I'm talking to the same people who went into high dudgeon for making Nixon's enemies list and wore that honor like an Oxford don's chevrons.
I'm talking to people who get fainting spells when the local library puts Tropic of Cancer on the restricted shelf.
Yeah, I'm talking to you, liberals.
I am waiting for all the usual suspects to denounce the Obama Administration's campaign of intimidation of the news media.
I'm waiting for the firestorm of editorials denouncing the attempted silencing of opposition. I'm waiting for the outcry over the Obama White House initiative to isolate and punish conservative speech.
A White House attempt to delegitimize Fox News – which in past times would have drawn howls of censorship from the press corps – has instead been greeted by a collective shrug.
That's true even though the motivations of the White House are clear: Fire up a liberal base disillusioned with Obama by attacking the hated Fox. Try to keep a critical news outlet off-balance. Raise doubts about future Fox stories.
But most of all, get other journalists to think twice before following the network's stories in their own coverage. [Politico: 10-20-2009]
Why else would White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod go on two Sunday morning news shows to beat up on Fox News?
Level-headed Britt Hume responded:
"It is a little hard to discern a strategy behind the White House campaign of criticism of Fox News unless it's simply this — an attempt to quarantine Fox and thereby discourage other media outlets from following up stories did originate here. The White House is clearly stung by the revelations about former aide Van Jones. He turned out to have harbored views that were out there where the buses don't run and he was forced to resign. And the White House could not much have cared for the hidden camera expose of ACORN — an organization with which the president had a past association and one whose voter registration drives have benefited the Democratic Party."
I hear Fox News ratings are up 20 percent since the Obama administration went nuclear. (If they'd only declare war on the Taliban!) In other words, it's a career booster!
So, put me on the list, Mr. President. I don't need to be on the Top 25. I realize I am a small market blogger — although none is more feared or reviled in The Peoples' Republic of Wisconsin! Put me on the list. Check it twice. I've been naughty; I won't be nice.
Un-American? How about ‘Kenyan'?
Over at the Caffeinated blog, Greg Humphrey approvingly quotes the Obama House organ, Newsweek, to say that Fox News is downright Un-American! (The Lefties like to call it Faux, which is, of course, pronounced "Fo"). Where is Martin Dies and his committee when we need them? Newsweek writes:
The Australian-British-continental model of politicized media that Murdoch has applied at Fox is un-American, so much so that he has little choice but go on denying what he's doing as he does it. For Murdoch, Ailes, and company, "fair and balanced" is a necessary lie. To admit that their coverage is slanted by design would violate the American understanding of the media's role in democracy and our idea of what constitutes fair play. But it's a demonstrable deceit that no longer deserves equal time.
Two points:
- Newsweek does not know its American history. American newspapers were always partisan, going back to the days of the Federalists and the Jeffersonians. The Waukesha Freeman was founded to oppose slavery and support the new Republican party. Here in Madison, Wild Bill Evjue bolted from the Wisconsin State Journal in 1917 to found The Capital Times specifically to support Old Bob La Follette. Five years later, the other daily newspaper, the Madison Democrat, folded.
- It wasn't true then, it isn't true now. The New York Times does not take political sides? How about the unsourced story just days before the last presidential election claiming John McCain had an affair with a female lobbyist? They're still apologizing for that one.
CBS News is "balanced?" How about Dan Rather rushing onto the airwaves with a story that George W. Bush was guilty of desertion based on doctored documents. In fact, a former CBS producer says every person she encountered in its newsroom over 10 years was a liberal — but one! (She didn't say but my guess would be Bernard Goldberg.)
After 18 years in the newspaper business, I have concluded that the news industry, with few exceptions, may believe it is "objective" only because its deepest held beliefs remain so unexamined.
Where's Doonesbury in all this?
Give me a G; give me an O …
I've already talked about the cheerleading by our so called "environmental journalists." The MacIver Institute reports:
Environmental journalism is dictated by the environmental movement's agenda and not by the principles of journalism, concluded one panelist at the Society of Environmental Journalists' convention in Madison earlier this month.
Dan Miller, executive vice president of The Heartland Institute, was invited to sit on a panel discussing economic issues relating to the environment. The focus was on energy independence, green jobs and the stimulus. Miller said he was invited to offer a different opinion.
… (Keynote speaker Al) Gore started by congratulating President Barack Obama on his Nobel Peace Prize. The room broke out in applause.
"All these journalists were whooping and stopping their feet," recalled Miller, who then knew what he walking into.
They're coming to get me, ha ha
Ed Garvey asks: "What do we do about the corrupt political system? When the Legislature, controlled by Democrats, won't even regulate loan sharks? Whoa Nelly! Is it time to form a Progressive Party?"
The answer, Ed, is a big "go for it!"
I do agree with Ed, allow the "elites" (his word) to appoint our Supreme Court justices is madness. Just have the governor make his appointment subject to confirmation by the State Senate.
What's really got Ed's Irish in a foam is the alignment of some powerful Democrats, like Mayor Tom Barrett, Governor Jim E. Doyle, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, and Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan in taking over the failed Milwaukee public school system.
"The governor doesn't respect Milwaukee's elected school board," Ed weeps. Neither do the people of Milwaukee. Only 4 percent of them vote in school board elections. Give it up, Ed. The teachers union is on the wrong side of history. Worse, they're part of the problem.
Today's Chuckle
More "character assassination" (thanks to Cousin Johan):
This car runs on hot air and broken promises.
It has three wheels that speed the vehicle through tight left turns.
It comes complete with two TelePrompters programmedto help the occupants talk their way out of any violations.
The transparent canopy reveals the plastic smiles still on the faces of all the happy owners.
It won't get you to work, but hey, there aren't any jobs anyway!
As a public service
The Dane County Council of Public Affairs has scheduled a series of four informational meetings for the public to help county citizens better understand the impact and ramifications of proposed shoreland zoning regulations by Dane County.
The regulations will affect or restrict the use of properties throughout the county. Citizens attending will discover how the proposals will negatively impact over 57,000 properties, not only along the shorelines of various types of waterbodies. Every landowner in Dane County will be impacted, if taxes are shifted or reduced on some properties and shifted to others due to lost value caused by the proposed regulatory restrictions!
The free programs for the public are scheduled as follows (all run from 6:30 to 8 p.m.):
- Tuesday October 20 — High School Courtyard- 2100 Bristol Street, Middleton.
- Wednesday October 21 — Indian Mound Middle School Cafetorium, 6330 Exchange Street, McFarland.
- Wednesday October 28 — Prairie View Middle School Cafetorium, 400 N. Thompson Road, Sun Prairie.
- Thursday October 29 — Community Center Oak Hall, 5520 Lacy Road, Fitchburg.
The panel of experts will consist of representatives of the Dane County Council of Public Affairs; Dane County Planning Department/Lakes and Watershed Commission; Assessors/Appraisers; Bankers; Businesses/Builders and Realtors.
From our London Desk:
The Times of London reported Sunday that National Health Service has spent 1.5 million pounds ($2.45 million U.S.) paying for hundreds of its staff to have private health treatment so they can leapfrog their own waiting lists.
More than 3,000 staff, including doctors and nurses, have gone private at the taxpayers' expense in the past three years because the queues at the clinics and hospitals where they work are too long.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information act show that NHS administrative staff, paramedics and ambulance drivers have also been given free private healthcare. This has covered physiotherapy, osteopathy, psychiatric care and counselling — all widely available on the NHS. (Thanks, Duane)
Quote of the day: "Who the hell is Wolf?"
Balloon Boy Falcon Heene when asked to greet CNN newsgod Wolf Blitzer.
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