Friday, September 10, 2004
The emergence of a free market media -- and its enemies
Earlier this year you may not have been aware of the concept, "527's" – tax exempt private political groups dedicated to partisan politics and the stealth support of specific candidates. Ultimately, such groups were made to legally circumvent new laws on campaign financing. Earlier this year, such organizations were principally the work of well-financed left-wing groups. Along with such orchestrated media maneuvers were a host of well-timed books trashing the incumbent President, complete with wild media fanfare and adoring interviews.
Michael Moore spread his Moorist / Marxist manifestos in print and film and 527’s like, billionaire financed Moveon.org orchestrated bitter hyperbolic attacks against the Bush administration.
There were clear and obvious connections between some of these groups and the Democratic Party but, hey -- "free speech," right? Most of Hollywood and a host of contrived rebel millionaire musicians have taken the same stand -- "Bush is Hitler." No problem.
The "mainstream" media finally took note of such maneuvers after the Swift Boat Veterans for truth came out with their book and media ads (specifically when such actions began having a clear impact on John Kerry's credibility).
For decades, the top three commercial news networks and the dominant print media (i.e. The New York Times) pushed the world as the coasts see it mentality. As enlightened thinkers, our intellectual and moral betters were simply guiding us to the knowledge that we and our free economic system might be bad and a few one-party states and dictatorships might be worthy of some sympathy.
In recent years things have begun to change and, as could be expected, the left is now furious that there has now emerged opposing intellectual and moral disobedience -- some critical momentum away from their beloved state and the talking heads who have traditionally sought to dominate it.
The Internet and blogosphere has brought true diversity, both corrupt and refined, to anyone seeking information. Fox News has dared to imply that they actually like our country while network journalists that clearly hate it continue to pretend their scorn is an exercise in objectivity. Whatever degree of conservative bias Fox may exhibit, it’s ultimately an appropriate counterbalance to what ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC, PBS, and Al Jezeera had thus far offered. The real horror, in the Left's eyes, is that FOX, like McDonald's and Microsoft, is successful as a result of the free choices of individual citizens.
When the Democrat’s National Committee chairman had earlier suggested that Bush had been AWOL during his period of service in the National Guard, the media demanded answers from Bush -- "questions still remain." The President eventually released records pertaining to his military service years and the dirt some had hoped to find simply wasn't there. When some Veterans of the Vietnam War suggested that John Kerry's self-promoted "heroic war record" may be distorted or contrived, did the "objective" mainstream media go after him demanding answers? Well... no. Kerry still refuses to clear up the matter by giving permission for the release of his records, while his pals at the New York Times and most powerful news outlets have turned the burden of proof back to his accusers (something that clearly did not occur when Bush was the target of accusations).
The Democrats and some of their far-left allies continue to screech their mantras suggesting that we have somehow “lost our freedoms” because Congress voted to support Bush in removing the regime of Sadaam Hussein and his fascist Baath party. Kerry continues to be described as "defending himself against aggressive attacks." Bush and company, on the other hand, is always "on the offensive" with “bitter attacks.” A wealthy Republican supports some Viet Vets in getting their message out and it's a conspiratorial scandal. A left wing billionaire (George Soros) forks millions over for over a year to the cause of socialist propaganda and it’s, "free speech."
Numerous Hollywood entertainers use their celebrity as a soap box for radical politics and some dare to boo them, leave their concerts, or stop buying their CD’s, and its described as “censorship.”
The founding fathers of American knew that in the free system, factions who sought to dominate would eventually be countered by the spontaneous emergence of opposing factions. The Left is furious that such institutions as the Fox News Network, talk radio, and conservative or Libertarian blog sites are allowed to exist and challenge the domination they had held over public discourse for decades. The Left's worldview has dominated education and entertainment for decades as well, and continues to do so. (Only under coercion as a required college text could socialist screeds like those of Howard Zinn or Noam Chomsky become “best sellers”).
For decades, a Conservative couldn't even get a book published by a major publisher. In recent years some publishers have finally noticed that there's a lot of money to be made when they actually acknowledge some of their customer's political reading interests. The Left has never liked the idea of a free economy where the common citizen dictates what will be produced by their personal choices and preferences.
A free market and free society, with free speech will be one where a variety of viewpoints can emerge and state their cases before the court of public opinion. The backlash against decades of Left-Wing propaganda has only begun. The Left can squirm and whine all they want. They have only themselves to blame for what's transpired in recent years. They never seem to get it, that some of us just don't want to join their compulsory commune, not because we’re "greedy," or "lack compassion," or because we're, "mean-spirited corporate oppressors.” This is the standard “argument” that the Left conjures when making their case for a more powerful and centralized government authority. Remarkable as it may seem to to the average Leftist, some of us simply appraise the facts and arrive at different conclusions. Such conclusions are often not the same as those that the haughty drones of "mainstream" media would restrict us to. Freedom means being able to say "leave me alone." In an open market of ideas, the source of information on events in the world should be a matter of one’s choosing – and such choices may differ from the clique’ that has dominated thus far. They’re just going to have to deal with it.
