Posted on 11/26/2002 11:02:56 PM PST by BADROTOFINGER
Gore’s TV War: He Lobs Salvo At Fox News by Josh Benson
Among the many problems facing the Democratic Party, according to former Vice President Al Gore, is the state of the American media.
"The media is kind of weird these days on politics, and there are some major institutional voices that are, truthfully speaking, part and parcel of the Republican Party," said Mr. Gore in an interview with The Observer. "Fox News Network, The Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh—there’s a bunch of them, and some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations and the rest of the media …. Most of the media [has] been slow to recognize the pervasive impact of this fifth column in their ranks—that is, day after day, injecting the daily Republican talking points into the definition of what’s objective as stated by the news media as a whole."
Mr. Gore has been airing his views during a nationwide promotional book tour that marks his re-emergence in public life after a self-imposed exile following his loss in the 2000 Presidential election. Now, as Mr. Gore considers another Presidential campaign, he’s determined to confound his ponderous image by unveiling a new Al Gore—one who doesn’t hesitate, as he puts it, to "let ’er rip."
Hence his controversial criticisms of President Bush’s foreign policy, and his surprise announcement in favor of a government-run universal health-care system. And hence, in a phone interview with The Observer, his extensive criticism of the media, which is hardly a conventional way of launching a national political campaign.
Actually, Mr. Gore may have little reason to hide his views about the media, for his re-emergence, while generating a massive amount of attention, has also inspired ridicule from commentators of all ideological persuasions. Conservatives seemed delighted by his return, remembering his awkward candidacy in 2000, and many liberals have been quite frank in wishing that he would simply disappear.
But Mr. Gore has a bone to pick with his critics: namely, he says, that a systematically orchestrated bias in the media makes it impossible for him and his fellow Democrats to get a fair shake. "Something will start at the Republican National Committee, inside the building, and it will explode the next day on the right-wing talk-show network and on Fox News and in the newspapers that play this game, The Washington Times and the others. And then they’ll create a little echo chamber, and pretty soon they’ll start baiting the mainstream media for allegedly ignoring the story they’ve pushed into the zeitgeist. And then pretty soon the mainstream media goes out and disingenuously takes a so-called objective sampling, and lo and behold, these R.N.C. talking points are woven into the fabric of the zeitgeist."
And during a lengthy discourse on the history of political journalism in America, Mr. Gore said he believed that evolving technologies and market forces have combined to lower the media’s standards of objectivity. "The introduction of cable-television news and Internet news made news a commodity, available from an unlimited number of sellers at a steadily decreasing cost, so the established news organizations became the high-cost producers of a low-cost commodity," said Mr. Gore. "They’re selling a hybrid product now that’s news plus news-helper; whether it’s entertainment or attitude or news that’s marbled with opinion, it’s different. Now, especially in the cable-TV market, it has become good economics once again to go back to a party-oriented approach to attract a hard-core following that appreciates the predictability of a right-wing point of view, but then to make aggressive and constant efforts to deny that’s what they’re doing in order to avoid offending the broader audience that mass advertisers want. Thus the Fox slogan ‘We Report, You Decide,’ or whatever the current version of their ritual denial is."
"We understand that Gore is frustrated," said R.N.C. spokesman Kevin Sheridan. "He’s the leader of a party without a message. But if he thinks that the Republican National Committee can control the American media, then perhaps he needs a break from the book tour."
Fox spokesman Rob Zimmerman said, "We won’t dignify this with a response."
A spokesman for The Washington Times didn’t return calls for comment. Rush Limbaugh was traveling and not available for comment.
A Left Hook
Of course, some of the harshest criticisms of Mr. Gore have come from distinctly non-conservative quarters. Mr. Gore seemed particularly stung, for example, by an op-ed written by Frank Rich of The New York Times, suggesting that his new spontaneity was a charade. "When people write a line like one that I read this morning—quote, ‘People do not change,’ period, end quote—well, there’s a difference between learning from experience and self-reinvention," Mr. Gore said. "People do change, particularly in America. If you don’t learn from the experiences you have in life, then you’re not trying very hard, and if you don’t make mistakes, you’re not human …. If people who make their living criticizing anybody and everybody want to add me to their list, that’s all right. Hell, they’ve got to make a living."
