Is This Presidential Primary the Last Straw?

Is It Time to License the Media?

            I have a question. What's the difference between what the media is doing during the presidential primaries and what everyone accused Dan Rather of doing when he tried to shoot down Bush's bid for the presidency?

            Never have I seen such blatant, bare-faced bias against a candidate as what I'm seeing against Hillary Clinton. Adding insult to injury, a couple of them acknowledge their astonishing bias, then continue the practice.

          When it comes to a profession's self-evaluation, the media will take the prize for denial and disassociation.

            Did you ever notice that? When the main stream media speaks of "the media", it's always as if it's some other, otherworldly media completely unconnected to them. It adds disorientation to the irritation they provoke.

            Didyou get the impression that they intentionally called out some of their pundits that were from the lower range of the IQ range to help with the primaries?

            In one post-debate "analysis" and I use the term loosely, Hillary had asked a question that Obama didn't address. When asked why she thought Hillary had asked it, one pundit gushed,

            "Oh, that's just Hillary, trying to be the smartest kid in the class!"

           Since when did asking an intelligent question indicate that someone was "trying to be" anything? This idiotic answer would actually be surpassed in the same segment when the very same pundit would wrinkle her nose and say that Hillary was "acting like a man". Did I mention that she presented herself as a representative for women?

            Am I the only one tiring of television claiming to offer "expert" opinions, and instead we get two pundits shreiking at each other while the host shakes their head and smiles indulgently? The small amount of information one can actually hear is usually nonsense that is so vague it won't pass for decent gossip, let alone "expert" opinion.

            One talk show hostess, whom I used to have a lot of respect for, declared that no one wants Hillary for a nominee and proceeded to go on to theorize about why Hillary wouldn't quit.

            No, Hillary wasn't my first choice. Not even close. Nonetheless, after considerable research, between the three; Obama, McCain and her -- I concluded she was the one most fit for the job. Having her candidacy whipped out from under my nose by a lot of under-informed media with over-abundant assumptions expressed at an ear-splitting volume made me more than a little resentful.

            Having two states worth of votes being gambled about like the primaries were some sort of political shell game was even more infuriating.

            Add to that the astonishing concept of "super-delegates" where hand-selected reps get to shift the electoral votes in any way they see fit, including voting against what the people had voted for and the whole primary process was sickening. Admittedly, it didn't make me ill until I saw that the nation was going to let it slide.

            Where were all of our consitutional lawyers when the people's right to vote was getting yanked out from under their noses?

            It's not like no one objected. It's just that their objections were smothered by the media.

            Public polls, should you give them any credence, (I don't give them as much as some do) indicate that well over half of the voters want Hillary to stay in it to the end. So why was the media so insistent upon Hillary quitting?

            The media liked Obama. So? Does this change their job descriptions? What would make them so arrogant as to assume that they are qualified to judge which of these two people would make the better president? I haven't seen much evidence that indicates that they did any research on the candidates.

            What was their gig? I guess we'll  never know. I will confess to a secret desire to shoot Major Garrett up with truth serum and interrogate him about what the Clintons did to make him such a warrior against Hillary. Maybe just a little waterboarding…

            Some reporters, I'll never see the same again. I don't trust them anymore. Of course, I hadn't really truly trusted them for a long time, so perhaps that's irrelevant.

            How is it that the entire democratic process may have been undermined in the ways I mentioned above, yet they don't see that as newsworthy?

            History is being made. The first woman and the first black man are serious candidates for the presidency and somehow they feel qualified and justified in choosing a favorite and pushing it as if it were no more than some horse race?

            The leader of the free world, with the power of the big red button and they aren't even hinting at issues or positions? In fact, whenever I saw a candidate trying to convey a position, the media would cut them off to badger them about the latest statement they were trying to fan into an insulting flame.

            I listened to, more watched actually because the sound was dubbed out—Bill Clinton as he scolded the press for it's behavior. Not surprisingly, every film of him doing so would be edited until he sounded unhinged.

            It was impossible to get full text copies of what President Clinton actually said, but of what I was lucky enough to catch, it sounded like the President was right on the money. The point here is that even one of our most popular presidents was tossed out like so much garbage when it interfered with what the media and pundits wanted.

           Did they educate you about the candidates? Really? Quick, tell me the differences between Hillary's plans for education and Obama's. Okay, how did John McCain vote when he had a chance to vote for a bill written to prevent predatory lending? You see, you haven't been armed with the information you need – You were just being led in a cheer.

