(Courtesy of Reality Hammer)
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.
Well said!! FR, Jim R. and our fellow Freepers are an amazing community of endless knowledge, courage and fortitude. Good riddance to MSM.
For those out there who are investors, check your investments closely and pull-out of investments in these MSM companies who do NOT represent the truth; and do not represent American values. Money talks.
thanks for the ping. Very well written article. A keeper.
I like your style. And I'm deeply thankful to JimRob, who made this forum possible for all of us frustrated conservatives!
For years now, we've jumped up and down trying to reclaim our rights, and now "they're" all listening....
The ball's in our court. We must take care not to flub it!
(Courtesy of Reality Hammer)
"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."
Incredibly, the statement above gives Rather too much credit. He is actually a megalomaniac in a seething rage against those who dare slap him across the face with his own inadequacies. It's no wonder the phony Marine would lie for the phony Navy war hero. They are both frauds and they hate the truth.
Warmest Regards
Alkhin, which she is simply an observer and a proud member of Free Republic.
Thanks for the ping. This is worth a bookmark.
"Liberals may have attempted to destroy the value of a good reputation by telling kids not to "judge" others and to be "tolerant","
In the name of tolerance, ALL intolerant people should be killed!!
I think the new media should honor exceptional bloggers with an award - the Buckhead - to be lovingly known as the "Bucky".
Well said.
I agree: We have entered a new era in the dissemination of information. I predict historians of the future will look at two events as the most significant: Drudge outing the Lewinski scandal when the MSM refused, and FR (thanks Buckhead!) catching CBS in deliberate fraud.
Meanwhile, back in the present, we have a long ways left to go in this election. CBS clearly had more in mind than a one shot attack on the President, and CBS was not the only player involved. They are holding back on round two until the dust settles, and you can bet they will do a better job with their next set of fake materials. This particular battle is not over.
Thanks, Hey we're famous.
bttt
Unless of course you're an activist judge who couldn't give a rat's a** about what the founders thought, while ruling on whether it's legal to repost news articles for discussion, instead of linking or excerpting them from where they can be pulled or modified.
This is so important at this point. MSM has shown they aren't even a step removed from 1984 anymore... AP and CBS in just the last week and a half have proven where their sentiments lie: squarely with the Democrats, and "who controls the past, controls the future, and who controls the present controls the past."
They've tied one arm behind our backs, and we've still given some of those weasels a haymaker punch to the nose and a standing 8-count.
Thanks for the ping
Don't forget to have your liberal friends google the words "Salman Pak" when they tell you there's no connection between Saddam and 9/11!
Thanks for the ping!
That's enough to make a person proud!
Getting warm. Let me expand on this a little since this is something I was just thinking about this during the daily ride.
In this week's genre breaking soap opera, the story was (and continues to be) the "unnamed sources", which some in the MSM are now reluctantly and lazily pursuing (i.e. ABC, the Washing Post.) But it occurred to me that in most similar media created dramas the story was "the unnamed sources" - how they got what they got, how and why they delivered it to the media, their reasons, motives and the media's reasons and motives. The story bigger than some minor failed burglary and the subsequent clumsy coverup should have been (I mean, at the time and not just afterwards) who is Deep Throat (David Gergen, ya think?) That story wasn't pursued, because the media's interest was simply bringing down the President.
Since Watergate a whole industry of leakers, disgruntled psychos, hustlers representing themselves as "experts", and television pretty face "journalists" has developed to feed the MSM's hunger for political or business (but never media) scandal. The story, my pajama clad friends, is usually, and not only when they decide for us and make a Julia Roberts movie about it, the story is the MSM's "unimpeachable sources"! The story is the man behind the curtain, Dorothy!
Seriously, folks, with power comes problems.
I may get flamed for this, (and no, DFU, this is not aimed at you nor anyone in particular), but we absolutely must retain the fairness, the sense of right and wrong, and the moral and intellectual honesty which the MSM has been lacking.
On rare occasions, that means we will have to go out of attack mode to (grudgingly) give someone we don't like credit--or ignore the story altogether.
If we do not, we will degenerate to just another mob with a different bias.
That said, when we catch 'em we can really give 'em Hell and have a great time doing it.
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