A New Era of Credibility

The conservative web group, FReerepublic.com, in its quest for "truth in media", may have accidentally stumbled across the means for unseating the leftists' obsession with "tolerance".

For over a year now, Freerepublic.com bloggers (Freepers) have been publically challenging the "factual information" disseminated in news stories published by the main stream media (MSM). The website's members have picked apart undocumented statistics; they've delved into the partisan semantics of questions on political polls; they've "FReeped" online polls to prove the uselessness of easily manipulated data; they've exposed sub-groups of radical activist organizations like "PETA", which pose as research "think tanks" and "responsible physicians"; they've bombarded news stations with phone calls and emails when the reporting is blatantly one-sided or even false; and finally, as this summer draws to a close, they have begun to publically object to lazy and biased newscasting.

As the analytical members of the conservative website FReerepublic.com have relentlessly challenged the credibility of the MSM, they have also simultaneously proven a theory that our forefathers discussed as they authored the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution; the Freedom of the Press has to be absolute, not just because truth is critical for sustaining a democracy in an otherwise Socialist world, but because truth itself cannot be ordered or legislated; it is the process of discourse, debate and disagreement that leads to true enlightenment.

However, as history has shown numerous times in the past, when "enlightenment" rears it's shining head, "darkness" goes on the defensive. Clearly, the crowd that seeks the truth is in direct conflict with those that "believe" truth is subjective and personal.

In the early seventies, a movement that focused on "prejudice" and "intolerance"--catch words intended to stop random and cruel discrimination against people with different colored skins--ballooned into a social behavior fad that temporarily pushed aside conservative etiquette. As a result, an entire generation of young people has now been raised believing that the concept of "maintaining a good reputation" is a selfish ploy perpetuated by adults who seek to control the scope of their teenagers' sexual activity, that everyone has the right to choose his own moral framework, and that questioning another's reputation is the equivalent of discrimination based on ethnicity.

In the process of subverting social norms, the simple concepts of credibility, honesty and reputation were thrown out with the bath water. A few folks saw what was happening along the way; many had to go through their own life experiences to become aware of the problem, and some have only just figured it out. Regardless of what brought them to this point, conservatives are coming out of the closet in droves, and it seems they are not willing to just "sit back and take it" anymore.

This past week "FReepers" crossed a critical threshold in their war on liberalism. By exposing, Dan Rather, a long-time icon of the MSM, as a man who is, at best lazy and partisan, or at worst dishonest and partisan, they actually were successful in preventing a paparazzi attack on the White House.

The rumbling volcano finally erupted when Dan Rather of CBS news--apparently oblivious to the "New Media"--happily presented some weak, insupportable "evidence" that a sitting president had attempted to shirk his duty as an American by either (a) serving in the National Guard rather than the regular army, or (b) missing 3 months of his 6 years service in the National Guard.

Rather's "evidence" consisted of "testimony" from partisan hacks and misquoted experts, and copies of memos "signed by" a man who died years ago (thereby unseating the commonly accepted theory that "dead men can't tell tales").

A FReeper, "Buckhead", immediately challenged the authenticity of the memos. Within hours, CBS's self-satisfied smiles were wiped off their faces, by the analytical branch of the "New Media".

This may well have been an historical moment; the MSM had probably never been diverted from its modus operandi of accuse-and-attack so successfully in the past. The MSM understandably was stunned to discover that the "seekers of truth" had reached a critical-enough mass to subvert "Plan A", the accuse-and-attack mission plan that had withstood the test of time; and to squash "Plan B": blame "intolerance" for anything that goes wrong. For forty years, the MSM had misused the concept of "tolerance" to cover-up its inadequacy, its laziness and the many, many errors made in haste, all because of a desire to get credit for "breaking the story".

Unfortunately for the MSM--but fortunately for America--FReepers and other rightwing bloggers are calling for a New Era of Credibility. Rightwingers are relying on the age-old premise that each individual is only as good as his honor and his ability to seekout and relay the truth (rather than the leftist theory that each man is only as good as his college degree--whether earned or gifted). The conservative bloggers harken back to the biblically-sound theory that a reputation once damaged is rarely ever recovered.

There may be no greater service that FReerepublic.com can do for the American people than to continue their mission to expose the MSM's poor journalistic practices (like quoting and enshrining of "unnamed sources"; the use of un-authenticated documents; the poor selection of interviewees; personal relationships between editors and partisan hacks; the backroom cover-up games and the rampant plagiarism of blogs and other reporter's articles). Perhaps they will even bring about the demise of the monopolistic mainstream media altogether.

Liberals may have attempted to destroy the value of a good reputation by telling kids not to "judge" others and to be "tolerant", but those same leftists did not eradicate the quest for truth well enough to prevent a powerful force from re-emerging and continuing on with the mission to conquer social misbehavior.

MIDI - AMERICAN PIE

A long, long time ago...when the TV news biz started
They knew not where it would go
They hoped it would last forever...no matter how they did their jobs
But there were things that they just couldn't know
The public trust they were abusing...they thought that they would catch us snoozing
They sneaked in their bias...pretending to be pious
Talk Radio, cable, and internet...showed them all that their match they met
In his Depends Cronkite wet and Old Media had died

So bye, bye to Old Media, bye
It was quite a run but you are done and now it won't fly
New Media's here, so be a big girl, don't cry
We were laughing as Old Media died...laughing as Old Media died

It was Brokaw, Jennings, and Rather who each night put out all that blather
They determined what was news
They pretended that they were real journalists...the more we heard, the more we're p*ssed
We grew so weary of their slanted views
Every chance they'd knock the GOP...it was obvious, the blind could see
While they put out their leftist prattle...we were getting set for the battle
Well, there came a guy named JimRob who had quite enough
It was time our side proved that it had the right stuff...he took charge and showed them it wasn't a bluff
Old Media would die

We were singing, bye, bye to Old Media, bye
It was quite a run but you are done and now it won't fly
New Media's here, so be a big girl, don't cry
We were laughing as Old Media died...laughing as Old Media died

For years the game they had been winning 'cause they were really good at spinning
It was easy as could be
Entertainment they sometimes threw in for fun...they came down hard on those with guns
Oh my, there's Katie's colonoscopy
There was shock when they examined her..."That's her brain" each one would soon concur
Then the nurses all started screaming...when they realized they're not dreaming
We heard some shout, "Here is a chance we cannot let pass...we will say we're sorry if we're being too crass
Everyone knew Katie's head was in her *ss"
Old Media would die

Their cheerleading really was shameless...for what RATS did they're always blameless
No one had been too surprised
To the whole world they'd proven that they were whores...they kissed the feet of Michael Moore
Can I please have that pizza supersized?
He ballooned up to a half a ton...he could cause an eclipse of the sun
To the anchors he was a hero...while things burned they're playing like Nero
There was no chance they would show both sides of anything...propaganda they had been determined to bring
One day they were foiled by the vast right wing
Old Media would die

Would they do what's right? They're saying, "NO, never"...they thought they were just so very clever
They thought they'd get away with it
Docs were found down in Sandy Berger's pants...and Dan Rather thought he'd take a chance
With those forgeries now George Bush he would get
Dan used them and he was elated...but Bush is misunderestimated
Thanks to a group of sleepers...pajama-wearing FReepers
So Dan Rather's plan would fail...Ken's frequency was now in a jail
A happy ending to this tale
Old Media would die

We were singing, bye, bye to Old Media, bye
It was quite a run but you are done and now it won't fly
New Media's here, so be a big girl, don't cry
We were laughing as Old Media died

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