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Media Malfeasance

Question: If news isn't reported, is it still news? Not according to the old media. The old axiom, 'If it bleeds, it leads', is still operative in most newsrooms around the country. Good news, if reported at all, is merely an afterthought.
 
For the savvy news consumer, good news is recognized mainly through its absence. Just last week, headlines across the country reported the dire predictions of the World Health Organization - the swine flu, oops, the H1N1 virus, was 'a grave threat to humanity'. A major pandemic is imminent and we're (again) on the brink of catastrophe.
 
The threat was so dire, it required the president of the greatest country in the world (that's America, for you Obama voters) to appear, once again, on national TV to advise all citizens to wash their hands. Lost in the lockstep reporting of the old media, was the fact that, gee, many 'experts' were claiming that this dangerous flu strain was no more severe than the normal flu strain.

The pandemic failed to materialize, prompting headlines warning of 'complacency.' It appears the WHO, the Obama administration and the liberal media were, well, wrong. Swine flu deaths: App 12. Unreported, was the fact that regular flu deaths (in 2006) were 56,000.
 
The reigning political elite that now rule our country have officially branded most conservative views as 'fringe' views held by 'extremists', validating a viewpoint held for decades by the old media. Thus journalists no longer feel the need to report on issues of concern to the 62 million Americans who didn't vote for Obama. Their concerns are officially irrelevant. Case closed.
 
The majority of Americans realize the liberal bent of the old media. Most can identify opinion pieces that are increasingly presented as news, but they have to resort to the net or talk radio in order to be made aware of all the good news which is deliberately relegated to the back burner in the (remaining) newspapers and nightly news broadcasts. 
 
For example:
 
Recent polls show shrinking support for new gun control measures and strong public sentiment for enforcing existing laws instead.
 
A new national poll suggests that a majority of Americans oppose legalizing same sex marriages.
 
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of U.S. voters say that they prefer a free market economy over a government-managed economy. That’s up seven points since December.

A new poll conducted by Pew Research finds the support for legal abortions has dropped to its lowest level in 15 years.
 
For just the second time in more than five years of daily or weekly tracking, Republicans now lead Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.

These items are no longer considered news by the media elite. Not only does the old media purposefully downplay any news item that challenges their lock-step liberal world view, news organizations have taken increasing latitude with the news they do choose to report.
 
A recent NYT headline announced that 'Criminal Prosecutions Will Not Be Pursued For Bush 'Terror Lawyers'. Whew. Reading beyond the headline however, one found the real story. Namely, the unprecedented interference and intimidation by our Justice Dept., deciding merely to refer those nasty lawyers to the Bar Assoc. for disbarment.
 
Reading this story, casual readers might assume that the government actually has the right to censure legal opinions. Serious readers know that our very rule of law in under serious attack. Ho Hum.
 
The media has now put a new twist on Dan Rather's 'fake but accurate' premise. They routinely report 'accurate but fake' stories, with facts presented in a such a way as to alter their original meaning. This is deliberate. This is accepted. And this is media malfeasance.
 
If the conservative press decided to adopt the old media's misleading and manipulative template, one could expect to see headlines like 'Nancy Morgan Decides Not To Indict Obama For Phony Birth Certificate'. But I wouldn't post a headline like that, because its not honest journalism. And neither the old media.
 
By the way, in case you haven't heard, we won the war in Iraq.
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Our Dangerous Media

What would happen if America won a war and no one reported it? Is it still news? What if a credible argument were made pretty much demolishing Darwin's theory of evolution? If no media outlet conveyed this information to the American public, does that mean its not a valid argument? Does that mean its not news?
 
The liberal media would have you believe so. For decades, the old media, consisting of the big three networks and the newspapers of most major cities have had a stranglehold on what information gets disseminated to the public at large. The media elite have decided which issues qualify as news. Not surprisingly, the majority of the information that makes it to the airwaves or in print is overwhelmingly one-sided, reflecting a world-view steeped in progressive values and blatantly hostile to traditional values.
 
The old media elite, comprised of less than 1% of our population, has set the agenda and defined the issues in America for decades. More importantly, the old media has had the ability to relegate any facts that didn't conform to their version of reality to the ash heap. If it doesn't make the news, its not news.
 
By any measure, America and our allies have won the war in Iraq. Our mission has been accomplished. This is news, even though the media has failed to report it. Iraq's economy is on track, thanks to much improved security and increased production of oil. Iraq's fledgling parliament is operating. In other words, we won. The Iraqi people have won. Against tremendous odds. 

