Posted on 09/14/2009 9:09:02 AM PDT by Congressman Billybob
How many people still listen to NPR (National “People’s” Radio) and take it seriously? Apparently that list doesn’t include the editors and reporters for NPR. Two cases in point, both having to do with numbers.
As I was driving up to D.C. for the Rally on the Mall on Saturday, I heard NPR gushing over (excuse me, reporting on) the President Obama’s speech to a Joint Meeting of Congress. In that speech, the President said that “there are 30 million uninsured Americans.” Notice that the number dropped from 45 million because that part of the uninsured are not Americans. They are mostly citizens of Mexico.
The polling of the American people on health care reform has made it crystal clear they do not want American tax dollars paying premiums for foreign citizens. Remember that Cong. Joe Wilson called out, “You lie,” when President Obama was claiming that health care “reform” did not include the illegal aliens. Joe should certainly apologize for interrupting the President, with a true statement.
Interestingly, Obama indirectly acknowledged his prior lies on this subject by saying last week that there were “30 million uninsured American citizens” who needed coverage. Remember that the magic number used to be 47 million uninsured? The new number means that in future, Obama intends to throw 15 million Mexicans under the bus because the issue is to hot to stay with.
Right after NPR ran the coverage of Obama’s speech, they had an hourly news break in which they announced that “the Census Bureau has announced that the number of uninsured Americans remained the same last year, at 47 million.” No, they are not all Americans. But the reporter obviously wasn’t listening to NPR. The Mexicans are now out, apparently.
A similar numerical error occurred the morning after the Rally. NPR spent ten minutes covering President Obama’s appearing before “15,000 enthusiastic people” in Minneapolis. They quoted the Administration as saying that “tickets were handed out on a first-come, first serve basis.” Given the past experience of the Administration in stacking the deck of both attendees and questioners at town hall meetings, perhaps NPR should have checked that out.
Have all journalists forgotten the motto of the late, great Chicago News Bureau, which was, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” NPR claimed that the lack of any opposition in the hall, and the sparse opposition outside, meant that there was general approval of Obama’s health plan.
Well, what was going on at the same time as Obama’s speech in Minneapolis? Why, there was a gathering of 1.2 to 1.6 million Americans on the Mall in Washington, who oppose Obama policies, including his health care proposals. What did NPR say about those people?
Nothing, Zilch. Zero. The real news was that 15,000 people supported Obama. The fact that one hundred times that amount of people opposed him in a D.C. Rally that was on TV and everything, was not news.
This was not an accident. The NPR reporters and editors had to know about the D.C. Rally. Now, I would defend to the death the right of any private network to report the news falsely and incompetently. That’s a matter of the First Amendment. But NPR is a public outfit. They are paid for, in large part, with tax dollars. We the people pay for that, and they lie to us, on purpose.
The Park Service has an office which estimates the size of crowds by looking at aerial photographs and comparing those to prior events. That office says it was 1,2 to 1.6 million.
See for yourself. Photos on the Net show the Mall full, plus several blocks of its feeder streets. So, where do some news media get the figure of 70,000? Anyone who wants to use the Mall fills out an application long in advance with a minimum estimate, which was 70,000 here.
Any news media who use that number are either lazy or incompetent. They also think that you are too stupid to catch them at it. NPR has done that, but so have many other news media, including the New York Times. The leading symbol at the Rally was the yellow flag that shows a rattlesnake and the words “Don’t tread on me.” That revolutionary flag applies not just to politicians, but to the press as well.
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About the Author: John Armor practiced in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu His latest book, on Thomas Paine, is available here: www.TheseAreTheTimes.us (Note the suffix, .us)
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John / Billybob / Ben
I just Facedbooked Bret Baier and askes him to report the correct number. Let’s see what he reports tonight.
Do you have a link to the estimate by the National Park Services?
I haven’t heard their estimate mentioned in all the discussions about the number that showed up to protest.
NPR=NaSi Public Radio (National-Socialist)...no one has to listen to keep them on the air because they’re tax payer funded.
The lies in the media do not shock me anymore.
Even that isn't necessarily stack-proof. Line up your stooges at the ticket counter, THEN announce the venue. Later, express astonishment that the hundreds of tickets available were snapped up in twenty minutes and hundreds more were turned away.
NPR = American Pravda
” NPR = American Pravda “
Naahh.. Pravda had more journalistic integrity....
Hey John! Glad to see you made it back home and are back at it on the boards!
John
Good to see you again, my friend.
John / Ben
Ehrmmm... “NaSi” is sodium silicide, by the way. Sorry, first thing that struck Me from your post and it kind of detracted from the rest of your comment. Just sticking with NPR should do, I think, as by now most people are already aware of their primary leanings.
National Pink Radio
It’s on the left of your dial.
I wonder why no attempt has been made to starve NPR and NEA of funds until they reports news that is fair and balanced. Those who cannot land a job in private industry appear to flock to these taxpayer subsidized industries.
NPR?
They have shilled for the Socialists and Communists for so long that no one can believe anything stated by them anymore.......
Bumperoo!
70,000 indeed.
My A@@.
LOL
BTW, pleased to meet you in person this past weekend.
It would be great if someone could put a vid on youtube with all the pundits changing the numbers. 45,30,45,30,45
Thanks...I don't like to use the term "nazi" because one; it has been so over-used in describing the tactics of our elected officials, and two; its Germanic.
Any resemblance to chemical element abbreviation was unintentional. Merely an English abbreviation for National Socialist.
"Just sticking with NPR should do, I think, as by now most people are already aware of their primary leanings."
Thank you for the post editing tips. We are usually able to comment on the topic without being "checked" by other posters, but you are always welcome.
It is utterly in vain to hope that any element of the mainstream media will try to report honestly upon the new conservative movement.
Their reporters and editors oppose the movement with every fiber of their being. Their corporate advertisers, sponsors and bosses, who might push for balance, won’t do so, whether it’s their own liberal contingent, or the fear of retaliation or seeming un-PC, or the lazy confidence that their own lobbyists can save their bacon while the Democrats fry everyone else’s.
The only thing for us to do is to prove them wrong by winning elections. Then, and only then, will there be a chance of honest attention, if only because the media’s liberal bias is only overcome by its desire to Monday morning quarterback every last thing they can.
I am watching Hannity right now. Even he reported the number as “Tens and tens and tens of thousands.” I think FNC has instructed everyone to stick with the “tens of thousand” number. I’m just not sure why.
Well, hello there. I’m sorry that I missed you up in DC. I was up there with a friend. She and I stayed with one of her sisters who lives just north of DC and road in on a bus with a 300 person group from Westminster, MD. It was a lot of fun.
I keep reading that the park service does NOT do estimates of crowd sizes.
I remember a thread during the march where someone posted a tweet from an ABC reporter saying there were about 70,000 on the mall. Its not clear if the 9/12 marchers were even on the mall at that time. Could that reporter have been talking about the “Black Family Reunion” that was there that morning?
Good column!
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