A long, long time ago during the era of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein I had thought of becoming a journalist. It was an era when journalist actually had to fact check their stories, provide credible sources and were held accountable when they published erroneous information. There was actually a time in the history of our press, that we could rely on the news that we were receiving, and the press reported, no matter how damning or nice the story was to a particular person.
There was a time that news agencies had to provide information on both sides of the story. Both views, thus being considered fair and balanced.
Unfortunately, we've now progressed to a society of yellow journalism. Where we don't hold reporters who fail to report the truth accountable, We take sources like Keith Olbermann, Rush Limbaugh, Stephen Colbert, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and claim them to be journalistic gods, when all they're doing is stating their opinion. How often I've seen something said by one of the above and then the next day and weeks later, mimicked by the average person on the street. Parrots, that's what we've become, a society of parrots.
With both the Republican and Democratic conventions looming on the horizon and a Presidential election coming in November, the yellow journalism is just ramping up and instead of focusing on issues, it's focusing on garbage and unfortunately Americans are no longer voting on issues but on garbage. It's not a new strategy. It was garbage that forced John McCain out of the 2000 Republican primaries. Yes, in 2000 being a POW was not qualification enough to be President, in fact, many question the ability and sanity of a man who was held and tortured and wondered if he'd have flashbacks and be able to make the right decisions. Now being a POW is the best qualification to be President.
See I was in South Carolina when a group of Bush "surrogates" came out and attacked McCain's history as a POW, and the sad thing is, the public bought it. It was members of that same group that went after John Kerry in the swiftboat attacks, and the public bought it. (Okay, I'll admit it didn't help Kerry that his history included testifying against the Vietnam War AFTER he returned from Vietnam, in front of Congress). Now, the same people who worked with the group to help discredit McCain's ability to run the country because he was a POW is now backing him and trying to help him win because he is a POW. Garbage.
So now, we're into another Presidential election and I'm longing for the days of long ago, long before Reagan did away with the act to make reporting fair and balanced. Where if one side of the issue was reported, then the network needed to provide equal time for the other side of the issue. So now, instead of actually hearing what the candidates actual stances are, we're now reduced to clips of the flag pin, arguments of whether Mrs. McCains recipes were plagarized, fist bumps and garbage.
We're running rabid with garbage coming in regarding a rumor that Obama attended a muslim school when he was young (which of course was never confirmed), that Obama wasn't fit because of his black, CHRISTIAN, reverand who was his spiritual advisor (of course, this is being spouted by the same people who want to say Obama is Muslim). Then there's the garbage that John McCain may not be qualified because he needs Viagra, or because he aligned himself with the Reverend John Hagee, who is a noted to have made anti-semetic, anti-catholic remarks. And people will vote because of this garbage...this and because of the fist bump (of course we forget the fist bump made by both Daddy Bush and Jr in photo ops...but I guess this was different because their thumbs were pointed in different directions).
We're screwed, because, instead of actually voting for the person who has the best plan for stimulating the economy, we're going to vote on age. Instead of actually voting for the person who has the best plan to handle the war, we're voting on fist bumps. Instead of listening to how a cand
We're screwed
Posted on: July 19, 2008 6:37 am