Because American victory and military success don't fit the media's liberal version of America, most Americans remain unaware of the tremendous accomplishments that have been brought about, thanks to president Bush and our brave fighting men. Instead, their focus emcompasses only the price we paid, not the victory we achieved.
 
Ignoring inconvenient news and embarrassing facts is a tried and true tactic of the liberal media. A prime example is conservative author, Thomas Sowell. Sowell has written dozens of books dealing with race, culture, economics and other issues vital to America. More importantly, his facts have never been rebutted. Knowing there is no chance of disputing Sowell's studies and conclusions, the media elite have chosen to ignore him. He is simply not a part of their carefully fashioned reality.
 
That is the fate of any author or pundit who dares to swim against the progressive tide. Can you spell censorship?
 
Ann Coulter is another example. In her book Godless, Ann makes a credible argument that the theory of Darwinian evolution is a bogus science. The media responded to this serious challenge to one of its core tenets by simply ignoring it, focusing instead on Ann's cutting observation of four housewives from Jersey who lost their husbands in the 9/11 attack.
 
 From their lofty position of moral self-righteousness, the media roundly condemned Coulter for her lack of sensitivity and empathy. Totally ignored in the ensuing media frenzy, was any mention, much less rebuttal, to Ann's extremely credible argument demolishing Darwinism.

A majority of Americans are now somewhat aware of media bias. Increasingly, when reading a news story, Americans have the ability to recognize the obvious slant. This is all well and good. What is not well and good, is the fact that many of us are not made aware of all the news out there that is ignored. Credible, relevant facts that are simply not reported.
 
How many of you are aware that at the recent UN gathering on global warming, 650 renown scientists made a credible challenge to the UN's conclusion that man-made global warming is a crisis situation requiring ....
 
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Media Declare Obama The Winner

When I logged onto Drudge this morning, I had a Rip Van Winkle moment. According to the headlines, Obama has somehow become president. Nope, its still October 20. The election hasn't been held yet. But you wouldn't know that by scanning the headlines of one of the major news outlets in America.
 
According to headlines on Drudge, Obama is in the process of planning his transition. His team is in place and already planning the nuts and bolts of installing 'The One' in the White House. "Under the direction of John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, the transition effort includes a dozen separate groups divided into different areas of responsibility." Bye-bye Bush. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
 
As Obama's transition team meets, others in the Obama camp are busy lining up an all-star Obama Cabinet. 'Barack Obama Lines Up A Cabinet Of Stars As John McCain Struggles On', the Times reports. "It's important to send a signal," an Obama adviser said. "With a comparatively new person in office and the awful mess we're in, these appointments are going to resonate around the world." Note the operative words: 'in office'.
 
Heady decisions, those. Deciding who to reward, who to slight, and...
 
Tags: Media   obama  
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Liberal Meltdown

In a delicious stroke of cosmic justice, it seems that the left, not the earth, is in meltdown stage. The sacred pillars of liberal orthodoxy are in the process of losing their underpinnings and it is not a pretty sight.  
 
With the nomination of Barack and Sarah, three major industries and shibboleths of the left, feminism, racism and the media are losing their clout, big time.
 
The feminists who have preached against the 'social construct' of male patriarchy and female victimhood have achieved their stated goal, and they're furious. After 40 years, the feminist mantra that a woman can and should have it all, has come to fruition in Sarah Palin.
 
There's only one small problem. Palin doesn't buy into the feminist line. As Peggy Noonan so aptly put it, "she is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way." When feminists see Sarah Palin, they see a woman. When conservatives see Palin, they see a conservative. Who'se sexist?
 
Feminists are furiously backtracking on one of their core tenets, questioning whether Sarah Palin has the ability to juggle home and job. Instead of applauding a woman who has it all, they instead question whether she will have time to be VP, what with her family and all. Liberal feminist Whoppi Goldberg got it right when she described Sarah Palin as "a dangerous woman."

The Jacksons and Sharptons of the world who have spent their lives preaching racism are also  in melt down stage. With the nomination of Obama, racism is in the process of becoming a hard sell, even the silent 'institutional racism' that has been in vogue these last few years. How will the race hustlers raise funds without genuine victims? How will blacks retain their hard won political power, which is based largely on white guilt? Who will pay for black oppression if there isn't any?
 
The presidential race of 2008 will go down in history as a turning point - as the pivotal event that exposed the shallowness of liberal policies, institutions and people. A mere 5 months ago, the liberals were on the brink of victory. And now... 
Amazon

Now, it appears that not only are the masses not buying what the left is selling, but have instead shown their stubborn allegiance to traditional values and God, as embodied so well by Gov. Palin. This, despite the herculean efforts by another liberal institution, the media.

