Unreliable Sources

Written : Aug. 3, 2010

Howard Kurtz, the host of Reliable Sources on CNN, is one of the most open-minded TV talk show hosts in the mainstream media. What amazes me is that he will bring up liberal AND conservative talking points for his guests to discuss, but he rarely has more than one verifiable conservative on his show at a time. His August 1, 2010 episode was no exception. No conservatives could be seen, and four liberal journalists were his invited talking heads this past Sunday.

To be fair, Mr. Kurtz showed a variety of clips to illustrate rudeness in the media. We viewed liberal Chris Matthews, of MSNBC, slamming Fox News for “whipping up white hysteria,” referring to Fox News’ coverage of members of the New Black Panthers illegally intimidating voters at a Pennsylvania polling place. Howard Dean was next, calling Fox News “racist,” inferring they showed the heavily edited tape of Shirley Sherrod to get her fired. Chris Wallace, of Fox News, corrected Mr. Dean by pointing out the Obama administration fired Ms. Sherrod before the clip aired on Fox. Shortly thereafter, Keith Olbermann criticized Fox News’ efforts and right wing views as the “utter and complete perversion of journalism...” A couple of clips of Fox News hosts were also shown where hosts were hollering at each other. You see, Mr. Kurtz is fair!

His guests, David Zurawick, Frank Sesno, Lauren Ashburn, and Chip Reid, however, were not as fair. Mr. Reid, when asked about hyper-partisanship in the media, said his department, CBS News, is an “island of sanity.” He implied that he has to be professional while others do not. Ms. Ashburn agreed with Mr. Reid’s take that mainstream news is upstanding and “paternal”, but told us the media is hurting its ability to be seen as objective – and yet, she conveniently left out the reasoning behind her revelation.

Mr. Kurtz asked Frank Sesno, a former CNN News reporter and executive, about the ferocity of media types. Sesno addressed conservatives’ criticisms of liberals, but not the other side of the coin. He said, “It goes to whether you’re a patriot or not.” The key to understanding how the mainstream media sees itself is found within Mr. Sesno’s following statement, “…the Chip Reids and the N.Y. Times…are trying to work…by some set of…traditional rules and the Breitbarts and the Becks and the others who live by no [journalistic] rules that we would recognize.” What he failed to mention is the elite media ignores news stories and events that don’t fit their liberal agenda. They don’t invite a balance of far-right wingers or even true conservatives on to level the playing field of their left-wing tilt. This is the secret that exposes Fox News’ success. Ignoring the liberal point of view is not the key. Instead, they regularly invite real liberals, even far-left wingers (such as Michael Moore) on their shows to enhance debate. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!

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Scrap It

Written : Dec. 15, 2009

A couple of hours ago CNN reported the current health care reform bill may be passed without a “public option”. Their web site quoted former Governor Howard Dean’s complaint in an interview with VPR (Vermont Public Radio), "…the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House."

Governor Dean (D-VT) is correct. What’s required is to dump the current bill and rewrite it because only Democrats were involved in drafting it. The Republicans were left out of the original debate and bill-writing process, so how can anyone consider it a bi-partisan bill? Some of my liberal friends refuse to believe Republicans were ignored, but if you listen carefully - and with an open mind - to what Republican Representatives and Senators have all said, they really were.

The right way to consider legislation which lasts and stands the test of time is to invite members of both parties to participate in the process, so a majority will support a bill coming out of the House committee. President Obama even promised a public debate on C-SPAN during his campaign, remember? Do you recall ever hearing about or seeing such an inclusive event? It would have been unprecedented and wonderful, but it never happened. A solid reform bill would have certainly passed by last summer if a valid process were followed in the beginning. A good bill - which we all want by the way - and which takes the best ideas of both sides, still can be.

If the Democrats force this bill through, and it does pass by a slim margin, it will spell a Republican revival in upcoming elections. Hooray for our side, but the country would not have been served. America will be hurt deeply if it passes, and conservatives will be worried. Eventually, when they realize they have been betrayed, the rest of the country will be angered. What I feel we need to learn from this is that when politicians ignore their constituents, everyone loses. The first American revolutionaries had it right when they said, “taxation without representation is tyranny”.

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