Posted on 08/14/2004 12:15:49 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
The genie is out of the bottle. The best efforts of the mainstream media to blockade the story of Kerry’s lies about Cambodia, and the charges by the vast majority of men who served with him in the Swift Boat operations, have failed. Glenn Reynolds prints a telling letter from a reader who requests anonymity. Read the entire entry, but here are the key sentences:
...last night I was talking to a friend who is a hardcore liberal Democrat and is, in fact, a first cousin of a very well-known Democratic Senator. He was very upset about the Kerry-Swift Vet-Cambodia controversy. He blamed Kerry for the whole thing, saying he had set himself up for this problem by making Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign. Two things struck me about this. First, this is a guy who gets all of his news from the biggies - the NYT, NPR, and CNN - and yet he knew all about the story. That means the Big Media filter isn't preventing the story from reaching people. Second, he had concluded that Kerry deserves the criticism and is lacking in credibility. This is a guy who, if there were any yes-but talking points in defense of Kerry, surely would have stuck to them. This says to me that if Big Media is in the tank for Kerry, they may actually have hurt him by not covering this story. They've abdicated coverage of a story that is negative to Kerry to the Blogosphere, thus resulting in more damage to their favored candidate than if they'd reported on the story, but with an eye toward knocking it down. They can pretend the story isn't there, but they can't make blogs go away.
Glenn adds:
...they're damaging themselves as more and more people notice that they're ignoring it.Just so. Credibility, once lost, is difficult to re-establish. Ask Bill Clinton.
In April, I used the metaphor of a driver stuck in snow, who presses the accelerator, and finds the spinning wheels only melting more snow, making traction all the more difficult. The current efforts of the press to define Kerry’s lies as a non-event are destroying their own traction. The media eruption over far less serious charges about Bush’s National Guard service is too fresh in the recesses of most peoples’ minds. And, of course, Bush didn’t choose to run for re-election on the basis of his honorable, even brave service as a jet jockey, a highly dangerous occupation.
But it is summer now. So let me switch metaphors. The establishment press is facing its Gottedamerung – the twilight of the gods. For decades, god-like figures handed down their version of the truth from corporate Valhallas like the New York Times and CBS News. The public credulously accepted their writ on what is important and what is not important.
But god-like pretensions are dangerous, indeed, often fatal. Especially when combined with mono-maniacal convictions on the need for their point of view to prevail. Post-modernity, a concept beloved of the bien pensants, cuts two ways. The public is skeptical of anyone who pretends to be an authoritative gatekeeper of knowledge. Kerry, who has never cut much of a figure as a genuine, warm, empathetic human being, is an ideal target for citizen skepticism.
The establishment press is coming across as every bit as pompous and conniving as the man who married two centi-millionaire heiresses.
They are, in fact, destroying themselves. Their industry is in serious trouble. Circulation scandals have hit major newspaper publishers, while the scandal-free press can take little comfort in their declining readership. Network TV news is a shadow of its former self, and its future is very limited. CNN’s monopoly is shattered, and it boasts a poor fraction of the viewership of Fox News, the only cable news outlet fully covering Kerrygate with the same seriousness accorded Bush’s National Guard service questions.
The blogosphere is the camel whose nose, and now a good part of its neck, is under the tent. Leadership in coverage of the self-destruction of the Kerry Campaign is in the hands of Instapundit, Hugh Hewitt (guru to many of us), Powerline, Captain’s Quarters, Just One Minute, and many other bloggers.
Nobody had ever heard of Bob Woodward until Watergate. Afterward, he became a powerful brand name, and his and Bernstein's work inspired generations of new journalists. The same phenomenon is taking place today, and journalism will never be the same again. The big difference is that this time around, there is a technological revolution compounding the destructive force operating on the old media. Hurricane Charley has nothing on the winds of change now blowing away the old media practices and economics.
Future historians are going to find this election deeply significant for not just War on Terror policy reasons. This is a transformative election for the structure of political information.
"now realize"
What do you mean .. NOW ..?? I think they already knew it .. they just ignored it.
What an incisive,thought-provoking commentary.
I commend you!
An excellent idea. With ideas like this, we can become a part of the "advertising media for SBVT".
One could make the sign so that it could be laid down when parked, if one feared "keying". (But this may be becoming less and less likely.)
