At this month’s potluck meeting of the Association of Vast Rightwing Conspirators, our keynote speaker listed eight questions that the liberal media will never ask. He mentioned three reasons why the media refuse to consider the questions. They are afraid of how the questions would be answered by less motivated democrats. They refuse to ask because they know precisely what the answers would be. Or worse of all, the questions never enter their minds due to their extreme liberal bias. These were his comments and his questions:
1. President Bush makes dozens if not hundreds of decisions daily that have world-changing potential. Each one of these decisions carries political consequences and is scrutinized by the media. A lesser man would be frozen by constant fear that these daily choices could cost him the election. Senator Kerry has one decision of consequence to make throughout this campaign: Who will he choose as a running mate? He has struggled with this question, frozen by the fear of making a wrong decision, to the frustration of the American public. QUESTION: “Senator Kerry, why can’t you make one single decision that you will stick by no matter how popular it may or may not be?”
2. Immediately following the tragic terrorist attack of 9-11, President Bush informed the nation that our struggle would be long and hard. That the resolve of our country would be tested by this war on terror, but he would not stop taking the battle to the terrorist so that they could not bring it to America. QUESTION: “Even though many are making political hay on the hardships of the war on terror, how many major terrorist attacks has America suffered since 9-11?”
3. Reconstruction after war is a dirty, costly business. A week after defeating the Iraqis there was howling about exit strategies and appropriations. QUESTION: “How long did it take to reconstruct Germany and Japan and are there still American troops there and in other places of conquest like Bosnia?”
4. Recent film-makers and spin doctors have accused President Bush of having a relationship with the Saudis prior to 9-11. QUESTION: “Did former President Clinton, and other former presidents, have relationships with the Saudis?”
5. Liberals are incensed that Ralf Nader intends to exercise his right to participate in our nation’s free elections. They forget that it was Ross Perot who helped Bill Clinton win his first presidential victory with less than a majority vote. The public has practically no idea of the content of the Nader platform. QUESTION: “How many times will liberal media outlets do a feature/special/op ed/short piece entitled The Nader Factor: Does His Candidacy Hurt John Kerry’s Chances?”
6. Halliburton has become a curse word among liberals since the current administration had ties to the company. QUESTION: “Are there any other American Companies making profits in Iraq?”
7. Over 800 American soldiers have died in the war with Iraq. Some are disingenuous in that they attempt to remain politically correct by supporting the troops yet also feel that the war is a crime perpetrated by Bush. The families of the fallen care how their sons and daughters died. QUESTION: “Are the American soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq heroes of a just cause or victims of a failed policy?”
8. The bookstores of America are overwhelmed with books by insiders, outsiders, and blindsiders who have written anti-Bush books or made anti-Bush films in this election year. The coincidence never seems to dawn upon our supposedly unbiased media. QUESTION: “If I write a book condemning the Bush presidency, will you make me famous too?”
First, let me state that your answers were refreshingly honest and certainly serious. Not being a politician, you had the luxury of answering the questions without reservations. Although your honesty garners you much respect in my book it certainly would not win you any votes in an election. Which is the point of my article: That honesty and fairness in the media is scarce because the American people would burry most democratic candidates if a serious look into their platform was offered. The eight questions I listed—plus others I may soon add in another article—aren’t asked. It is not that they can’t be answered. The liberal media is savvy enough to realize that answers like yours, coming from a candidate for office, would probably sink an election.
Once and for all, please let me address your assertion that there is simply no proof of bias in the national media. Here are a few quotes concerning some research done on the subject:
“Of those who say they voted for major party candidates, the proportion of leading journalists who supported the Democratic candidate never drops below 80 percent. In 1972, when more than 60 percent of all voters chose Nixon, over 80 percent among the media elite voted for McGovern. This does not appear to reflect any unique aversion to Nixon. Despite the well-publicized tensions between the press and his administration, leading journalists in 1976 preferred Carter over Ford by the same margin. In fact, in the Democratic landslide of 1964, journalists picked Johnson over Goldwater by a sixteen-to-one margin, or 94 to 6 percent.”