The same media, which a study showed to have been the decisive factor in Obama's nomination, is now having to report that Palin is more popular than both McCain and Obama.

Unable to believe they've been on the wrong side of history, the media is lashing out in ever more frivolous and blatant attempts to smear Gov. Palin and prop up Obama. Only this time, they're encountering a backlash.

US Weekly Magazine is losing subscribers due to the vicious smear piece recently published about Palin. A  new website has even been launched to organize a boycott of US Weekly and their advertisers. Adding insult to injury, Rasmussen reported a whopping 51% of American women believe the media is trying to hurt Sarah Palin and 24% say those stories make them more likely to vote for McCain.
 
More surprisingly, hundreds of small town residents in a small town outside Milwaukee "taunted reporters and TV crews travelling with Sen. John McCain on Friday, chanting "Be fair!" and pointing fingers at a pack of journalists as they booed loudly." Even Oprah is experiencing a backlash for refusing to have Palin on her show until after the election.

The media, like the rest of the liberal world, can't comprehend what is happening. The conservative, traditional worldview they thought they had thoroughly invalidated is rearing its ugly head and they can't understand, much less control, it.
  
Obama's nomination goes a long way towards discrediting the racism canard. And Gov. Sarah Palin shows that the American dream is available without help from either government or the self-anointed elites. She shows that faith in God is more powerful than faith in man. She shows that sexism and racism are indeed constructs, but artificial constructs designed not by old white men, but by liberal utopians - designed to achieve money and power, not liberation.
 
The times, they are a changin, but not in the way the left envisioned. The rules are changing as we speak. Because the liberal elites have consistently shown they are incapable of adjusting their world-views to include conservatives, I predict this will be the death of them. I'm smiling.

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All Obama, All The Time

We interrupt this program for a breaking news alert: "Obama Has Landed Safely Back In The US." America breathes a collective sigh of relief. Conservatives rejoice also, anticipating a long awaited break from 'All Obama, All The Time.' Alas, it is not to be.
 
Obama continues to dominate the old media, with 24/7 coverage of his every utterance. Talking heads ruminate endlessly and in depth, on the 'historic' tour just completed by their new president in waiting. With the appropriate oohs and aahs, our old media elites expound on Obama's gravitas, his presidential appearance, his new foreign experience which, coincidentally, Obama states, has confirmed all his preconceptions about Iraq and Afghanistan. How utterly prescient! 
 
Obama, like many on the left, inhabits a world occupied solely with like-minded individuals. Having spent his whole life in the company of socialist and Marxists activists, liberal academics and fellow elites, Obama has made the all too common mistake of believing that his world view is the only one. The correct one. Hence, his surprise was undoubtedly as great as CNN's Christiane Amampour's, when she abjectly reported that she was "surprised by the lack of euphoria" following his 'historic' speech.
 
Missing from Obama's body of knowledge and experience is any semblance of appreciation for the fully half of Americans who have never inhabited his world. Those pesky conservatives. The right-wing nuts who cling to their guns and Bibles out of a sense of desperation. The idiots who believe global warming is not man-made and the outdated traditionalists who believe individual rights trump group rights.
 
You know the type, the ones that are offended that Obama removed the American flag from his campaign plane before jetting off to kow-tow to Europe and condescend to Iraq. The ones that resent the man from nowhere who has the audacity, if not the credentials, to lecture the world on proper behaviour. The ones that dare to question the lies, oops, I mean spin, that issues forth from camp Obama daily.



The latest kerfluffle involves questions about why Obama chose to work out at the Ritz instead of visiting with the troops. Conservatives have the audacity to suggest it was because the military wouldn't allow Obama to bring photographers with him to record his close ties with America's soldiers. You know, the American warriors that are responsible for the very freedoms Obama broadly assigns to the world. No photo op, no visit from on high.
 
There are even those on the right that dare question the Obama camp's estimate of the reported 200,000 that gathered to hear his Berlin speech. The attendance figures reported by German public television ZDF were 20,000, not the 200,000 figure the Obama camp gave to a complaisant media. Some Americans were even rude enough to question why no American flag was present during Obama's 'historic' Berlin speech. 
 
Adding insult to injury, right-wing bad boy, John Bolton, had the temerity to suggest, "The successes Obama refers to in his speech - the defeat of Nazism, the Berlin airlift and the collapse of communism - were all gained by strong alliances defeating determined opponents of freedom, not by 'one-worlders'."
 
To top it off, right-wing bloggers actually fact-checked his speech. In a direct assault on Obama's self-anointed right to fashion reality according to his own whim, a London paper found several 'misstatements' (that's liberalspeak for lies) in his historic speech. The audacity!
 
