Don't listen to the nay sayers. This kind of pressure on media companies is the only thing that works. I know. I was once on an editorial board. They hated having to take negative calls. It might only only budge them a little at first, but it pays off if you don't relent. That's how liberals have gotten so far.
Actually, liberals have gotten as far as they have by controlling the high ground of the university and, over time, the media.
I know a lot of you came on here and upbraided me for my post. I understand that. You like to believe you have influence with the media. You don't. In a few weeks, this will be forgotten.
How many Americans remember the "Rats" story from 2000? We do. We're committed people. Most people don't, however. Most folks hear about "scandals" like this in passing. So, when they're told that September 11th "families" object to Bush campaign commercials, they believe that Bush has done something bad. Why? Well, if all one is hearing is anecdotal stories about how the heartless Bush people have opened a wound in the hearts of innocent, grieving September 11th widows, then it is going to hurt Bush.
Which was precisely the idea. It didn't drive Bush's commercials off the air, simply because Bush and Rove understood that this was a game of "who's got the biggest pair" with the Kerry people.
But no one will care about the Tides outfit, or Teresa HK's connexion with Tides and the "Families for Peace". That's all process. That doesn't make a compelling storyline. Nobody cares in the larger community about who stabbed who in the rhetorical back. A bunch of Republicans claiming that the Press was Unfair doesn't make a damn bit of difference to the reading public. Those are Dog Bites Man stories, and the propagandists who write and edit our news know it.
Grieving families make a compelling tale. Outraged Republicans? Nobody cares.
I already have empirical proof that my assertion is correct. Let us look at the latest question, conveniently asked of respondents by those sterling characters at GALLUPCNNUSATODAY. The money quote, from the last four paragraphs of the Kerry poll story:
Poll respondents were also asked whether they thought it was appropriate for the Bush-Cheney campaign to use images from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in its campaign ads.Fifty-four percent said it was inappropriate and 42 percent said it was appropriate.
Among voters who had actually seen the ads, 48 percent thought the images were appropriate, compared to 51 percent who said they were inappropriate, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The polling in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup sample began last Friday, the day after the Bush campaign launched its first ad salvo of the campaign, and continued over the weekend.
You see, we know that it was appropriate. We understand that September 11th and its aftermath was the central event of the Bush presidency. The Kerry people are afraid of Bush's ability to recall that event, however, so they wanted to damage Bush and his campaign in the eyes of the American people. To a certain extent, they succeeded.
You folks believe that you can appeal to the sense of responsibility and fair play of the media in this endeavor. This is a fool's errand. The media would be interested in fair play if they were only interested in reporting the news! They are not. They are interested in propagating a simple storyline that leaves the impression with the American people that John Kerry is a reasonable man of high character while George Bush is a craven bumbler who makes negative attacks and shamelessly wraps himself in the flags that lay on the caskets of firefighters.
You know: Bush Lied, They Died....
When you understand that most modern American reporters are mere propagandists, most of whom operate as propagandists without really knowing that they do (recalling the difference with Goebbels again...), you will understand just how far we have to go. Think of reporters as members of the Democratic Party's base vote. That's all you really need to understand.
By the way, if you don't believe me, you'd best be ready for the next press meme. Out of nowhere, seemingly, came this Kerry speech, enunciated yesterday when Honest John was on a campaign swing through the South:
Kerry Says Bush 'Stonewalling' 9/11 Probe
I will say to you right now that Kerry has given the signal what the next meme will be. I can also guarantee that certain editors and reporters are probably coordinating with the Kerry people and the DNC the timing of the next "scandal du jour", which will have the theme: "Bush is trying to Hide Something, otherwise he would Testify in Public". A simple separation of powers issue will be transformed into a scandal. Within a week, I will bet that the New York Times editorial page will be in high dudgeon over this.
The entire negative campaign of the Democratic Party revolves around the phrase drummed into the American people's conciousness last year: "Bush Lied, They Died!" A simple lie, but an effective one. Told over and over again until it is grafted onto the national self-concious like a poorly done facelift. Don't tell me that Democrats haven't read Goebbels.
Meanwhile, Doug, God bless him, and others are trying to convince the media that they need to be fair about something that happened in the last news cycle. Kerry has moved on, and so has a pliant media.
Get a clue before it's too late: you are not dealing with the "press". You are dealing with the Ministry of Truth.
Be Seeing You,
Chris