            The press, at one time, was an important tool of the American public. They were watchdogs for us, sounding alerts and informing us about that could be important to us. The local hardboiled reporter could pretty much go any where he wished.

            Around the time that the "National Enquirer" started making profits in the millions, the newspaper industry declared that it too, would start trying to turn a better profit.

            Many of us thought that was a bad turn of events. We were right. In their constant search for "hot" stories, they have run over that which was critical to us all. I've seen better fact checking and research in the papers of fourth graders. One of them comes up with a "fact" from God-knows-where, and all the rest of them echo it mercilessly.

            We cannot blame their stupidity. Most of them are not stupid at all. Okay, some of the used-car-salesmen-turned-strategist  aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, but the reporters, anchors and hosts aren't stupid. 

            Stupidity is not the problem here. Money is. News shows with hot headlines get better ratings. Ratings equals sponsors. Sponsors equal money. See? These people have standards, they just have nothing to do with what's best for America and Americans.

            The media is a crucial element in the way we get along in our daily life. It helps us make those important decisions that any democracy depends on. This is something we need to get a handle on just in case we are able to wrest our important decisions back from the judiciary.

          Look at how the media treated the war on terror. No matter how you feel about the war, do you think that the constant criticism of it was good for the effort? Do you think they are qualified to override the decisions made by our leaders? Or do you think that their job was to give us the facts and let us figure it out for ourselves?

            The media's focus on Abu-Ghraib helped Al Queda recruit. It also inspired beheadings and other atrocities. This is from the horses mouth-from captured Al Queda. The administration may be okay about not pointing this out, but I'm not.

            How often have you heard a news report that made you wonder if the media was specializing in giving the terrorist informants in this country as much information as possible?

            Their (and many of our so-called leaders) obsession with our civil rights that lead to ham-stringing our intelligence agencies isn't much short of treason. Wouldn't it make more sense to pass a law preventing the agencies from collecting/using information for anything other than terrorism or to have laws permitting special surveillance expire when the war on terror does? 

            They not only don't want calls from foreign countries routed through here checked out, but they don't want any American, born here or not, spied on. Have we all forgotten little Johnny Taliban? No country is without it's traitors. I'd just as soon be protected from these malcontents.

            Are you convinced that every American has our nation's best interest at heart? Well, if you're not that naïve and I'm not that naïve, why do our reporters and some of our politicians seem to be?

            The color of the carpet is not important when someone is breaking down the front door.

             I wonder if it ever occurs to our press that if we were invaded, they would be amongst the first ones shot?

            I think interfering with national security, getting innocent citizens and soldiers killed and influencing presidential elections makes all those with microphone, camera and computer that are what we call "mainstream media" candidates for licensing and the enactment of a system of penalties that could cause them to lose that license.

            Free speech is where it's at – But the right to free speech comes with the a need to use it responsibly. These people, time and time again, have proven themselves too irresponsible to use it wisely.  

            I vote that we do something about them. Those that are good and use good practices shouldn't worry. The laws will be geared towards things like reporting unverified information that causes harm to others…endangering national security and that sort of thing.

            A limited number of licenses might make it easier for the responsible ones to actually do their jobs.

            You only get what you settle for.

         Power to the People,

        The Political Stray

A Note to the Media

         You may assume by my writing that I am upset with you. I deny that.

            I am furious with you.

           Is it because I hate you and your profession? No. It's just the opposite. Having once considered the field, I studied it carefully and that led to a tremendous respect for it.

            It's noble beginnings and it's vital role in our nation's history was among the most inspiring tales I'd ever read. The very principle of a free press is as exciting and important as any battle with the British.

            I'll even admit to having a soft spot for the gutsy, sharp, personable people that are today's reporters. After all this time, you're like family to the people of this country.

            And that is the very reason I flip out when I see you chasing butterflies while the house is on fire.

            Today's technology allows for better connectedness than ever and this era could lift your profession to new heights. Your  importance to us as a people could be larger and more vital than ever before, yet you continue to allow your profession -- with it's proud beginnings and once high-minded standards -- slide right into the mud.

          Will I ever let up on you? No more than a mother would ignore her child that flings it's food across the room. Particularly if the bowl keeps hitting people.

         Does it worry me to make enemies of "people that use ink by the barrel"?  No. Not as much as it worries me to not see you living up to what you need to be and what America needs you to be.

        Real friends ignore your tantrums and tell you the truth while pointing at the place you should be. Think about it and find your way back to us.

Sincerely, but still with irritation,

The Political Stray