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ABC - Kerry and Bush not equal (1 Viewer)

Schweddy

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Source:Drudge

Halperin's claim that ABCNEWS will not "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable" set off sparks in St. Louis where media players gathered to cover the second presidential debate

Halperin Memo Dated Friday October 8, 2004

It goes without saying that the stakes are getting very high for the country and the campaigns - and our responsibilities become quite grave

I do not want to set off (sp?) and endless colloquy that none of us have time for today - nor do I want to stifle one. Please respond if you feel you can advance the discussion.

The New York Times (Nagourney/Stevenson) and Howard Fineman on the web both make the same point today: the current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done.

Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win.

We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides "equally" accountable when the facts don't warrant that.

I'm sure many of you have this week felt the stepped up Bush efforts to complain about our coverage. This is all part of their efforts to get away with as much as possible with the stepped up, renewed efforts to win the election by destroying Senator Kerry at least partly through distortions.

It's up to Kerry to defend himself, of course. But as one of the few news organizations with the skill and strength to help voters evaluate what the candidates are saying to serve the public interest. Now is the time for all of us to step up and do that right.
 
Ironically, this election, although about politics, is more about the power, the calling and the self-image of individuals who have internalized their liberalism.



Before Vietnam and Watergate "fame" didn't really come broadly to members of the press unless they were involved in Hollywood gossip. But with Woodward and Bernstein came a new found celebrity of the press. Journalism schools and the general philosophy of the press elite finally found a "purpose" beyond just informing the public. It became popular for members of the press to begin to feel that they have the power to be more than information providers but changers of the course of history.



At the root of liberal philosophy is elitism. The idea that there are smart people and stupid people and the smart people should rightly have more power and more influence than stupid people. Tied to that is, progressivism, the idea that new and different is always better.



Since 1974 the press has held the greatest appeal to Liberals because it allows liberal causes to have a much louder voice than they would have had based solely on their numbers in the marketplace. Because of the "super-fame" achieved by the liberal press after Vietnam and Watergate it quickly became clear that if you wrote the truth and that truth did not agree with prevailing liberal thought you were either over edited or fired. Because of this phenomenon journalism schools and press outlets have been dominated by those who support liberal thought and ideas for 30 years. The fact is; it has been very hard for a conservative to thrive in journalism.



Today we find a press that has reached a crossroads. Established liberal bastions like network and cable news have been successfully challenged by outlets like FOX news who do not limit the careers of those who have conservative philosophies. Fox has found unbelievable success. Suddenly liberals find themselves in a position where they have to prove to themselves that their philosophies are indeed correct.



The two major tenants of Liberal thought, listed above, have been disintegrating over the last 15 years under the weight of 30 years of failed Liberal policies. There is a new-guard on the horizon. The old-guard is becoming desperate. They have to prove that they can indeed change the course of history and that those they have defined as the intellectual elite do indeed deserve a higher level of respect and authority than their numbers represent.



This election has become a battle to prove to everyone that the liberal intellectual elite are right and everyone else is wrong. It has lost any real substance. It has become “win or lose” at any and all cost. The liberal is being asked to believe lies, and deeper, to believe lies about the lies that they themselves have already propagating. They are being asked to abandon reason and fact in order to further the cause of the intellectual elite.
 
MSR said:
This election has become a battle to prove to everyone that the liberal intellectual elite are right and everyone else is wrong. It has lost any real substance. It has become “win or lose” at any and all cost. The liberal is being asked to believe lies, and deeper, to believe lies about the lies that they themselves have already propagating. They are being asked to abandon reason and fact in order to further the cause of the intellectual elite.
How easily persuaded is the human mind. Eariler today I was thinking about the extream right (which I self claim) and the extream left. What do we have in common? Why do we believe what we see and hear on TV? Does the elite media have an agenda? Are we part of that agenda?

Then it struck me like hitting a brick wall. We all follow the blinking lights at a flea market or state fair. Even though junk may be on the table, we are more apt to buy or play a game from that crummy vendor because of that blinking light.

The "intellectual elite" & media have control over that damn blinking light. Sometimes that light is brighter and more exciting to the liberal.
 

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