Bias [in the media] is a fact of American political life…
On the social issues especially, the media narrative is that Republicans are obsessed. The truth is that at a time when millions of Americans can’t find work, when our Middle East policy is in turmoil, when the future of Mr. Obama’s signature legislative achievement—health care—is in question, every Republican in the running is itching for the opportunity to talk about how he would address these things.
In sharp contrast, it was Mr. Stephanopoulos and Ms. Sawyer who showed themselves consumed with nonexistent initiatives on contraception and what you might say to gay friends who are sitting in your living room. Saturday night on ABC, we saw this bias in its full, condescending form.
Wow. How did I miss this for so many years… might be my favorite coldplay song ever…
So you lost your trust
& you never should have
No you never should have
But don’t break your back if you ever see this
But don’t answer that
In a bullet-prove vest
With the windows all closed
I’ll be doing my best
& I’ll see you soon
In a telescope lens
& when all you want is friends
I’ll see you soon
So they came for you
They come snapping at your heels
They come snapping at your heels
But don’t break your back if you ever heard this
But don’t answer that
Cause in a bullet-prove vest
With the windows all closed
I’ll be doing my best
& I’ll see you soon
In a telescope lens
& when all you want is friends
I’ll see you soon
Chris Matthews describes rural Republicans as “culturally backwards”:
Matthews was arguing on Hardball yesterday that Rep. Anthony Weiner could be forced out of Congress by Blue Dog Democrats who come from rural areas with more social conservatives:
“If he stays, they [Democrats] never get the leadership back. They never get the Speakership back because the people in the rural areas of this country who are Christian conservative culturally – you can say backward if you want – but they don’t like this kind of stuff at all. They’re not part of that 56 percent in Brooklyn and Queens who say, “okay, we can live with this guy.”
Another great example of why I don’t watch the mainstream media.
Whatever else you do today… don’t forget to read James Taranto’s piece on the latest New York Times editorial decisions:
“In my house growing up, The Times substituted for religion,” Jill Abramson told the New York Times yesterday upon being designated the paper’s new executive editor. “If The Times said it, it was the absolute truth.”
This quote prompted blogress Ann Althouse, who is a much nicer person than we are, to contemplation:
Let’s analyze the analogy. A newspaper is like religion, believed in, and taken, unquestioningly, as true. Then what happens when you are in charge of it?
1. You have a deep moral obligation to insure that it is absolutely true, to respect the faith that others put in it and to preserve and grow the community of believers because of your dedication to truth, or…
2. You are embedded in the faith, carrying on the commitment to the idea that it is the truth and impressing that faith that it is the truth on readers, so that they keep looking to you as the mouthpiece of truth and don’t go wandering off looking for some other viewpoints.
I was reading Ricochet today… and came across what might be the most compelling television interview of the year, Andrew Breitbart vs Martin Bashir on MSNBC. This is some brilliant back-and-forth here:
Breitbart was basically ambushed by Bashir… who used the release of Breitbart’s book as a pretext to slam Bretibart as a racist through misrepresentation and association of Breitbart’s previous stories and relationships… refusing to acknowledge the larger context of Breitbart’s original story… and refusing to hear any complete thought without interruption.
Now, I happen to really like Bashir’s style… and think on the whole, he is a good journalist… but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) this interview encapsulates EXACTLY what is wrong with the media… it exemplifies the insidious way which labels of racisim are painted on anyone who threatens the political Left… validating everything Breitbart has been saying in the process.
Breitbart continually asks “what have I not told the truth about?!”… a question which fell on deaf ears… and then is confronted with a despicably racist photograph of Obama in a family of apes… and was then asked to condemn the graphic… as if Breitbart had previously endorsed this characachure… as if he created it himself… as if he needed to beg forgiveness for his racist sins.
He charges right back at Bashir with this:
You are trying to insinuate that I am a racist here which is what MSNBC does to Conservatives every single day. The entire context of this entire conversation is what the NAACP and what the Democratic party has been doing to the Tea Party for the last year. The entire context of this… the subtext of this interview [has been just this].
I may have found another podcast to add to my library. It’s called Ricochet. Here’s a quote; You really need to listen to it for full effect:
“It’s sort of inconceivable… right… you could be sitting on your macbook pro… watching the world cup soccer… and writing an essay for one of our favorite publications… in defense of Sarah Palin… right… I mean… you can’t do all those things on a mac… it’s like everything kind of rejects itself…”
- (17th min) contributor on ricochet podcast.
When you have Tucker Carlson, Jonah Goldberg and Andrew Klavan on the same podcast… it’s kinda hard NOT to listen.
Oddly, there is a great Op-Ed in the New York Times. It’s worth your read… if not for this line alone:
This is what decadence looks like: a frantic coarseness that “bravely” trashes its own values and traditions, and then knuckles under swiftly to totalitarianism and brute force.
