“The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.”
John Adams
Ever since people started reporting on and analyzing the news on the Internet and other new media outside the traditional media outlets, the traditional media has been going through its own version of the Kubler-Ross Five Stages of Grief…
Denial… “This can’t be happening.”
Anger… “Who the hell do these pajama-clad people think they are?”
Bargaining… “Okay. We hate you, so we’ll start doing the same thing.”
Depression… “Our business model sucks and we’re going out of business.”
Acceptance… “Everything will be okay since I can get a federal bailout and have the feds regulate and harass my competition out of business, all in the name of some nebulous public good!”
Fake but accurate: When traditional "journalists" are sure something's true but have no evidence, it's time to go to Kinko's! Image from michellemalkin.com.
Whenever a high-profile blogger gets it wrong, jumps the gun or takes something out of context, the traditional media launches into “I-told-you-so” mode, most recently and notably with the Breitbart/Shirley Sherrod fiasco. However, when one of their own does it, there’s nothing to see (Rathergate).
The traditional media would like nothing better than to consolidate their power in such a way that everyone but the traditional media is held accountable for their actions. I think they call it “accountability journalism,” or what I like to call “baby talk.”
This begs the question: who fact-checks the fact-checkers? Who holds those who wield the sword of accountability accountable? What the traditional media desire is a monopoly on accountability, which is convenient for a demonstrably biased group advancing specific political and ideological agendas. As “gatekeepers” they will ensure the unwashed masses stay outside the gates. Safely inside the gates, the gatekeepers can do whatever the hell they want. Who needs transparency when the gatekeepers are so ethically and morally pure?
Was Breitbart held accountable for posting an out-of-context video? Certainly. Now that the entire video is out and people can see it for themselves they can make their own judgment about it without a monopolistic “accountability” filter designed to tell them what to think.
Fake but accurate: Filmed from multiple angles with hundreds of cell phone cameras recording at the same moment, not one person has come forth with evidence that Tea Partiers screamed racial epithets at black Congressmen who purposely walked the gauntlet to incite the racism that supposedly infuses the Tea Party movement. The accusation may be fake, but the traditional media decided it was accurate so there was no need to verify the veracity of the claims. Now that's accountability journalism!
By the same token, when the media reported with absolute certainty that the N-word was hurled more than a dozen times at black legislators purposely running the Tea Party gauntlet on Capitol Hill, the blogosphere cast serious doubt on this assertion. The traditional media’s reaction? Ignore the evidence and mindlessly repeat a lie since it fits their worldview and narrative.
The traditional media believes the Tea Party is racist, primarily because the Tea Party opposes the first black president’s agenda. In the traditional media narrative, opposition to Obama equals racism. So if A=B is true, then naturally the stuff we make up, C, is true, even if it really didn’t happen.
Rathergate was based on the same thinking. Dan Rather and his colleagues at CBS believed that George W. Bush was a nincompoop and a shirker so they didn’t waste any time double-checking the documents sent to them by a dubious source that helped prove the point. When the documents were shown to be obvious forgeries, Rather and the traditional media circled the wagons. Their final defense? Fake but accurate! I don’t know about you, but I prefer news that’s genuine and accurate.
So, while the traditional media whines and moans about the lack of accountability in the blogosphere, talk radio and Fox News, we’re actually living in a time of hyper-accountability. You can’t publish, post or air anything without someone somewhere holding you to account.
There are obvious drawbacks to this Wild West information age, such as the ease of defamation, but that’s a trade-off I’m willing to make. Information is power, and once concentrated in too few hands it is dangerous.
Empire Strikes Back: The Great Recession is even effecting the Galactic Empire. The dark side must be hard up for cash. Darth Vader robbed a bank yesterday. He didn’t really use the Force, though it turned out that the Force wasn’t that big of a deal by the final installment of the Star Wars saga.
The Progressive Ideal: Fast on the heels of the death of the climate change bill, progressives everywhere are asking themselves, “What happened?” Mitch Perry at Creative Loafing quotes the following from a Washington Post article by Perry Bacon Jr.:
Joshua Freed, who directs the clean energy program for the centrist think tank Third Way, said the contrast shows the challenge Democratic leaders face when trying to marshal support for climate measures within Congress.