Democrats sympathetic to Mr. Gore frequently maintain that "political insiders"—the media, big donors, professional politicians—paint an overly pessimistic picture of his viability as a candidate and suggest that his position has been strengthened by the party’s poor showing in the midterm elections several weeks ago. "There are all these people in the party who have been adamant that we need a fresh face," said Joe Andrew, who headed the Democratic National Committee during the Clinton administration. "I think a lot of those people are taking another look at Al Gore now, saying that, ‘Well, at least there’s someone out there with big ideas, who looks good on TV, who looks more comfortable with himself.’ I think it’s simply a fundamental reaction to the sense that he is a serious candidate with serious ideas."
But while Mr. Gore has a solid core of support, many Democrats do want a fresh face to take on George W. Bush in 2004. The same formal and informal polls that show Mr. Gore with substantially larger backing than any other Democratic hopeful also show that a great many donors, opinion makers and party leaders are uncommitted—and leaning toward Anyone But Gore.
It’s possible that no amount of criticism will keep Mr. Gore out of the race, but there’s little question that "Gore fatigue" already has become a rallying point for his potential opponents. "At this point, people are uniformly looking for a different face and a different agenda, an agenda that requires a backbone," Vermont Governor Howard Dean, a potential Democratic contender, told The Observer.
Asked about Mr. Gore’s efforts to make a fresh start as a straight-talking, independent-minded Democrat, Mr. Dean said, "I think it will be kind of a tough job for someone who was a sitting Vice President to call himself an outsider."
Mr. Gore acknowledged his image problem among powerful Democrats, and that the onus will be upon him to recapture the loyalties of those who supported him in 2000. "Maybe I bear the blame for some of it," he said. "I haven’t been very good about calling all of the insiders over the last two years, and maybe some of them have a beef with me because of that. I know they have been courted assiduously by some of the others who are considering a run for the White House, and it may be that some of them have already signed up with other people. If I do decide to run again, I think there’s a lot of support, but I’d also have to work really hard to get a bunch of them committed back to me."
Mr. Gore also reckoned that he would have to prove himself all over again to key political and media players. "I’m well aware that the political insiders and political-journalism community have a considerable amount of influence, and even though I’m stronger at the grassroots level, I think that if I did run again, I would have to convince those two groups that I’ve learned enough in the last couple of years to run a better campaign than I did last time. I don’t think that there’s a thing that I could say and no words I could choose that could accomplish that—the way to convince them would be in actually doing it."
For now, Mr. Gore can only attempt to explain what motivates the ceaseless lampooning he continues to face from America’s columnists and commentators. "That’s postmodernism," he offered. "It’s the combination of narcissism and nihilism that really defines postmodernism, and that’s another interview for another time, if you’re interested in it.
You may reach Josh Benson via email at: jbenson@observer.com.
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So there you have it from the horse's rear end-- anyone who doesn't disguise adolescent leftist garbage as real news is a traitor to the profession.
As far as his book ranking 1500th on Amazon.Com, it was at 711th only a few days ago. Please Al, run. Make Adali Stevenson look like a winner.
-archy-/-
"Zeitgeist." -Al Gore, 2002
This didn't require that we allow the FBI to spy on us and collect our purchase records.
Plus most of these organizations have to be purged of the Clintonoids.
They have even more powers now. Bush won't be president forever.
In realization of this, Bush pushed hard against he civil service unions taking or retaining control of the groups. This the only way to do it.
Irrelevant and inconsequential since it grows government in spite of this "concession."
Otherwise, they become like the Postal Service, a clearinghouse for "diversity" and other PC crap.
They will still be a clearing house for diversity and PC crap since it is federal EEOC law which regulates this unions or not and hasn't been repealed.
I agree with you re: the Farm bill and the ed bill. I can only offer that Bush had to appease some groups and suck up to enough swing congressmen to get legislation passed.
He is no leader then. Legislation which greatly expands federal powers does not have to be passed. In fact, nobody has yet explained what problem was solved with the Education and Farm bills other than the fact that perhaps the fedgov was just too damn small.
If there is one thing the liberal Dems have taught us, it is that incremental changes add up, and patience is a virtue.
Learned so well by the republicans that they are continuing in the very same tradition. Excepting they're steering the ship in the same direction.
Bottom line though, and back to the topic at hand, can you seriously say that there would be no difference if Gore were President today vs. W?