Michael Moore spread his Moorist / Marxist manifestos in print and film and 527’s like, billionaire financed Moveon.org orchestrated bitter hyperbolic attacks against the Bush administration.
There were clear and obvious connections between some of these groups and the Democratic Party but, hey -- "free speech," right? Most of Hollywood and a host of contrived rebel millionaire musicians have taken the same stand -- "Bush is Hitler." No problem.
The "mainstream" media finally took note of such maneuvers after the Swift Boat Veterans for truth came out with their book and media ads (specifically when such actions began having a clear impact on John Kerry's credibility).
For decades, the top three commercial news networks and the dominant print media (i.e. The New York Times) pushed the world as the coasts see it mentality. As enlightened thinkers, our intellectual and moral betters were simply guiding us to the knowledge that we and our free economic system might be bad and a few one-party states and dictatorships might be worthy of some sympathy.
In recent years things have begun to change and, as could be expected, the left is now furious that there has now emerged opposing intellectual and moral disobedience -- some critical momentum away from their beloved state and the talking heads who have traditionally sought to dominate it.
The Internet and blogosphere has brought true diversity, both corrupt and refined, to anyone seeking information. Fox News has dared to imply that they actually like our country while network journalists that clearly hate it continue to pretend their scorn is an exercise in objectivity. Whatever degree of conservative bias Fox may exhibit, it’s ultimately an appropriate counterbalance to what ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC, PBS, and Al Jezeera had thus far offered. The real horror, in the Left's eyes, is that FOX, like McDonald's and Microsoft, is successful as a result of the free choices of individual citizens.
When the Democrat’s National Committee chairman had earlier suggested that Bush had been AWOL during his period of service in the National Guard, the media demanded answers from Bush -- "questions still remain." The President eventually released records pertaining to his military service years and the dirt some had hoped to find simply wasn't there. When some Veterans of the Vietnam War suggested that John Kerry's self-promoted "heroic war record" may be distorted or contrived, did the "objective" mainstream media go after him demanding answers? Well... no. Kerry still refuses to clear up the matter by giving permission for the release of his records, while his pals at the New York Times and most powerful news outlets have turned the burden of proof back to his accusers (something that clearly did not occur when Bush was the target of accusations).
The Democrats and some of their far-left allies continue to screech their mantras suggesting that we have somehow “lost our freedoms” because Congress voted to support Bush in removing the regime of Sadaam Hussein and his fascist Baath party. Kerry continues to be described as "defending himself against aggressive attacks." Bush and company, on the other hand, is always "on the offensive" with “bitter attacks.” A wealthy Republican supports some Viet Vets in getting their message out and it's a conspiratorial scandal. A left wing billionaire (George Soros) forks millions over for over a year to the cause of socialist propaganda and it’s, "free speech."
Numerous Hollywood entertainers use their celebrity as a soap box for radical politics and some dare to boo them, leave their concerts, or stop buying their CD’s, and its described as “censorship.”
The founding fathers of American knew that in the free system, factions who sought to dominate would eventually be countered by the spontaneous emergence of opposing factions. The Left is furious that such institutions as the Fox News Network, talk radio, and conservative or Libertarian blog sites are allowed to exist and challenge the domination they had held over public discourse for decades. The Left's worldview has dominated education and entertainment for decades as well, and continues to do so. (Only under coercion as a required college text could socialist screeds like those of Howard Zinn or Noam Chomsky become “best sellers”).
For decades, a Conservative couldn't even get a book published by a major publisher. In recent years some publishers have finally noticed that there's a lot of money to be made when they actually acknowledge some of their customer's political reading interests. The Left has never liked the idea of a free economy where the common citizen dictates what will be produced by their personal choices and preferences.
A free market and free society, with free speech will be one where a variety of viewpoints can emerge and state their cases before the court of public opinion. The backlash against decades of Left-Wing propaganda has only begun. The Left can squirm and whine all they want. They have only themselves to blame for what's transpired in recent years. They never seem to get it, that some of us just don't want to join their compulsory commune, not because we’re "greedy," or "lack compassion," or because we're, "mean-spirited corporate oppressors.” This is the standard “argument” that the Left conjures when making their case for a more powerful and centralized government authority. Remarkable as it may seem to to the average Leftist, some of us simply appraise the facts and arrive at different conclusions. Such conclusions are often not the same as those that the haughty drones of "mainstream" media would restrict us to. Freedom means being able to say "leave me alone." In an open market of ideas, the source of information on events in the world should be a matter of one’s choosing – and such choices may differ from the clique’ that has dominated thus far. They’re just going to have to deal with it.