Ignoring any views that don't conform to his own grandiose view of himself, this 'lightly accomplished one-term senator, a former state legislator from Illinois, a Harvard graduate who has no substantive records of accomplishments' has instructed his aides to start planning his presidential transition.

Nothing in Obama's life has prepared him for the defeat he is bound to suffer come November. All because his pollsters, his advisors and his wife neglected to remind him that all the adulation in the world means squat unless followed up with a vote and, unfortunately, the adoring throngs  in Europe can't vote, yet.

Obama has managed to alienate increasing numbers of oh so ordinary Americans who do vote. Like the average American who is more impressed with actions than words. Like the little people who work hard, play by the rules, love God and country and know instinctively that expertise with teleprompters does not a leader make.

The average Joe wants a president who is a citizen of America, not a citizen of the world. They most certainly don't want a president who apologizes for his own country in foreign lands. Even the unsophisticated guy in flyover country knows better than Obama that relying on the old media for accurate information on how Americans think and feel is a fool's game. 

Obama will be genuinely surprised when McCain is elected president in November - a presidency that Obama has already claimed as his own. He will undoubtedly question how McCain could have won when Obama doesn't even know a single person who voted for him.

All those meanies on the right have to do is continue to give the Big O more rope.

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Obama's Magical Mystery Tour

 After a week of intense media foreplay, Obama has finally embarked on his magical mystery tour.  As he boarded the plane that took him on the first leg of his anxiously awaited Middle East and European tour, a pair of uniformed Air Force officers saluted simultaneously, as they do each time President Bush boards Air Force One.

As the media-anointed President in waiting, Obama is virtually guaranteed superstar non-stop media coverage as he makes his taxpayer financed 'fact finding' tour this week. Joining him on this excellent adventure are all three of the major network anchors who will cover his every step, endlessly. The world anxiously awaits.
 
Obama's visit to Iraq is ostensibly to assess the situation on the ground in order to lend credibility to his already formed opinion of the war in Iraq. In a masterful political move, somewhat akin to inspecting the barn after the horses have already escaped, Barack, with perfect 20/20 hindsight will most likely opine that yes, the surge seemed to have helped matters abit. He will then segueway into his firm, absolutely firm view, which, by the way, he has held for over 4 months, that now is the time to start bringing troops home.
 
Perky Katy Couric, with the appropriate oohs and aahs, will then proclaim to the world how utterly prescient and, well, presidential Obama is to have suggested the solution to the vexing Iraq problem way before any of the experts did. The only question remaining is how many times perky Katy will flip her hair as she gazes coyly up at Obama through lowered eyelashes.
 
Having been thus established as an astute visionary and world leader, Obama will leave the battlefield and, safely out of harms way (Thank-God!) will proceed to Europe where a hero's welcome awaits. Foreign newspapers are in...
 
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Obama's Magical Mystery Tour

 After a week of intense media foreplay, Obama has finally embarked on his magical mystery tour.  As he boarded the plane that took him on the first leg of his anxiously awaited Middle East and European tour, a pair of uniformed Air Force officers saluted simultaneously, as they do each time President Bush boards Air Force One.

As the media-anointed President in waiting, Obama is virtually guaranteed superstar non-stop media coverage as he makes his taxpayer financed 'fact finding' tour this week. Joining him on this excellent adventure are all three of the major network anchors who will cover his every step, endlessly. The world anxiously awaits.
 
Obama's visit to Iraq is ostensibly to assess the situation on the ground in order to lend credibility to his already formed opinion of the war in Iraq. In a masterful political move, somewhat akin to inspecting the barn after the horses have already escaped, Barack, with perfect 20/20 hindsight will most likely opine that yes, the surge seemed to have helped matters abit. He will then segueway into his firm, absolutely firm view, which, by the way, he has held for over 4 months, that now is the time to start bringing troops home.
 
Perky Katy Couric, with the appropriate oohs and aahs, will then proclaim to the world how utterly prescient and, well, presidential Obama is to have suggested the solution to the vexing Iraq problem way before any of the experts did. The only question remaining is how many times perky Katy will flip her hair as she gazes coyly up at Obama through lowered eyelashes.
 
Having been thus established as an astute visionary and world leader, Obama will leave the battlefield and, safely out of harms way (Thank-God!) will proceed to Europe where a hero's welcome awaits. Foreign newspapers are in...
 
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We Won!