On the contrary. A very good post.
Welcome to FR.
"I think if the story told by O'Neil and the Swiftvets were somehow conclusively proven to be true in a way that not even Terry McAuliffe could dispute, then Chris Matthews' head would explode."
I think the book is already out with commentary from Kerry's ENTIRE chain of command, including Admirals and Captains (the Naval equivalent of a full bird Colonel) and from eyewitnesses on nearby boats. If that's not proof positive, what is?
Nonetheless, the left will continue to ridicule the entire story and discount the possibility that it could possibly be true, just like they did with all the stories about Klintoon and Hitlery.
"Who is going to force him to quit, certainly not Republicans. And if it wasn't for the recent history of the Democratic party to do whatever it takes to win, I would not consider it possible either, but I don't rule anything out when it comes to the Democrats."
Well, for one thing, it's never happened. If you would like to see what "whatever it takes to win" really means, you should take a look at what elections were like in the early 19th century. Brutal. Very Brutal.
Let's play this scenario out anyways. For the sake of argument; let's assume that Kerry and Edwards both resign, and quit the campaign.
There is no legal mechanism to replace them on the states ballots. In some states, there is no legal mechanism to even remove them from the ballots. If somebody were to "force them to quit" the dems would have to rely on write-ins for the presidential race (and I'm assuming that write-ins are legal in all 50 states; I don't believe that they are).
It would be a total disaster. Democrats would stay home, and not bother to vote. It would be a Republican landslide in federal, state, and local elections.
As I've said before; many, many times before, it'll never happen. Would I like it to happen? Of course! I'm not stupid! Unfortunately, neither are they.
Whoa, are you wrong!!! There's a virtual stampede away from Kerry in Iowa, where I live. Never thought I'd see the day, but this Kerry Lied about Vietnam thing is ALL folks are talking about... if they don't know how to use a computer or go on the Internet, they ask someone who does so they can find out the REAL news about Kerry. HA!!! The mainstream media is losing ground as fast as Kerry... it's like folks are suddenly waking up in my state. And trying to get as much info as possible from those who are 'online' and reading it. Why? Because the newspapers are not reporting it. And what they do report (smearing the Swiftees, and such) is making folks even more curious about what Kerry has lied about. KERRY SMELLS, the mainstream media SMELLS, and people in my state SMELL IT!!
Actually .. according to the networks ratings share .. it's less than 40%
A guy at the Barnes and Noble in South Coast Plaza told me they wouldn't have Unfit for Command until September. Pathetic. Plus, the first book I see upon entering the store is Bill Clinton's My Life. They had a wall of eight of them.
He actually asked me not to delve into the specifics of his opinion (publicly, beyond what I have already stated), as he has never met the man (kerry), and ethics tug at his apprehensions.
I think if you watch kerry’s actions, lies, and reactions to those lies being exposed, and do some basic research of certain psychological disorders, you will find a few reasons to suspect some of the inherent mental instabilities in the Senator. Evidence for this opinion reaches far back into the past.
BTW, the most important thing is that "he" is not going to vote for kerry, based on "his" opinion.
LLS
So was I. A person would have to have the IQ of a turnip not to notice that things were not what those sources try to make them appear.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1191883/posts
Another leak in the dam.
"So was I. A person would have to have the IQ of a turnip not to notice that things were not what those sources try to make them appear."
- Even a voter with the IQ of Albert Einstein would not notice the truth about Kerry's Excellent Cambodian Adventure when it is not reported to him by the MSM.
Sure, the people who only get their news from these sources are not going grasp the details, and while it would be good if they would better educate themselves, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that they realize that Kerry is not to be trusted and not deserving of their votes. At this point, I don't much care what factor pushes them over the edge. They can sort it out for themselves. What I do care about is that they realize on some level that he is unfit for command and that they vote accordingly.
"When the word from high in Chappaqua comes down, the dam will bust on Cabana Boy."
That is why I a feel confident that Kerry will lose, no matter what happens. The Clinton's cannot afford to let him win because the She Clinton must run in 2008. They will make sure enough dirt comes out on Kerry to make him lose.
Exactly. My guess is that X42 and the Witch are waiting till after the GOP convention and Labor Day to unleash the hounds. Not enough people are paying attention right now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
