Posted on 09/14/2004 6:48:34 PM PDT by Republican Abroad
I have a feeling that the biggest news of last week had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the media. We are in the middle of an insurgency against the occupation of the airwaves by that amorphous group called--in blogspeak--MSM, or mainstream media. And the latest direct hit has exploded in the illustrious offices of Dan Rather and CBS News.
A brief recap: Last week, CBS News reported on fascinating and newly discovered documents that purported to show that George W. Bush did not perform his military service in the Texas National Guard adequately and that political influences got him off the hook. The alleged memos--from Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, Bush's Texas National Guard squadron commander--are almost certainly fakes. And the fakery was uncovered by a series of blog postings on a variety--a bewildering variety--of old, new, and tenacious blogs. Within a couple of days, the news about the probably forged memos had reached full circle to become stories in the MSM itself, with even The New York Times conceding that Dan Rather had almost certainly been hoaxed to some degree or other.
From any kind of perspective, this is not an earth-shattering event. The documents are by no means the only evidence for Bush's lax National Guard service. U.S. News & World Report just ran a far more devastating piece proving Bush's patchy record, a story that was naturally ignored by almost everyone. I know of very few people who believe that Bush's family connections never influenced how he managed to avoid combat during the Vietnam years; and just as few who really believe this is an issue that should determine the election.
-- Snip --
Rather goes on--but he is obviously twisting in the typewriter ribbon.
(Excerpt) Read more at tnr.com ...
Holy sh!+, the New Republic! The left is collapsing before our eyes.
Free Republic and the New Media
Self | 09/12/2004 | Chris Davis
Posted on 09/12/2004 4:54:35 PM PDT by writer33
It all started in 1988. President Ronald Reagan’s second term was ending, Americans were ready to launch the presidency of George H.W. Bush, and in Sacramento, California, a “loveable little fuzzball” stepped behind a microphone, replacing Morton Downey, Jr, and giving us his brand of conservative truth. It was astonishing. It was exhilarating. And it was unheard at the time. Before 1988, Americans had been treated with the nightly news from the “Big Media.”
The “Big Media” owned the airwaves of our televisions. Every morning, noon, and night we were fed stories, pictures, and commentary from a leftist press. A media content in spreading the truth that served its purpose, giving us little tidbits of salacious information, but not reporting the full story. Facts had been withheld to give the unaware their view of the world and how it should be. Their mission: Save the world by keeping people ignorant of the truth. And just like the song, “Along Came Mary,” along came Limbaugh.
Limbaugh perforated our eardrums with common sense and startling commentary. His sharp wit and sarcastic humor brought a smile on our faces. His love of country and support of our troops spurred a belief that was held in the majority of Americans’ minds. America loved it. They loved Limbaugh. They loved the truth. In fact, America loved the truth so much they gave him his own television show in 1992. This opened the door to audiences that had never heard from Limbaugh before. A chance to spread “a disease caused by casual contact.” A chance to open American eyes to the “Big Media.” CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN hadn’t seen the like of it. They were in shock and awe. They were furious. They were overwhelmed at the number of stations Limbaugh overtook. They didn’t know how to respond to this “loveable little fuzzball.” So they did what they always do: Manipulate the facts and distort the truth about Limbaugh. Before long, his books were on shelves, spreading more conservative views on topics of interest to Americans, topics such as National Security, Feminism, Abortion, and Liberalism. Now, even more Americans had become aware of Rush Limbaugh. Suddenly, the “Big Media” had to compete for the attention of the American people. As Rush said before, “There wasn’t any of this fifteen years ago. I know. I was there at the creation.” He was. And we are forever grateful.
Through all of this, a cable news channel was created. Fox News, a channel that reported the whole story. They were young and brash, and in 1996, they gave a young, fire-breather his debut on Hannity & Colmes. Sean Hannity began to slice and dice liberalism on a cable news network. His efforts in broadcast journalism led him to his own radio show on September 10, 2001. Not only does he reach millions on his television show, but is second only to Rush Limbaugh in talk radio with nearly 400 stations across the nation. As conservatives, we were starting to get a stranglehold on the old monopoly of the “Big Media.” We were fighting mad and it was showing.
And there would be more to follow. More talk show hosts to come. More conservative news, exposing the truth of the spin in the “Big Media.” There would be the internet, the new age of conservative news, opinions, commentary, and information throughout the globe. Soon, a gutsy, young journalist would risk it all and shake the foundations of the White House from the internet. Matt Drudge risked his entire reputation, career, and livelihood by breaking the Monica Lewinsky story. This no nonsense conservative uncovered what no “Big Media” would uncover. He would expose the corruption and debauchery under the desk in the Oval Office.
Matt Drudge was the beginning of the internet and the new media. Now, Americans of all stripes of red, white, and blue could access news. In the last year, Drudge has had nearly three billion visitors to his site, which is broadcast every Sunday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. eastern standard time. Drudge began the wave of the conservative future. No longer did conservatives have to call in to their favorite talk radio program to express their frustration of the liberal media. No longer did they have to sit idly by their televisions throwing pillows at the television while ranting and raving at the blatant media partisanship. Now they had a new outlet. They had a forum called Free Republic.
Through the brainchild of Jim Robinson, a forum was created where Americans of all flavors could rant, rave, and could even continue the pursuit of conservatism while crushing the socialistic tyranny of the “Big Media.” In a statement on their website, Jim Robinson states, “In our continuing fight for freedom, for America and our constitution and against totalitarianism, socialism, tyranny, terrorism, etc., Free Republic stands firmly on the side of right, i.e., the conservative side.” And in that statement, sums up the mission of conservatism and Free Republic. Now we’re dangerous to the “Big Media.” Now we’re available to everyone. We’re in homes, in offices, and in laptop computers. We’ve become an infectious disease that will debilitate the Democratic Party and liberalism’s veined effort to garnish power. We’re putting a stranglehold on a defunct enterprise known as CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN.
