If the Democrat Party is ultimately successful in their strategy to shelter their nominee Kamala Harris from public scrutiny and sell her to the voters as some cosmic variation of vibes and joy…well then, our democratic process truly is in jeopardy. In fact, the damage will likely run far deeper than that.
Perhaps
the majority of voters have decided that the President of our country is not
really that important…not really essential to their well-being. Perhaps they are more interested in hip
imagery and cool quips that seem to slip off the lip and land softly on the
ear. Perhaps they do not really care
about our Constitution and are comfortable with the way our government has been
running for the last three-plus years.
Perhaps they are unconcerned that America has powerful, evil, and
resourceful enemies abroad whose purpose in existing is to destroy our nation
and…these folks are salivating at the
vacuous leadership that the U.S. has demonstrated during the Biden/Harris
presidency. Perhaps people are beat
down and so disillusioned with politics in general that they feel any attempt
towards a serious approach to voting is farcical on its face. Perhaps they feel so powerless that their
main concern is not trying to right the ship, but rather to find something firm
to hold onto so they do not get tossed overboard. All of these feelings would be understandable
effects of the world in which we live.
One
thing is for certain: The mainstream
media is playing the American voters for fools. They are openly, unashamedly, and quite
effectively doing everything in their power to tilt the electoral board to the
favor of the Democrat Party and the candidates that they put forth. There is no blush of embarrassment about
saying something one day and saying something totally opposite the next; no
explanation is needed nor offered. The
investigative standards they apply to their favored candidates pale in
comparison to the magnifying glasses they put upon the candidates that they
scorn. They claim no evidentiary basis
upon which to base their non-news, opinionated news reports and exhibit astronomical heights of hubris in their
expectation for all to consume their goods with no questions whatsoever. And why
wouldn’t they act like this? After
all, it has been working pretty successfully for some time now.
Where
was the first presidential debate? CNN.
Where is the next one scheduled? ABC. There may be more; there may not. There is no excuse for these debates not to
be on both conservative and liberal
platforms with both conservative and
liberal moderators. Why do Republicans insist on running these campaigns with one hand tied
behind them? Even when they are on
their best (least partisan) behavior,
mainstream media condescension and antipathy towards Republicans simply drips from their presentations. If you watch their faces and body language
closely, they treat conservatives as if they are some type of other-worldly
creatures. They choose carefully what to
report and what not to report. They slant the coverage of what they choose
to report on. They ignore the misdeeds
of their favorites while hammering the foibles of their despised. Their insolent hubris is limitless and their
unsupported sense of entitlement is not only dumbfounding…it is also
disgusting. American journalism, by and
large, is in the dark deep throes of an Orwellian complex.
The
best illustration I can find for this shameful dynamic is the recent Time
magazine puff piece about Kamala Harris.
Time put an iconic-centric picture
of Harris on its cover with the title “Her
Moment”. I won’t address how
lopsided this kid gloves treatment of Harris is compared to the brutally critical approach Time has
taken to all things Donald Trump (including
“his” Time cover picture). That
patently obvious bias speaks for itself.
The incredible thing about this recent article on Harris is the fact
that in spite of Time’s fawning and non-critical approach to all things Kamala…she refused to be interviewed for the
article. The fact that Time was
willing to accept these terms, along with her “let them eat cake” attitude, clearly depicts how low they have
placed themselves in their fealty to the Democrat Party and the progressive
elements in our political world.
No
doubt, there are conservative media platforms that are just as guilty as the liberal/progressive
platforms in the way they handle the “news”. But the simple fact is that the overall
presence and influence of those liberal/progressive sources, aka the Mainstream Media, far outweighs the
effective reach of the conservative sources.
They are both equally guilty of the same prevarication; it is just that
one does it so much more prominently and frankly, is much better at doing it.
A sign of the times is that we all gravitate to the news sources that we
are comfortable with; we seek validation of what we personally believe. The internet and streaming options that we
have makes that all too easy and we take full advantage of it.
But
living in those little bubbles of
information puts blinders on us. We
lose sight of the fact that the little bubbles we inhabit are not really that
significant in the overall state of things.
The fact is that CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Newsmax, etc. reach only a fraction of
the viewers held by ABC, CBS, and NBC.
We might want to stand up and cheer when Hannity goes after Biden or
Morning Joe goes after Trump; but their attacks pale in comparison to what the traditional
mainstream media is
broadcasting. No matter how you might
choose to characterize its content, the progressive/liberal influence in the
Fourth Estate dwarfs that of the conservative.
Given the fact that academia and the education intelligentsia provide
our newsrooms with their personnel…why
should we expect anything else?
The
simple truth is that the politicians the media covers…ALL of the politicians the media cover…are egomaniacal and arrogant
in their pursuit of power, wealth, and influence. Why else do these people put themselves
through the personal wringer of pursuing political office? I have to believe that we, the voters, have
pretty much come to expect that and have been fairly comfortable with picking
out the least of the existing evils to our own taste. But this is no reason for the media to lower
itself to the standards of the politicians.
I would like to think that if the media purports to present to us the
facts, they would approach that task in an apolitical fashion. Yes…I will say it out loud: The media should be holding itself to higher
standards than our elected officials. Their
influence is that great; their product is that significant; and their place in
our culture and society is that essential.
Look…I
have no problem with everyone having their own opinion; we are all different
people with different thoughts. That is
freedom; that is liberty. But when
discussing the Fourth Estate, it is not unreasonable for us, the consumers of
their product, to demand a truth in
labeling standard. They are also
entitled to their opinion. Just draw for us a clear line between where
the facts lie and where your opinion lies.
Do not blend them in a perverted fashion that allows you, the media, to
insert facts that might be only privy to yourself with your own personal agenda
in a way that effectively supports your
opinions.
Do
not treat me as an automaton. Give your
consumers a level of respect to think for themselves and form their own
opinions, no matter how outrageous, self-serving, or foolish they might
be. Give
us the same privilege that you demand for yourselves. Allow us, the consumer, to judge you on how
well you obtain the truth and how well you report the truth to us. Let us further judge you on how effectively
you delineate between the facts and your opinions. Do not judge us on the opinions we
independently form. Look at yourselves; surely you want to be better than this.
If
you, the media, wish to actively support a candidate or an agenda, then that is
your right. We, the consumer, can take it
or leave it. Just do not disrespect your
consumer and lower your own credibility by mixing up facts and opinions in ways
that are clearly biased, dishonest, and shamefully deceptive. Find some pride in your work; put some ethics
in your journalism; realize that people have choices in their news/opinion
searches to either shop around or to tune it out entirely. Work hard and professionally to achieve high
ethical standards in your profession and take the risk on being judged
according to those metrics. Our nation
will be better for it.
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