Posted on 09/16/2004 3:59:43 AM PDT by Niks
A Media Watershed Dan Rather and the end of the liberal monopoly
However the flap over CBS and those National Guard "memos" turns out, the past few weeks mark a milestone in U.S. media and politics. Along with the Swift Boat Veterans' ads, the widespread challenge to Dan Rather's reporting--to his credibility--means that the liberal media establishment has ceased to set the U.S. political agenda.
This is potentially a big cultural moment. For decades liberal media elites were able to define current debates by all kicking in the same direction, like the Rockettes. Now and then they can still pull this off, as when they all repeated the same Pentagon-promoted-torture line during the Abu Ghraib uproar. But the last month has widened cracks in that media monopoly that have been developing for some time.
Twenty years ago, those who sought a different point of view had few alternatives beyond The Wall Street Journal's editorial page and small magazines like National Review and The American Spectator. But in 1987 the Reagan Administration abolished the so-called Fairness Doctrine, whose main effect had been to stifle controversy on the airwaves by threatening stations with the obligation to provide equal time. The result was an explosion in political talk radio, led by Rush Limbaugh, who filled an unmet demand for right-leaning commentary.
Then, in 1996, Rupert Murdoch launched Fox News Channel, providing a "fair and balanced" alternative to CNN and the broadcast networks. By 2001 Fox had surpassed its competitors to become the top-rated cable news channel. And in the past few years, the "blogosphere" has allowed a million flowers to bloom. Anyone with a computer can start a Web log and become a pundit, and the smartest and most enterprising have developed loyal followings.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
I remember in the early 1980s having to seek an alternative view to all the Liberal cant in National Review, Commentary, The American Spectator, and a few other publications. I looked forward to seeing our side compete in the arena of ideas. But I never thought we'd see the day when the MSM would self-destruct though the way they have now out of obvious contempt for the president. Not only do they have the wrong ideas, they have the wrong candidate and their media leaders are passe - tired old men who think faking the news is fine as long as it is that old Left wing religion.
And to buttress the authenticity of its stupendous malfeasance of journalism, CBS trots out a woman who knew President Bush when he was in his 20's and she was menopausal.
Not only are the documents forged, but the important points made in them are clear fabrications. Specifically, the two important points, harped on endlessly by CBS and the other liberal media, are:
1. Bush disobeyed a direct order of his commanding officer. The memo states that Bush is ordered to appear for a physical on May 15. Bush did not do so, and the media concludes that Bush disobeyed the order, and so was insubordinate. There is only one problem: It did not happen. Other pilots point out that pilots were not ordered to appear for a physical. The deadline for the physical was established by Air Force rules, and was the pilot's birthday. The pilot was required by rule to appear for a physical every year on or before his birthday. Bush's birthday was July 6, so it would not have been appropriate to order him to appear for a physical on May 15. Of course, Bush never appeared for a July 6 physical either, but that's because he had already transferred out of the Texas Air National Guard by that time. The obvious conclusion is that the part of the memo which orders Bush to appear for a physical is a fabrication.
2. Bush's commanding officer was asked to sugar coat Bush's record and give him a rating even though Bush was absent. In the memos, Killian expresses consternation that he is being asked to rate Bush even though Bush was absent. The implication which is drawn by the media is that Bush's performance was substandard. The implication drawn by the Democrats is that Bush was AWOL. However, that aspect of the memos is also a clear fabrication. The reaons is that Killian had no reason to be consternated by Bush's absence because Killian himself had already signed an order (which is clearly authentic, and looks completely different from the forged orders), which authorized Bush to transfer out of the Texas Air National Guard to the Alabama National Guard. So why would he now be upset that Bush was not there? It makes no sense, and was obviously a fabrication by the forger.
Dan Rather's insistence that the orders may be fake but the information is trues is itself obviously a lie. This whole episode really is worse than Watergate. It's like Watergate with a complicit media. In Watergate, most of the people went to jail because they lied to investigators or to Congress. As in Watergate, I think we need an investigation by the DOJ and by Congress, though I would suggest that we wait until after the election to get it going in earnest. No sense in risking a liberal backlash at this point in time.
Very good points.
There is a cancer growing on the CBS network.
I remember '92 when Clinton could do no wrong (Gennifer Flowers, White Water) and Bush 41 could do no right.
Agenda setting has changed and that is a very good thing.
Dan Rather and CBS now look pathetic.
What a word picture! And then there was Rush and then there was Fox and then and then and then. Now we are enjoying a new era.
Someone has buttered the floor under those Rockettes, ha ha!
One wonders what journalistic standards the future holds. Will we have a tabloid news broadcast -- CBS?
CBS: The National Enquirer of the Broadcast News?
The scariest thing is that a goodly percentage of the people don't seem to care if their news is true anymore as long as it's partisan.
LOL - I was listening to some Christian teaching tapes made during the Gulf War recently. The speaker was BLASTING cnn for their bias way back then!
We already have multiple tabloid news broadcasts, punctuated with political advocacy for the RAT du jour.
Thanks,
Jake
Now he's in a jam. Also the fact that sites like this have taken him down has him boiling mad. He can't discredit us because his buddies in the MSM have been forced to pick up the story and pursue it. Then they began to "peel back the onion". The only problem is that they know Dan didn't do his job and check his story. They know he ignored contradicting statements by Killian's son and wife. They know he really didn't try to truly check the documents authenticity by "qualified" and numerous experts to confirm.
Here's the big problem: They know he did it for ideological reasons and they won't call him to task because the MSM would then admit there is liberal bias that affects what is reported as fact. MSM--Game over.
MORE:
Thanks to these developments, the blue-state media elites no longer control America's political debate. Just in the past year, California voters elected Arnold Schwarzenegger despite election-eve groping charges trumpeted in the Los Angeles Times. A public outcry prompted CBS to cancel a mendacious miniseries about Ronald and Nancy Reagan. And the mainstream media were dragged kicking and screaming into covering the Swift Boat Veterans' accusations against John Kerry. Even in South Dakota, bloggers and the Web have challenged the dominance that Tom Daschle's pals at the Argus Leader have long had on that state's political dialogue.
The current CBS "60 Minutes" imbroglio splendidly illustrates how the old political and media order has eroded. Democrats nominated Mr. Kerry in part because they thought his status as a Vietnam War hero would make him a formidable challenger -- an assumption the liberal media echoed.
When that proved a miscalculation, Democrats talked about reviving the story about the President's National Guard service. Mr. Rather, a longtime Bush family antagonist and scourge of the political right, then broadcast the alleged memos from Mr. Bush's former commanding officer, and at least some of the old Rockettes (such as the Boston Globe) kicked in unison. Democrats released their own video on the subject, "Fortunate Son," not too long thereafter.
But, but, but Carl Bernstein, speaking on Hannity and Combes last night, said that it wasn't like Watergate at all.
Who can I believe him or my lyin eyes?
The delicious irony is that if CBS had given the memos 1/10th the scrutiny they gave the Swifties, they wouldn't be trying to squirm their way out of this mess.
It wasn't like Watergate. It's worse because of the media complicity.
Old Media Memogate INTSUM
....Here's the big problem: They know he did it for ideological reasons......
Great analysis.
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.