Also:
“In 2001, Stanley Rothman and Amy E. Black updated the Media Elite’s survey of journalists. Rothman and Black’s survey closely matched a Freedom Forum poll of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents, which found 89 percent had voted for Clinton in the 1992 election, compared with seven percent for President Bush and two percent for Ross Perot. “In no state or region, among no race or class, did support for Clinton predominate more lopsidedly than among this sample of 139 journalists who either cover Congress or head a Washington bureau,” summarized Minneapolis Star-Tribune media writer Eric Black in an August 18, 1996 article.”
For a complete look at the mentioned article, go to this web site for an article written by Rich Noyes, June 30, 2004: http://www.mediaresearch.org/SpecialReports/2004/report063004_p1.asp
At the risk of making this response long and boring, let me continue because I do not want it said that I avoided your questions. So, as briefly as possible:
1. Churches have many functions: Feeding, clothing, and helping the poor rank as one of the most important of all functions. In fact, in the year 2002, according the statistics for charitable giving, 35% of all charitable giving was religious-based giving. (http://www.aafrc.org/bytypeof.html) Church based programs are reaching out to the poor not only in the United States but across the world in wonderful projects like “Feed The Children.” Conservative politicians attempt to encourage such programs by offering government assistance, but liberal politicians are more concerned with keeping the Ten Commandments from the public view than the hunger pains in the stomach of a child.
2. I agree with your assessment.
3. What if it isn’t that the brave men and women who serve our country as policemen or soldiers fail to think for themselves but rather that, after thinking, have come to conclusions different than your own?
4. I just want to use your comparison of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Passion Of The Christ as an example of my original premise. The media, along with Hollywood, castigated Mel Gibson at every turn. Controversy was raised over his motives. He was called a Nazi and anti-Semite, among other things. Once his movie began breaking records as it was embraced by a hungry public the media stopped mentioning it altogether. I still can’t tell you how much money the movie made. Yet, the same media, with a boost from the officials of Cannes Film Festival, rescued a film no distributor even wanted to take on. The constant mention in the press created a controversy that brought out the viewers, and still I can hear a daily tally of the money the film has generated on the 24 hour news.
5. I heard Richard Dreyfus complaining on a news program the other day because he had been criticized for his political opinions. He claimed that he had just as much a right to his opinion as a plumber or carpenter. That he shouldn’t be attacked just because he isn’t afraid to make a stand. Of course, the obvious difference is that nobody is interviewing my plumber on CNN. Does he really think that just because nobody puts a microphone in front of my plumber’s face that he doesn’t have an opinion, too? You want to see “attacked?” Give an opinion on the upcoming election at a work site during coffee break!
6. Since your concede that animals were “made,” which, of course, suggests a creator, then let me point out that all things were given to us for our use, including food. We should be good stewards of what God has given us.
7. I often wonder why liberals will spend outrageous amounts on removing cigarette smoke from the planet yet defend the use of illegal drugs. One of the reasons I often hear is that the health care cost for the rest of us is even more outrageous. Then I will defer to them and extrapolate that argument as plausible against all harmful drugs. My insurance premiums are already too high.
8. I give you an ovation for this question. Thank God for parents with the guts to home school their children.
1."President Bush makes dozens if not hundreds of decisions daily that have world-changing potential." No, he doesn't. He has cabinet members,joint chiefs of staffs,lobbiests,the vice president,etc who leads the president to making decisions. He is in essence, a figure head. "A lesser man would be frozen by constant fear that these daily choices could cost him the election." Who's to say he's not? Anyway to answer your question, Kerry is a politician. And he's going to act like one. And if he has to agree with two opposing factors to get a vote, he'll do it. But when it comes to politicians, who hasn't? Voting in America has always been a "less of the two evils" event.
2. None. The "terrorists" made their point. I'm sure it won't be the last point they will make but either way it got through. It shouldn't have happen in the first place.
3. There is no need to keep troops in Germany or Japan anymore. Mainly because we got what we wanted from them both. We got trade from Japan and we got to pull up the Iron Curtain on Germany. There was always something to gain from us going to war.
4. Probably. But since Mr Bush has no sense of tact or being discreet, ofcoarse people (and the media) are going to notice his antics and form an opinion.
5. Who cares? Maybe your watching too much tv to notice such trivial things. I'm personally sick of looking at the US flag everywhere I go. And knowing that no one cared about patriotism before 9/11 makes it even more transparent. When it starts to get to you that bad, learn what I do. Block it out.