“China doesn’t have these problems,” Freed said. “It should be a wake-up call that the same day Republican opposition kills a carbon price in the Senate, China announces it will put a price on carbon in 2011.”
What kind of wake-up call is Freed talking about here? Should the U.S. dissolve its government and become a one-party totalitarian state? That’s the progressive ideal, except with the pesky human rights baggage. The Democratic party: a kinder, gentler totalitarian state.
D.C. Fires 241 Teachers for Incompetence: I haven’t actually read this article. I just like the headline, though it would be much better if it were legislators, as in, D.C. Fires 241 Legislators for Incompetence. That number sounds about right, though maybe 100 or so shy of the reality.
Massachusetts Over Taxed? The haughty, French-looking former-junior-now-senior senator from Massachusetts, who by the way served in Vietnam, is in the news again. Senator John Kerry has been docking his yacht in Rhode Island to avoid Mass. taxes. You have to love these transparent losers. Kerry has no problem soaking the public, unless, of course, he’s the one being soaked. These incompetent legislators turn their super soakers on the American public then cry like babies if someone turns a dollar-store water pistol on them.
The Racism Olive Branch: Shirley Sherrod is on the march. The same woman who didn’t correct an an audience full of racists is now in the name-calling business. On CNN Sherrod told Anderson Cooper that Andrew Breitbart wants to take us back to the days of slavery. Let the healing begin! Anderson Cooper didn’t challenge the smear, because he’s a pretty-face journalist masquerading as a poor man’s Phil Donahue. Cooper is skeptical of anything to the right of Michael Moore, but anything to the left he accepts without question. What an idiot.
Off to Priest Lake: That’s all I’ve got. I have three books to read over the next week. I have Sir Arthur Conan Dole’s Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Vol. I and II. Another book I’m really looking forward to reading is Daniel Okrent’s Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. I intend to drink heavily during the reading of Last Call. It seems only fitting. You may recall that, in an earlier post, Club Soda called for Prohibition reparations to be paid with a keg in every fridge.
NAACP: I wonder how long it will be before the NAACP repudiates its own racist elements? In the most cynical way the NAACP is the big winner in their race-baiting conference. The organization has become irrelevant, but here we are, still talking about the group after two weeks. The biggest winner is Andrew Breitbart. Mr. Breitbart continues to break news and drive liberals crazy (not that it’s difficult). BTW… Has anyone come up with incriminating evidence from the D.C. protest that proves Tea Partiers shouted racial epithets at black congressmen? Andrew Breitbart’s $10,000 reward still stands. It seems odd that in the era of the cell phone camera and the iPhone that no one can produce even a shred of evidence supporting racism at a Tea Party. Maybe that’s because there is no such evidence because it only exists in the fever swamps of the left? We flush and you make the call!
U.S. Manufacturing: I know there’s a lot of doom and gloom these days, but Carpe Diem sheds some light on why losing manufacturing jobs isn’t necessarily a bad thing unless you manufacture stuff. What is Mark J. Perry’s conclusion? A threefold increase in worker productivity is a major reason why there are less manufacturing jobs. Losing jobs is never pleasant, but manufacturing is going through the same cycle that farming went through 150 years ago. Soylent Green is people! Aughahgaghagagh!
Constituency: It looks like President Obama has found his constituency. The President’s approval rating sucks throughout most of the United States, but the residents of Washington, D.C. give Obama an 85% approval rating! It’s worth noting that the top ten states where Obama has the highest approval are also some of the most bankrupt. I guess if a state is used to bad leadership, what difference does it make? It might also have something to do with the fact that most of the residents either work for the government, are on the dole, are in their sixth year of graduate school or are otherwise drags on society.
More Good News: It appears the oil seepage two miles from the oil spill isn’t related to the BP disaster. I know that’s a load off the minds of the American people. Sure, there’s another leak out there polluting the Gulf, but at least BP isn’t responsible. It’s Obama’s fault!
Finally… It appears the racist member of the NAACP has resigned. The good news just keeps on coming. I’m sure the whole thing is a big misunderstanding and the truth is really that I’m a racist for even pointing out this story.
Update: It appears the video that was at the center of the controversy was edited in the worst possible way. Shirley Sherrod’s story is actually touching, except for the Marxist sentiments. However, it must be noted that the crowd of NAACP members seems on board with the whole “our kind” message. I expect that to be an overlooked part of this story.
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