It was bound to happen, you know. The shock and awe in news circles at Dan Rather’s massive faux pas on “Sixty Minutes” brings to mind an overdone morality play performed so poorly that it’s laughable. Certainly these guys do not consider that their hollow denials of liberal bias have convinced the majority of the American people. As it becomes obvious that John Kerry is hopelessly behind in the horse race for the presidency and the scorched earth policy of the democratic campaign and the accommodating media only confirms in a majority of Americans that Bush is the right choice, panic at losing the election again has forced the hand of the arbiters of “October surprises” to move up the agenda a month. Unfortunately for Dan Rather, a vendetta for the Bush family clouded his vision for fair and accurate reporting as he used falsified documents to prove a point that never would have made a bit of difference to the American electorate anyway.
Liberals just don’t get it. Kerry supporters imagined that the Swift Boat questions concerning his medals and ribbons caused Americans to turn against his candidacy. This miscalculation inspired them to turn the tables on Bush by attacking his service in the National Guard. The huge error in judgment by the democrats and their media lapdogs remains a mystery to them. Americans still respect Kerry and Bush for their service despite the nitpicking of political zealots. Even if a little embellishing by Kerry and dogging by Bush occurred, America has a long, happy relationship with embellishment and slothfulness when it comes to official resumes and job performance. However, the American people hate hypocrisy.
When Kerry approached that podium at the Democratic Convention, saluted, and then proceeded to wrap himself in the Viet Nam war, he made the same mistake liberals politicians always make: He underestimated the ability of the vast majority to sniff out the hypocrisy of political convenience. Questions about John Kerry’s service in Viet Nam did not turn this election. It was Kerry’s attempt to twist his subsequent protest against the war—including his scathing attack of U.S. soldiers in congressional testimony and his contempt then for the very medals he suddenly so proudly displayed at the convention—that undermined his candidacy. George Bush would have suffered the same fate had he made his service in the National Guard the centerpiece of his campaign. America simply doesn’t approve of the sort of self-adoration that John Kerry demonstrated, especially when the stench of hypocrisy is in the air.
The deeper into the night of media bias we go the more the roaches crawl from the woodwork to influence elections at any cost. The use of falsified documents by CBS in its obvious “gotcha” piece on “Sixty Minutes” is inexcusable. The specter of news celebrities who believe their own opinions are beyond subjectivity is frightening. Perhaps the most offensive aspect of their behavior resides in the fact that these same reporters who pad their expense accounts, mail in attack pieces against conservative politicians using “un-named” sources, or release unverified documents as support for their biased rants would challenge the integrity of the president of the United States of America. These pampered news personalities insert themselves into the story—as Chris Mathews did in his ratings-grabbing interview with Zell Miller—in an attempt to spin every political moment in their own image.
The reason John Kerry did not receive the usual bounce at the end of his nominating convention is that the American people had seen nothing during the convention that it hadn’t seen a hundred times before since the democratic primary race began. Kerry and his allies bathed in unfettered access to America’s living-rooms every evening for months, presenting their unedited case over and over again. The convention was a boring collection of oft-repeated political slogans salvaged from months of political handiwork. The media had already offered the entire package in as positive a light as possible for months. Kerry had nothing left to say of any consequence that had not already been heard. The reason George Bush did received a whopping bounce coming out of his nominating convention is that the American people, for the very first time, witnessed a series of uncut, unedited speeches by conservative politicians who presented their point of view without the filter of the biased media pundits that swarm our air waves. When presented with the conservative agenda the American people responded positively, despite the efforts of media celebrities to re-cast those speeches afterwards.
Liberal convention watchers point out that Fox News’ viewer-ship spiked during the Republican Convention, claiming that conservative news personalities exist as well. If television audiences feel the need to search out news outlets that will treat fairly those whose ideas resonate with their own, perhaps it illustrates the point that the general public recognizes what conservative students of political media coverage have long known: The vast majority of television reporters, commentators, and news anchors are blatantly biased and unfair in their coverage.
Dan Rather’s hatred for the Bush family led him to perform sloppy work by using falsified documents in an effort to hi-jack a presidential election. It is his pride that prevents him from recognizing his mistake and apologizing to President Bush and the American people. It is his arrogance that threatens to leave a permanent stain on his legacy as he assumes his new role as poster child for liberal media bias. If he doesn’t retract the “Sixty Minutes” accusation soon he will become the main attraction in the media circus plagued by such liberal clowns as Michael Moorer and Kitty Kelly. There are worse fates than watching your candidate lose an election.