From Anchorage, AK to Miami, FL, we’re spread across the United States in search of one crushing blow to end the “Big Media’s” tyranny over the news, to stop the lies, and end the oppression of facts from news commentary, such as 60 Minutes. We’re here to mobilize and stop the incestuous relationship with the Democratic Party and their socialistic tendencies. In a nutshell, we are here to end liberalism’s final, desperate grip on a media that has become so partisan they’ve lost all objectivity. Free Republic, this group of “amateurs” has put their testicles in a vice and tightened ‘em down.
But the media doesn’t know the full power of Free Republic. The media doesn’t know it is made of up individuals across the globe. “Amateurs” of all walks of life, willing to make the leap in refuting liberal terrorism in the press. From housewives to airline pilots, from ministers to talk show hosts, and from architects to engineers, comprise diversity so great that the media’s group of so-called experts can’t keep up. We even have our own range of military personnel from every branch of service, willing to battle lies and distortions within the media elite. And as much as we hate to admit it, we have lawyers that lurk, lawyers that Freep, and lawyers that make sure no lawsuit is left behind.
From our makeup, we are Americans: Conservative Americans. Americans united in one common goal: We won’t stop till the mission is complete. For we are the new media. We are the new truth in America. We are the amateurs that have rocked the status quo. These merry bands of amateurs, known as Freepers, have shown their expertise at exposing the truth. This forum called Free Republic will supercede the admonishment of the liberal media and conquer all those that oppose us. After all, we are the best in the world. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Free Republic is made up of some of the finest minds I’ll ever know.” And for that, I am forever grateful for their expertise. I am forever grateful for this new media.
Is Sullivan still gay? And still voting for Kerry? According to rules setup by Dan Rather and CBS since he is supporting the opposing force(in this case democrats for the president) he is therefore a impeachable source and cannot be trusted in his analysis or opinion, except if it favors CBS news.
But ABC is all but saying "Rather KNEW!"
Gotta love this!
The entire leftist media is jumping ship, it's Ratherbiased and sKerry all alone.
Say WHA!
He may have "no" credibility with you and other here but he does have credibility with people on the other side of the street.
Read the full article to see what he has to say (good for FR and bad for Dan).
Reader Martin Vaala asked an interesting question; here are his query and my answer:
Powerline:Which kind of puts CBS's stonewalling into perspective.
Since you're lawyers, I have a, perhaps trivial, side issue question about the memos. What admissibility hurdles would you have to overcome to get copies of documents entered as evidence?
Martin Vaala
Martin:
Good question. Based on what CBS has released so far, they're not even in the ballpark. You'd have to authenticate them and overcome any hearsay obstacles contained within them. CBS hasn't attempted to do any of this.
CBS is trying to use these forgeries to influence a Presidential election, but they could never get them into evidence in a $10,000 civil case.
John H.
How queer: Andrew Sullivan's piece right next to an article "Bollywood's first foray into lesbian eroticism brought more than just riots."
Excellent article you've written writer!
Did anyone watch Fox tonight and the Brit Hume show...they went after CBS like a fox in a chicken pen at night. I never thought they had that much amunition, but they did, and fired away for that whole hour. It was beautiful to see...and CBS came out not just battered, but torn to shreds!
This paragraph pretty much melts the whole ball o' wax:
Logging's comparative advantage has nothing to do with the alleged superior skills of loggers or their higher intelligence, quicker wit, or more fabulous physiques. The biosphere is a media improvement because the sheer number of blocs, and the speed of response, make errors hard to sustain for very long. The collective mind is also a corrective mind. Transparency is all. And the essence of journalistic trust is not simply the ability to get things right and to present views or ideas or facts clearly and entertainingly. It is also the capacity to admit error, suck it up, and correct what you've gotten wrong. Take it from me. I've both corrected and been corrected. When you screw up, it hurts. But in the long run, it's a good hurt, because it takes you down a peg or two and reminds you what you're supposed to be doing in the first place. Any journalist who starts mistaking himself for an oracle needs to be reminded who he is from time to time.
Andrew's political thought process now goes through his zipper
...both times!
Dan got given the 'ole can of whoop ass by the internet. It was a sight for sore eyes........
Sung to the tune of "Video Killed the Radio Star." What do you think? Perhaps Rush could work it up?
I saw you on the airwaves back in Sixty-Three.
Lying in wait intent on making history.
I was so young I couldn't stop you coming through.
Oh-a oh
You couldn't wait to replace that old phony.
Abusing airwaves was a lib monopoly.
And now I understand the problems you can't see.
Oh-a oh
Come meet your children.
Oh-a oh
They're here to tell you.
Internet killed the CBS star . . .
Internet killed the CBS star . . .
The bloggers came and broke your heart.
Oh-a-a-a oh
And now you race to an abandoned studio.
To face the payback that we wanted long ago.
And you remember how you liberals used to crow.
Oh-a oh
You are the first one.
Oh-a oh
But not the last one.
Internet killed the CBS star . . .
Internet killed the CBS star . . .
In my mind and on my Mac, we can't delete we won't go back.
Oh-a-aho oh,
Oh-a-aho oh
Internet killed the CBS star . . .
Internet killed the CBS star . . .
In my mind and on my Mac, we can't delete we won't go back.
The truth has come through cyberspace. Google monkeys took your place.
You are a CBS star.
You are a CBS star.
Internet killed the CBS star.
Internet killed the CBS star.
Internet killed the CBS star.
Internet killed the CBS star.
repeat
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