America, its allies and the Iraqi people have won the war against terror in Iraq. How do we know? Simple. Just follow the money. European and Asian investment companies are beating a path to Iraq, money in hand. Iraqi Airlines is flying high thanks to a colossal $5.5 billion contract with Boeing and the United Arab Emirates just canceled billions of dollars of Iraqi debt as they moved to restore a diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

When foreign countries start investing billions of dollars in a country, its a safe bet they are aware of the risks involved. And, unlike the old news media and our elected Democrat officials, they see a relatively stable country ripe for investment.
 
The influx of foreign investment is largely due to ..
Tags: Media   wot   Iraq  
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We Won!

America, its allies and the Iraqi people have won the war against terror in Iraq. How do we know? Simple. Just follow the money. European and Asian investment companies are beating a path to Iraq, money in hand. Iraqi Airlines is flying high thanks to a colossal $5.5 billion contract with Boeing and the United Arab Emirates just canceled billions of dollars of Iraqi debt as they moved to restore a diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

When foreign countries start investing billions of dollars in a country, its a safe bet they are aware of the risks involved. And, unlike the old news media and our elected Democrat officials, they see a relatively stable country ripe for investment.
 
The influx of foreign investment is largely due to ..
Tags: Media   wot   Iraq  
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Tim Russert: Enough Already!

NBC's Tim Russert died of a heart attack on Friday. Only the deaf, dumb and blind can be unaware of this fact. Ever since the unfortunate death of one of the major players in the field of media and politics, non-stop media coverage has drummed this fact home to millions of Americans. Enough, already.
 
This media coverage, still going strong, is becoming quite unseemly. http://rightbias.com/News/061408russert.aspx
Tags: Media   Russert  
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The Democrat's Magical Thinking

Something very strange is happening in the hallowed halls of the old media. From the Washington Post to the New York Times, articles are starting to appear actually acknowledging that the Iraq war may be, gasp, winnable. Even the United Nations went on record, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying Iraq has made "notable progress" in the security, political and economic fields.

This recent acknowledgment of the obvious has yet to extend to the Democrat Party. Despite the recent CIA assessment that portrayed al-Qaeda as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the Democrats continue to cling to the notion that the Iraq war is unwinnable, a quagmire, and a lost cause.

Despite the fact that the he commander of British forces in Iraq announced yesterday that missions by special forces and air strikes by unmanned drones have "decapitated" the Taliban and brought the war in Afghanistan to a "tipping point", Democrats continue their time-worn mantra of U.S defeat, hoping that non stop repetition will continue to let them get away with defining their own reality. A reality totally at odds with the facts. In psychological circles, this is called cognitive dissonance.

Obama's presidential platform continues to rely heavily on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, as he vows to immediately withdraw American troops from Iraq the second he is elected president. Democrat Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, continues to spin any vestige of positive news from Iraq into either an indictment of the U.S military or a boost to our enemies.

In the face of the unprecedented and unwelcome success of the surge in Iraq, Nancy Pelosi claimed the U.S. troop surge has failed to accomplish its goal. Apparently, Democrats have redefined the word 'goal', kinda like Charlie Brown. She then partially credited the success of the troop surge to "the goodwill of the Iranians." Riight.

For forty years or so, the left has been able to get away with calling a rose a weed. With the backing of the liberal media, their tried and true tactics of repeating a lie often enough until it is accepted as truth has worked. Essentially, Democrats have been able to define reality to their own liking, dismissing any inconvenient truths as the delusions of a vast right-wing conspiracy.

By suppressing inconvenient facts, large portions of the left have been able to keep alive the fiction that Alger Hiss was innocent, despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary - that Reagan was stupid, despite the fact that his position of peace through strength won the Cold War - that Che Geuvera was a hero of the people instead of a murdering thug, and that Castro is living proof that socialism works. Tammy Bruce calls this 'magical thinking.' I call it denial.

Ignoring and/or denying reality is the easiest way to cope - for alcoholics, drug addicts, and the mentally challenged. For these poor souls, the first step toward recovery is acknowledging that they are powerless. For liberal politicians like Pelosi however, to admit that any of her premises are faulty would be catastrophic. To admit powerlessness, to admit her worldview is not valid, would be a complete refutation of a lifetime spent seeking and using power. This is not an option.
The good news is, it appears the liberal Democrats might be losing their willing allies in the media, where market forces demand adherence to reality in order to survive. Just as the media has turned against their recent darlings, the Clintons, it now appears likely they will soon question the democrat version of reality they have followed and supported for so long.

Whether or not the left actually believes their own rhetoric is a question beyond my pay grade. The real issue remains, what are the consequences for America if fully half of our elected officials continue to insist on adhering to an alternate reality of their own making? I have an inquiring mind. I'd like to know.


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