I'ts just that simple, Larry.
Posted on 05/08/2006 7:25:00 AM PDT by Dark Skies
Remember when US Presidents could change the direction of the nation by using what pundits called the “Bully Pulpit”? A President could use whatever communication facilities he had available to reach out to the entire nation. His speeches could be heard over every radio station, headlined in every newspaper, and, after television came along, over all the TV networks. The networks always arranged to have the President’s speech heard simultaneously at the same hour in prime time. Thus, the nation took seriously what their national leader had to say and most would act on it, whether major corporations, small businesses or just groups of citizens gathered together to hear what they needed to do to help or protect their nation.
Many pundits still say that the “Bully Pulpit” should be used by President Bush and they criticize him for not doing this. But ---wait a minute ---what has happened to this pulpit? Does it really exist any more?
I think that it is almost broken beyond repair. Can any American President really use it ever again? I don’t think so. Why?
To use this great ability, whether for energy, security, or anything that is important to this nation’s people, a President must be able to reach all Americans at the same time through the media. Also the people must want to regard any message to them, from any American President, seriously enough to want to listen to it or read about it. We should put aside everything to hear that which might affect the very core of our existence. What our nation’s leader says can affect our very lives and safety.
This “Bully Pulpit” used to work, but doesn’t now for two reasons:
1. The TV media no longer will carry a Presidential speech in prime time unless it is a planned State of the Union address. There has been a weakening of the presidency by media, Congress and, perhaps, the lowering of educational standards
2. We, as a people, have been trained over the past few decades to not honor or respect any authority figure. Thus, we are losing our ability to coalesce. We have become a fissiparous nation.
Delving into these two problems:
The media has weakened the presidency by categorizing everything said as mere political statements. It furthers this weakening process by always seeking out someone from the opposition party to teach us why everything uttered by the President is not true and might well be detrimental to the future of this country.
This so-called “balance” used to be granted only for candidates during elections; now it is wrongly used to counteract actual leadership. In newscasts, reporters no longer tell us only what a president actually said; instead, they tell us what they think a president meant by what he said! No wonder the fissure in the old Bully Pulpit has been widening over the years. The new Bully Pulpit is owned and governed by the media, not a President.
Then, look at what has happened to our American culture as the standards of behavior and education have been constantly lowered.
The friendly and protective policeman on the beat or at the corner no longer exists. For his own safety, he (or she) almost always must be in a patrol car with a partner. Teachers complain now about receiving very little respect from most students. Discipline is the main problem. Few students really listen to their teachers in order to absorb some educational principles. Test scores show that too many have not learned history, civics, geography, English grammar, and math. Going out into the business world is hard for many because there is no knowledge of business ethics or how to succeed in life. Students, though, have learned much about sex, driving a car, and socialistic principles. Pastors of many main-line churches preach to fewer people, mostly gray-haired. Some clergy members report that some of those attending are there only as an expected duty rather than to take home any facts that can be utilized for the betterment of mankind.
No wonder the nation is divided in half. Our famous America’s melting pot has grown cold, old and is solidifying rapidly. Balkanization is occurring. True patriotism is lacking in many as enemy nations and al Qaeda take advantage of this and use our media to dilute our resolve to win any war.
Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi (who died in 1948) had taught that the seven blunders of the world were: “politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; commerce without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice.”
Might we add to this a U.S. Presidency without a “Bully Pulpit”?
About the Writer: Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and a former vice president of both CBS and Gannett. He resides in Indio, California, where he writes op-eds that appear in several local newspapers.
Ross Perot was annoying.
An absentee president has no "bully pulpit."
So when Bush stood up after 9-11, he was standing on the bully pulpit, and the nation listened. But when he stands at the podium and repeats ad naseum about work Americans won't do, in order to promote a pseudo-amnesty that most Americans do not want, at that he's just another politician and the pulpit will not amplify his voice.
By itself it's a tool that still exists. You have to know how to use the Bully pulpit.
"1. The TV media no longer will carry a Presidential speech in prime time unless it is a planned State of the Union address. There has been a weakening of the presidency by media, Congress and, perhaps, the lowering of educational standards"
Bears repeating. Especially for a GOP president. But they give unlimited airtime to lib-dem presidents, particularly if they go on TV, wagging their soiled finger and lying to us.
He makes a good point. Rather than just reporting on what the President actually said, Peter Gregory and those of his ilk will deliver their interpretions of the political motives behind what the President actually said.
I think Al Gore broke it.
His unbridled anger and lunacy really cheapened the office of the presidency, and he didn't even hold the title of POTUS. The fact that he'd been VP for 8 years and came within inches of the Oval Office was enough to cause damage. And that was only the beginning.
The Bully Pulpit is still there and fully functional. It works differently now with the new media, but it is there. The problem we have now is a president who is either incapable and/or unwilling to use it.
They did that all the time to Reagan, to no avail, because the power of Reagan's ideas could not be supressed by bad media coverage.
Some liberal whining for the good ol' days is just drivel as dementia sets in...
Very true indeed.
The democrats held us hostage for 40 years in a row. During that 40 years, they were bought and paid for by the socialist/communist enemies within.
It's not easy correcting all those years in such a short time. Hopefully, if the right can elude the left wing press and it's negative propaganda long enough, something pro-American can work it's way to the surface. It would be nice to be a free country again.
Now, if we only had the RINO's on board, we'd really get somewhere.
It's really sad when an internet forum has to start a daily thread about the President's going's on - BECAUSE THE MEDIA WILL NOT SHOW IT.
We shamed them into showing him more, but I remember Clinton was in our face 24/7 - but we have to rummage around to find where the President can be seen on TV - and C-SPAN hides his speeches - or shows them at 3am - when normal people are sleeping.
It's just more of the drive-by media's attempt to control the public's access to the President. Disgraceful!!
So the answer to the thread's title is: THE DRIVE-BY MEDIA.
We all know that President Bush has put all his priorities and energy into protection of the USA. This type of war is not just another ho hum day on a busy agenda. The problem isthat so many refuse to either listen or believe. If Americans choose another way, some day, maybe then they will believe. It's as simple as that. Now to the economy. Unless your head is in the sand, he should get all the credit. You can't blame him or the Republicans on not trying to fix social security or drill for oil.
The Gip came to work every day.
:tending to break up into parts: DIVISIVE
While I don't believe that a nation that survived a civil war is more divided (i.e., fissiparous) than in the past, I do think there is some truth to the statement that we are trained NOT to honor or respect any authority figure. This "Question Authority" mentality has given civil servants the green light to teach "protest" and civil disobedience in schools under the guise of teaching "critical thought".
Bush knows the same thing that everyone else does: he's the least confident and worst communicator in the White House since Jimmy Carter. It's not too hard to understand why he doesn't enjoy utilizing the bully pulpit.
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