6. Hmm That's a hard one. What's the boyscout motto? Be prepared. If soldiers knew what they were dieing for, that's one thing. But most didn't. Most soldiers have different reasons for enlisting. Personally if I walk onto a battlefield, I want to know inside and out what's going on. I wont call them heroes. Heroes usually die making a change. If anything, things are getting worse. I say victims of a failed policy,president,culture, hell....even country. If your willing to be conditioned and fight, I can't have too much sympathy for you.
8. They're only famous if a majority believes it. Most of the time, the majority is pretty ignorant. But your asking to wrong questions to the wrong people. You think our media is too liberal, I think they're too conservative.
Playing devil's advocate, 8 *more important questions* the media won't ask.
1. To conservatives and their Chruches: Why are you pumping hundreds of hours and millions of dollars to making sure gays can't get married while there are thousands of homeless people,orphans,senior citizens with no family to help them,that could be better off with that money and time?
2. To the fellow media: Since when were we so scared to ask questions?
Why does an American who wants the truth have to rely on foreign websites or underground newsgroups to get it? Since when did corporate America control the press?
3. To the police and military: Why is there not more sensitivity training? Why aren't there higher standards for psych tests? Why are you enforcing laws you don't believe in? Why are you willingly becoming clergymen with nightsticks? To the Military: Why are you blindly following orders you know to be morally wrong? Why enlist to fight for a country you really know nothing about except what your told? Why is it wrong to think for yourself?
4. To Hollywood: Wheres the diversity? What happened to the gritty, behind the scenes,raw,*uncensored*,movies that made us think? Why is Fahrenheit 9/11 and Passion of the Christ a big deal? There should always be movies like that coming out. Wheres the glamour and talent that once defined "Hollywood"?
5. To celebrities: Your voice and face are recognized by millions. Why aren't you putting either to good use? Why aren't you giving us any depth?
6. To basically all Americans: Since when was there a "hippy" stigma attached to caring about the environment? Why aren't you recycling? Since when were animals made to be shot? Why aren't you walking more instead of polluting the earth, ozone layer,and air with your environmentally unsafe cars,trucks,etc? Why haven't we taken a cue from our Canadian neighbors and done something about this?
7. To those who back the "war on drugs": Why not just admit it, its a total failure? I'm not hurting the person or property of anyone, why can't I do with my body what I want? Once again, that money and time (and defidently my taxes) could be put to better use.
8. To parents: Why don't you make an effort to understand your kids?
Why make the media,television,music,school,other people,etc responsible for raising YOUR children? And then have the nerve to be suprised that your kids aren't the perfect little angels you thought they were.
These are only a few, but you get the point. Sometimes we focus way too much on one issue and forget that there's more going on. Lately that issue seems to be politics/religion. There are better and more effective questions to be asked. Your article started off with the right idea. But then it went way right. Seems the conservative media has backfired on you conservatives lol. Hey...you can't get what you want *all* the time. -Joe
PS- nice sidestepping the points Mr Martin made. You did exactly what I told him you would do.
On question (7), clearly the soldiers who have dies are heroes, but they are also victims of a failed policy, that saw our country attack another sovereign nation unprovoked. We—the U.S.—should never have gone to War with Iraq; the state presented no clear and present danger to our country. There were no WMD, and even if there were there were no delivery vehicles in the Iraqi arsenal capable of depositing them on the U.S. landmass. And yes, if there were WMD, Iraq could have sold them the terrorist, but them so could Iran, Syria, Egypt, North Korea, Yemen, or even Russia; an yet we have not attacked them, or threatened to do so, why? And why single out Iraq?
lib•er•al adj
1. broad-minded: tolerant of different views and standards of behavior in others.
2. POLITICS progressive politically or socially: favoring gradual reform, especially political reforms that extend democracy, distribute wealth more evenly, and protect the personal freedom of the individual.
One more question: does disagreeing with the Bush Administration and its policies make me a liberal? If so then I proudly wear the title, and should every American who holds the Constitution and its foundational principles above all else. If being a liberal means championing the spirit and letter of the Declaration of Independence above the Rights drive to make ours a government interlaced with religious dogma and dictates, then I will willingly tattoo the word liberal on my forehead for all to see…
happy and SAFE fourth of july to you and your loved ones! god bless you!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in tx., karen lynn. :(