Posted on 09/17/2004 4:27:35 AM PDT by TaxRelief
The conservative web group, FReerepublic.com, in its quest for "truth in media", may have accidentally stumbled across the means for unseating the leftists' obsession with "tolerance".
For over a year now, Freerepublic.com bloggers (Freepers) have been publically challenging the "factual information" disseminated in news stories published by the main stream media (MSM). The website's members have picked apart undocumented statistics; they've delved into the partisan semantics of questions on political polls; they've "FReeped" online polls to prove the uselessness of easily manipulated data; they've exposed sub-groups of radical activist organizations like "PETA", which pose as research "think tanks" and "responsible physicians"; they've bombarded news stations with phone calls and emails when the reporting is blatantly one-sided or even false; and finally, as this summer draws to a close, they have begun to publically object to lazy and biased newscasting.
As the analytical members of the conservative website FReerepublic.com have relentlessly challenged the credibility of the MSM, they have also simultaneously proven a theory that our forefathers discussed as they authored the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution; the Freedom of the Press has to be absolute, not just because truth is critical for sustaining a democracy in an otherwise Socialist world, but because truth itself cannot be ordered or legislated; it is the process of discourse, debate and disagreement that leads to true enlightenment.
However, as history has shown numerous times in the past, when "enlightenment" rears it's shining head, "darkness" goes on the defensive. Clearly, the crowd that seeks the truth is in direct conflict with those that "believe" truth is subjective and personal.
In the early seventies, a movement that focused on "prejudice" and "intolerance"--catch words intended to stop random and cruel discrimination against people with different colored skins--ballooned into a social behavior fad that temporarily pushed aside conservative etiquette. As a result, an entire generation of young people has now been raised believing that the concept of "maintaining a good reputation" is a selfish ploy perpetuated by adults who seek to control the scope of their teenagers' sexual activity, that everyone has the right to choose his own moral framework, and that questioning another's reputation is the equivalent of discrimination based on ethnicity.
In the process of subverting social norms, the simple concepts of credibility, honesty and reputation were thrown out with the bath water. A few folks saw what was happening along the way; many had to go through their own life experiences to become aware of the problem, and some have only just figured it out. Regardless of what brought them to this point, conservatives are coming out of the closet in droves, and it seems they are not willing to just "sit back and take it" anymore.
This past week "FReepers" crossed a critical threshold in their war on liberalism. By exposing, Dan Rather, a long-time icon of the MSM, as a man who is, at best lazy and partisan, or at worst dishonest and partisan, they actually were successful in preventing a paparazzi attack on the White House.
The rumbling volcano finally erupted when Dan Rather of CBS news--apparently oblivious to the "New Media"--happily presented some weak, insupportable "evidence" that a sitting president had attempted to shirk his duty as an American by either (a) serving in the National Guard rather than the regular army, or (b) missing 3 months of his 6 years service in the National Guard.
Rather's "evidence" consisted of "testimony" from partisan hacks and misquoted experts, and copies of memos "signed by" a man who died years ago (thereby unseating the commonly accepted theory that "dead men can't tell tales").
A FReeper, "Buckhead", immediately challenged the authenticity of the memos. Within hours, CBS's self-satisfied smiles were wiped off their faces, by the analytical branch of the "New Media".
This may well have been an historical moment; the MSM had probably never been diverted from its modus operandi of accuse-and-attack so successfully in the past. The MSM understandably was stunned to discover that the "seekers of truth" had reached a critical-enough mass to subvert "Plan A", the accuse-and-attack mission plan that had withstood the test of time; and to squash "Plan B": blame "intolerance" for anything that goes wrong. For forty years, the MSM had misused the concept of "tolerance" to cover-up its inadequacy, its laziness and the many, many errors made in haste, all because of a desire to get credit for "breaking the story".
Unfortunately for the MSM--but fortunately for America--FReepers and other rightwing bloggers are calling for a New Era of Credibility. Rightwingers are relying on the age-old premise that each individual is only as good as his honor and his ability to seekout and relay the truth (rather than the leftist theory that each man is only as good as his college degree--whether earned or gifted). The conservative bloggers harken back to the biblically-sound theory that a reputation once damaged is rarely ever recovered.
There may be no greater service that FReerepublic.com can do for the American people than to continue their mission to expose the MSM's poor journalistic practices (like quoting and enshrining of "unnamed sources"; the use of un-authenticated documents; the poor selection of interviewees; personal relationships between editors and partisan hacks; the backroom cover-up games and the rampant plagiarism of blogs and other reporter's articles). Perhaps they will even bring about the demise of the monopolistic mainstream media altogether.
Liberals may have attempted to destroy the value of a good reputation by telling kids not to "judge" others and to be "tolerant", but those same leftists did not eradicate the quest for truth well enough to prevent a powerful force from re-emerging and continuing on with the mission to conquer social misbehavior.
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I thanked Misty for the ping before I didn't thank Misty.
I'm John Kerry and I approve this message.
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Great piece. You not only captured where we have been, but charted a course for the future. It will be interesting to see what develops.
bttt
Here's a comparison piece that talks about DU! They think they know what's up. This article was posted 2 hours ago (found via Google news). Way after the truth was posted here at FR. LOL!
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091804X.shtml
"Author's note: The manner in which this story came to light is a lesson in modern journalism. The mainstream fellows simply reported the Parlock perspective, but it was an intrepid band of online newshounds - bloggers Rising Hegemon and Atrios, who picked up on the work of one Rezmutt, member of the forums at DemocraticUnderground.com - who pieced together the strange coincidences surrounding these Parlock incidents. Once upon a time, stories like this would get missed. The internet has created a whole new phenomenon. If the mainstream media wants to avoid being embarrassed, they might want to think about paying attention to this brave new world of investigative journalism."
:)
Exactly! I hate when they talk over the top of someone else in order to tell you what is being said! Well, duhhhhh!
Awesome! This has been a good one to make the body feel a bit better! :)
I hate to boast, but I feel like taking my Bush/Cheney signs and sitting on a bus bench somewhere!!! :P) And I can park my car with the SwiftBoatVetsForTruth sticker around the corner! :)
The one thing that bothered me about this article is all the "conservative" "right wing" references about Freeperland. Freeperland is far more diverse than that. I wonder how many out there would more closely term themselves Libertarian.
As long as we are all fighting for truth, freedom, against the socialist indocrination machine and the leftist biased MSM then we are all, in a sense, on the same side.
Thank you for pinging me to that article! The FrontPage definitely comes up with some good stuff.
Heck yeah! That's right! Great article.
I LOVE your new tagline!
Well worth the bookmark. :)
Caped Pjs! Someone needs to open the FReeper Store!
Never fear! Terayza would rather you have water than clothes!
I don't remember who it was on Fox or MSNBC today who said that the Democrat Party is not the party it use to be and the truer debate between Americans is between the Republicans and the Liberatarians. The Democrat Party is the Socialist fringe anymore. I honestly hope they implode and people realize where they have taken the debate in America!
ping
Wow! Thanks for the pinging and thanks for the (very humbling) feedback and compliments.
We just got back from a "townhall meeting" with President Bush. Even he could not resist getting a little dig in at Dan Rather. With a slight smile on his face, he said that the changing economy makes it necessary for some of us to move on to new technologies, as we did when we went from "typewriters to word processors..."
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