Posted on 10/02/2013 2:02:27 PM PDT by Kaslin
Once again, we've reached a government shutdown over irresponsible government spending. Once more, the media are proclaiming the world is coming to an end and blaming conservative Republicans for everything. They are working hand in glove with the Never Enough Government lobby that dominates Washington, without a shred of shame.
Anchors and editors continue to insist that if the GOP were smart, it would bow to "conventional wisdom" and put its foot on the fiscal accelerator. That's what this is about. The elites fully expected Republicans "led" by McConnell and Boehner to fold and are stunned -- furious, really -- that they are being disobeyed.
There are new sheriffs in Washington who won't be intimidated and are willing to fight this Wild West of government excess. Their names include Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.
In politics, there are four levels of response to political insurgency: Ignore, ridicule, savage, accept. We are at Stage Two, moving toward Stage Three. TV reporters treat them as comic figures. ABC's Jon Karl took the marathon Cruz speech and fast-forwarded it in mockery, declaring, "The absurdities were on display when tea party hero Ted Cruz gave his 20-hour-plus speech demanding an end to Obamacare in exchange for funding the government. Bedtime story included." Cruz read a Dr. Seuss story to his children over the TV since he wasn't coming home.
Then, Karl showed a mocking clip from liberal comedian Jon Stewart, reading from a fake book called "The Bore-ax" that Cruz was the "showboatiest blab" in the "Senate of snooze."
Ridicule, however, won't suffice on the budget battles. This is where distortions and negative attacks come in. Seven months ago, reporters reflexively launched into complete Panic Mode to push Obama's theme on the sequester.
ABC morning anchor Josh Elliott warned, "Massive government cuts go into effect that could impact every American: jobs vaporizing, flights delayed, even criminals walking free." ABC reporter David Kerley said, "It sounds like a disaster movie!"
None of that happened. None of it. Who is the fool now? ABC reporters really deserve to be put in fast-forward video, followed by a Jon Stewart joke about blabby showboating.
Reporters' respect for the viewers of TV news is so low that they simply ignore disturbing little facts like the enormous size of our deficits, or even the size of the annual federal budget in trillions. That is immaterial somehow. They are allergic to words like "trillion." ABC saves it for stories like this: "Beer is a $100 billion industry in this country, selling over 6 trillion gallons per year."
We are going broke. So how is that being covered? On ABC over the last three months, the word "deficit" came up exactly once on their morning and evening newscasts, with George Stephanopoulos simply saying on a Sunday edition of "Good Morning America" that Obama planned on a "deficit deal" in the fall. These same shows addressed "attention deficit disorder" three times. But they have their journalistic priorities. ABC "News" did address the word "twerking" 15 times over the last month since the Miley Cyrus dancing debacle at the MTV Video Music Awards.
A political junkie could have more respect for network news if they made any attempt to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose. If these stories were filled with policy substance and explained how the budgeting process has broken down, then their usual tilt toward the Democrats wouldn't be as atrocious. Their usual weapon of choice is the "spending cut victim" story that rages against "heartless" attempts to rein in spending growth.
They aren't really doing stories about the budget. They're doing stories loaded with soundbite duels, assessing which party (which is to say, the one that starts with an R) is going to suffer for refusing to bend. They're not filing stories about how Obamacare is failing, when the unions are scratching their way out and UPS is dropping coverage to 15,000 spouses and IBM is ousting 110,000 retirees from its health insurance program at the end of the year. What's the fun in substance?
The new Republicans in town are showing Ronald Reagan's willingness to upset the media apple carts. They are -- correctly -- ignoring the please from Washington elites to get along with the media. Reagan dragged journalists along, kicking and screaming, while his policies led to an historic economic recovery and a collapsing Soviet empire. It will work for the tea party stalwarts in keeping this country from sinking further into staggering debt and statist misery.
aaaaaaaaand the sheriffs have the backing of the American people!
But Obama is doing everything he can to pin the shutdown on the Republicans using his spin doctors comple with “minority” reporters that are obviously liberal and barely concealing their disdain against the Republic leaders. Obie is using his normal tactics making cutbacks on services that will maximize the amount of pain on the regular folks then making sure news crews are there to interview them on the air. SOS from the POS.
I just want to state my .02 again for the record that what Ted Cruz et al did was patently brilliant and having ALL the intended effects.
This is akin to the greatest overtime sports event I’ve ever seen. On to ‘14!!!
Of course he is. We however know better. I educated some people this morning
Bookmarking for the idiots I work with.
Does anyone know who the Repub rep was on Hannity about 15 min ago?
is there any good reason why Rubio is consistently named alongside the true patriots here who HAVE actually done something about the problem? frommwhat i can see, Rubio is nothing more than a hanger on at this point, coming in at the last minute, and for a minute.
Way to go Brent.
> Of course he is. We however know better. I educated some people this morning
His entire gamebook needs to be exposed to educate the low-info and low-brow people on how he’s been manipulating and controlling their emotions the last 5 years for his own personal benefit
we r in midst of the Second American Revolutionary War. We can and will change USA back to the nation of our original Founding Fathers - God bless their souls.
We are witnessing our second Founding Fathers fighting for our freedom. It is so clear to me. It is time for us to get down and dirty - remember Give me Liberty or give me death. We have our leaders now. It is time that We the People let our voices be heard. Let’s join together, even through civil disobedience, and follow.
Marco Rubio?
Sorry, deal me out.
That guy has done everything in his power to create 25 million new Democrat voters in the next ten years.
Rubio’s status as a Conservative is permanently broken.
I will never vote for this guy.
I don't believe a word he says.
Was it the one on with Michelle Bachmann? If that’s the one it’s Tim Huelskamp, Kansas Rep.
Good article.
Sad, very sad. Why don't you just stay home and don't vote at all
If we fail to stop that, we will be permanently out voted on every other issue that matters to you.
We have national polls on Hispanic voting that go back to Kennedy-Nixon in 1960.
No Republican presidential candidate has EVER received more than 40% of the Hispanic vote.
We agree on almost every other issue, Kaslin.
But your indifference to (or support of) Amnesty completely astounds me.
Maybe you don't care, but I am worried about the terrorists who want to kill us coming through the tunnels from Mexico along with the illegals.
The illegals don't want to kill us. The terrorists do. That is the political threat
I only heard a man but unforunately missed his name - he was great, really laying out what's been going on and hitting the Dems and ObeyMe hard. Been driving me nuts wondering who it was. Thanks!
Hopefully, they do not vote in our elections.
However, they do make an unjustified and very expensive financial claim on many government services, like health care and education.
Also, most illegals have limited skills and limited education, which means they compete directly against America's poorest home grown citizens.
Also, I am not overly concerned about terrorists illegally crossing the border.
Common criminals crossing, yes, for sure.
But terrorists with high quality fake ID’s can get into the USA just as easily with a tourist visa or a student visa or a family visa.
Also, I have NEVER been opposed to legal immigration, although I strongly disagree with the current quota, which has been running at more than 1 million per year for more than ten years.
To me, the USA is the “Harvard University” of the world's countries.
We can CHOOSE the best and brightest young people in the world to be our citizens.
As long as they are highly productive and law abiding, I don't care how they vote.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.