Observations

Out of Touch with Reality

My contempt for the American media is no secret; abdication of its primary responsibility for objectivity in favor of cheap advocacy for a political agenda is among the most despicable of acts in recent history.

The following excerpts from a piece by Marvin Olasky illustrate the immoderate core of ideologically based reporting and commentary daily offered up by today’s “journalists.” Commentary, of course, is where one expresses his or her opinion, so however radical the opinion may be, expressing it is okay. However, the tone of these comments reflects not only a decided bias, but more than that a deep frustration that their radical views are rejected by most Americans. Enlightened and moderate criticism has flown away, replaced by vituperative rhetoric born of desperation:

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann said on Sept. 11, at the site of the World Trade Center, "Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you." On Oct. 18 he announced that the Bush administration is "more dangerous to our liberty than is the enemy it claims to protect us from."

Somehow, the prospect that Keith Olbermann really hopes for forgiveness for Mr. Bush seems less than genuine. Thankfully, Mr. Olbermann qualifies only for MSMBC where nobody sees him.

Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, declaring on April 7 that "There's nothing this administration won't do under the guise of battling terrorism," called for Americans to "stop Bush's imperial expansion of power." But Clift on July 15 said Russia's Vladimir Putin has "a commanding popularity among his own people, because he is perceived to be an effective dictator. What we have in this country is a dictator who's ineffective."

Perhaps Mzz Clift should go live in Iran under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or under Kim Jong Il in North Korea, or to Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, for a few years to see just what a dictatorship is all about. On the other hand, maybe we should keep her here in the U.S. as an example of how not to behave.

Los Angeles Times columnist Joel Stein wrote on Jan. 24, "I don't support our troops. When you volunteer for the U.S. military you're willingly signing up to be a fighting tool of American imperialism."

At least Mr. Stein is honest enough to admit that he does not support our troops. Most of his fellow travelers on the Left Wing profess support for the troops, all the while working to under mine them. Mr. Stein should be sentenced to take a political science course to become acquainted with what imperialism really is.

CNN's Jack Cafferty on May 11 said that Senate Judiciary Committee head Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who had criticized the Bush administration, "might be all that's standing between us and a full-blown dictatorship in this country."

The absurdity of that statement is self-evident. When Jack Cafferty first appeared on CNN, I had the distinct impression that in choosing an unknown old-timer the network must have reasoned thusly: “Even though ol’ Jack hasn’t wowed anyone with his performance, he’s been hacking around a long time. Let’s let him have that slot.”

All of these lesser lights have one thing in common, which is that we know them far less for their excellent journalistic skills than for their sharp tongues. Congratulations, lady and gentlemen, you have made a name for yourself; you have arrived and can now stand beside such luminaries as Michael Moore, Howard Dean, Al Sharpton and Cindy Sheehan.