Yesterday:
As admitted by the New York Times Ombudsman, this majestic bastion of the elite, The Old Gray Lady herself, failed to do their job in the run up to the Iraqi Front of the War on Terror, appearing to support this new front in the war based on their flawed information.
Today:
We are treated to the constant drumming of the failure in command at Abu Ghraib, intelligence failures, failure to find WMD, failure ..., failure ....
These appear to be contradictions. How could Old Media in the US appear to be so at odds with its own previous reporting?
How can it be that these Old Media strongholds are no longer trusted by most Americans, on either side of the political debate?
Paper after paper and network after network are "falling in" and are now in lockstep with John Kerry. They bury good news, the successes and they highlight any bad news, the failures.
I remember when the Old Media, these papers and networks were trusted and although not always objective they at least covered and reported the news rather then trying to make and remake it in their own twisted image. As a result their ratings and subscription rates are falling.
To most conservatives the Old Media's initials might as well be 4 letter words! To most liberals they are controlled by their corporate owners.
I recall the Old Media's Heyday - the good years when they actually had power. Shoot, they ended a war, brought down Senators, a Vice President, even toppled a President, molded the political and social landscape, and influenced an entire generation of young impressionable minds!
But that wasn't yesterday, that was last century! Today they are in panic mode - flailing out in a feeble attempt to remain relevant. Something went terribly wrong as their power grew and they began to believe their own press. It was no longer just slanted, they were no longer in touch with Americans, they were no longer just reporters, they were "An Entity!" They didn't need to report - they made the news, they were a Fourth Branch of the Government, one whose center of gravity was to the left of Socialism!
They can't understand how a Reagan could be elected; the reelection just added insult to injury!
They don't believe their own studies that show George W. Bush won Florida and hence the 2000 election, just can't believe Americans can be that stupid!
They are astounded that John Kerry, the man who was a star of their heyday, stands with them, and believes everything they believe, is the most intelligent politician of our time, and THE WORST OF ALL INSULTS, their influence hasn't had the positive effect on the polls, their own polls! They had deluded themselves into believing that they still had influence over the ungrateful dribbling masses of uninformed sheep they had shepherded through our nation’s worst times.
Contradictions, no - they needed a war they could oppose! They couldn't openly oppose Afghanistan, couldn’t even openly oppose a War on Terror - not after 9/11! But Iraq, now there is a war to oppose – but first make sure it is NEVER framed as a part of the War on Terror! Now bring in the anti-war leader, a man they made a hero and a KING John Kerry and they are reliving their Heyday.
For the media it isn't yesterday or today, it is the first half of the 1970's and they are recapturing their youth! Unfortunately the 70’s aren’t where we are or want to be, and they weren’t even our nation’s worst times. Once again Old Media misses the mark as they have so many times in the past 30 years.
DKK
