Cast-iron proof of the media template....from the TIME ARCHIVES

AMERICA'S families are in trouble—trouble so deep and pervasive as to threaten the future of our nation," declared a major report to last week's White House Conference on Children. "Can the family survive?...unmarried couples living together call into question the very meaning and structure of the stable family unit as our society has known it."

Hand-wringing over welfare cuts and other ‘community growth’ goodies? No. It was…12/28/70

THE Supreme Court had forbidden it, but they prayed defiantly in a school in Netcong, N.J., reading the morning invocation from the Congressional Record.…[e]verywhere, they flew the colors of assertive patriotism. Their car windows were plastered with American-flag decals, their ideological totems.

THE present system is a scandal, perhaps the fatal flaw in American democracy," declares Los Angeles Fund Raiser Harold Willens. "It's the nastiest thing in all of politics, and it may destroy our whole political system," contends Missouri Judge George W. Lehr. "There's a smell, an odor about it, and unless things change the system cannot survive," insists Larry O'Brien, campaign manager.

The mainstream media grumping about competition in carrying ‘the message’ in the Internet age? No. It was…10/23/72

Not many love affairs have maintained as high a level of passion over decades as the romance between Americans and their huge, gleaming cars. Like all long affairs, it has had its ups and downs, even periods of disenchantment, but it has always held together. More than any other purchased object, more even than other complex machines, the family car historically has been a symbol of status, power and freedom. For many citizens, few other experiences could match the exhilaration of rolling down the highway at 65 m.p.h.

Yet another modern epitaph for the SUV, van or pickup truck? No. It was…12/31/73

Under the solemn oak trees of Camp David, a profoundly troubled man spent much of the weekend walking on quiet paths, looking out over the Catoctin Mountains, and thinking about what to say to a disturbed nation. Observed an aide: "I don't know what he's going to say, or how he is going to say it, soft or hard, pleadingly or abrasively."

The media convinced that George W. Bush is lost at sea over the Iraq war, counter-terrorism and his State of the Union speech? No. It was…8/20/73

Question: "Under what international law do we have a right to attempt to destabilize the constitutionally elected government of another country?" Answer: "l am not going to pass judgment on whether it is permitted or authorized under international law. It is a recognized fact that historically as well as presently, such actions are taken in the best interest of the countries involved."

More attacks on Bush as he attempts to stanch the growth and flow of terrorism? No. It was…9/30/74

A self-regarding piece about justifiable surveillance of terrorists, the Straw Man of 2006 AKA ‘illegal wiretaps’ and a fight over Supreme Court nominees? No. It was…7/8/74

[Congress members’] sojourn among the voters back home during the 29-day holiday recess exposed them to an American public that was angry, suspicious, impatient and sour, and one, moreover, that was sharply divided on how to solve the nation's problems. Energy shortages, exploding prices, dwindling jobs…

Hard to pin this one down. The ‘gloom and doom’ or the ‘natives are getting restless’ piece is a staple of every morning rag and glossy mag, especially those desperate for some kind of Democratic electoral ray of light. But in this case it was…2/4/74

According to the marvelously clever, yet touching script for the new…film version of King Kong, this starkly poetic, spookily enigmatic warning was found—drawn in blood, naturally—on the thwart of an empty lifeboat discovered adrift in the South Pacific in 1749. Next to it, natch, there was a "likeness of some huge slouchy humanoid thing."

Peter Jackson’s amazing creative powers thrilling the cinemagoer again? Alas, no. We’re talking about Dino De Laurentiis’ stinker on…10/25/76

It is a lion of prides, a place apart. It is the last American arena with a special, nurtured identity, its own sometimes unfashionable regard for the soil, for family ties, for the authority of God and country. Despite the influx of outsiders, the South remains a redoubt of old American tenets, enshrined for centuries by the citizenry. Much has been changed by technology…

Ah, another favored chestnut – the Yankee blue stater regarding the Southern red states as quaint, even backwards. Post-Kerry blues for the blues? Nope. It was…9/27/76

The unending flow of disclosures of corporate bribes and illegal political contributions to officials in the U.S. and abroad has spread a darkening stain over the global reputation of American business. Throughout the revelations of the past 18 months, however, there was one minor consolation: reports of rampant payoffs by Exxon, Gulf, Mobil, Northrop, United Brands and other corporate giants

George W. Bush doing the bidding of big oil? Saint McCain and Saint Feingold chasing the snakes away? Nope. It was…2/23/76

Even outside the big cities, there is trouble everywhere Morning at a West Coast high school. The first-period bell rings, barely audible above the classroom din. "O.K., everybody, settle down," says the soft-spoken teacher of the course called Modern Problems. Her two dozen students, grouped around seven tables, pay scant attention. She switches on a video machine by her desk; a neatly categorized outline flashes on the board. Have you already copied this down?" she asks, pointing to the topic headings. A few heads bob yes, several more shake no…

Student angst? Chaos in the classroom? Teachers punting on the whole boring teaching thing and relying on technology and other fluff instead of instruction? The mainstream media get off the hook on this one and we can thank the teachers’ unions. In this case, it was…11/14/77.

I recently visited a link to the TIME magazine archives and curiosity led me to view the cover stories from approximately 30 years ago. If we ever needed (additional) proof that there IS a template and that the mainstream media adhere to it faithfully then these dozen or so stories/excerpts should remove all doubt.

argh - posted in wrong section. Mods remove/move pls.........

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