerful force. Obama would not be President without their help. Not the first time and not this time.
Just for fun, here are a couple of clips to demonstrate the intelligence of ‘news’ reporters. Both clips are from MSNBC, the easiest place to find fools, but sadly not the only place. In the first clip, the reporter is discussing the Easter Island stone statues with a scientist who has studied them. The reporter, with a straight face, asks the scientist if she thinks the statues walked to their current location, or were put there by space aliens, or could they possibly have been put there by humans who lived on the island. I have seen CNN’s Soledad O’Brien demonstrate similar levels of self-assured ignorance.
After Chris Matthews watched Bill Clinton speak at the Democrat convention last fall, he shared with viewers some fan-boy thoughts about Clinton. He said, “I always figured that if Bill Clinton landed on Mars, he would know how to do it with them, he would know how to reproduce, he would know everything.” Wondering if Bill Clinton would know how to have sex with Martians is just something Chris thinks about.