It would be better in fact because the republicans might just start opposing the democrats instead of furthering their agenda. If homeland security or the Patriot act were asked for by a democrat president, Freepers would circle the wagons.
Al Gore has found a new excuse to explain all his woes : Post-Modernism !!!
Gore begins by complaining that he can't get a fair shake out of the media, which mocks and lampoons him ... Mocked and Lampooned by Leno every night, the idea that Gore is as dull as a 2-by-4 eventually becomes part of "the fabric of the zeitgeist" ... (Should anyone ever be elected president who used the word "zeitgeist" in normal conversation ???) ...
Sounding everyday more like Chomsky, Gore complains that the media is unserious and not focused on the real issues because its is "financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations" ... Their hired thugs are paid to lampoon him ... Yes, SNL is really part of the "vast right-wing conspiracy" ...Endlessly lampooned, a man who would really "fight for the people" is barred from higher office ...
No doubt anyday Gore will take the next Chomsky step ... since media-for-profit allows the "zeitgeist" to be the play thing of "billionaires," media (like medicine) must be socialized by the government and run on a non-profit basis by civil servants totally / selflessly dedicated to the public trust ...
As odd as that sounds, I must add that the first essay George Orwell got a check for writing was a piece for "GK's Weekly" (as in GK Chesterton) on how the billionaires control the media and must be broken / broken up by the government ... In addition to wanted to keep the Fleet Street billionaires' hands of the zeitgeist, Chesterton also used "GK Weekly" to run a crusade against the Cadberry chocolate bar trust (insert your own joke) ...
But the real shocker of Gore's attack on the media that the media is too POST-MODERN :
http://www2.observer.com/observer/pages/frontpage1.asp
For now, Mr. Gore can only attempt to explain what motivates the ceaseless lampooning he continues to face from America's columnists and commentators. "That's postmodernism," he offered. "It's the combination of narcissism and nihilism that really defines postmodernism, and that's another interview for another time, if you're interested in it."
Again, as with "zeitgeist," I'm not sure if anyone who knows the word "post-modern" should be allowed to campaign for high office ... These are words that are best treated as abstract jokes ... Like the movie where WC Fields throws around the word "technocracy" for laughs ...
But the more I thought about it, the more I concluded that Gore would be the natural enemy of "Post-Modernism" ...
Here is a nice SHORT description of Post-Modernism :
http://jonmattox.com/grids/ideas/postmodernism.html
Lets look at some of the main points :
PoMo doesn't take itself seriously -- Already it is chaffing against Gore
PoMo is against "grand theory" / "metanarrative" and for "multiple-interpretations-of-the-text" / "schizophrenia"-- "Environmentalism" is nothing is not a "metanarrative" -- all things must be judged by one standard -- how they effect "the earth in the balance" ... In the 80's, scholars would write that America loved Reagan because America was "Post-Modern" and I was amused by the buzzword ... Rethinking those old arguments, now I'm no longer amused, simply convinced ...
PoMo is for a sense of fun -- In a key Post-Modern manifesto, architect Robert Venturi said that people must start "Learning From Las Vegas" -- Can you think of anyone who has learned less from Las Vegas than Gore ???
As the final stage in the crisis of Capitalism, PoMo is for the "inflation of theory" and the "overproduction of artifacts" -- What environmentalist can be for "overproduction" ??? And all that "theory" is just going to mean more landfills ...
In 1979, critic Clement Greenberg, the Patron Saint of AB-EX / the man who made Pollock a household name, said PoMo is "the antithesis of everything he loved" ... "a lowering of aesthetic standards caused by the democratization of culture under industrialism" :
" ... it's an excuse to pile together oodles of wild and crazy decor ..."
Doesn't this sound like the "Bush is Popular because Bush is Stupid" argument ???
No one would ever describe Gore as having "oodles of wild and crazy" anything ... And since the "billionaires" controlling the "zeitgeist" have given America a constant lust for "oodles" of the wild and crazy, I can see why Gore hates Post-Modernism ...
Personally, I want "oodles" of wildness and craziness and so I say, keep the zeitgeist plowing ahead at full speed ...
This bird is no more, he has ceased to be...
Then I might as well take the time to say, I tried to deep-fry my Milky-Ways and it didn't work. Them Scots must do somethin special with the batter....
I guess the proof will be in what happens when the new Congress gets to town. I am leery of Lott. Hope he gets a spine for Christmas!
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