MSM’s Corrupt Truth Squads
Posted by Dirty Harry on Saturday, September 20th, 2008
Most every time you turn on MSNBC or CNN — or click on over to the likes of the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz, Factcheck.org, and ABC’s Jake Tapper – they’re constantly proclaiming themselves the high and mighty arbiters of truth with their so-called “Truth Squads,” and I’m telling you this is the single most insidious thing going on in the campaign right now.
Obviously they are taking hammer and tong to McCain with much more frequency than Obama, the result of which effectively undercuts both McCain’s legitimate criticisms of Obama and McCain’s credibility.
This is a disgustingly bias practice with most McCain attacks being taken wildly out of context in order to be proven false and Obama given a pass on such things as the disgraceful Rush Limbaugh ad – which got scant, scant coverage compared to McCain’s “lipstick” ad — and of course the media can read Obama’s mind and proclaim that he was not referring to Sarah Palin as a pig.
The media has absolutely no business declaring what is and isn’t true like some holy referee. CNN and Jake Tapper are by far the worst at this and the conservative media — you know, the side of the media willing to admit their bias upfront — needs to call attention to these corrupt referees and loudly and unanimously cry foul.
If we lose this campaign, it will be on this ground. And we don’t have a lot of time to take the bite out of these biased attacks. As I said earlier, McCain might well kick the little messiah’s butt in the upcoming debates but these biased and morally corrupt truth squaders are all set and to jump in the tank marked “Obama” and use the next news cycle to turn a McCain debate victory into an attack on his credibility with more of this out-of-context truth squadding.
You were wrong when you thought the mainstream media hit bottom in 2004.
If there’s a Freeper in the house, please post this for me.
Filed in General |
Mike Kriskeyon 20 Sep 2008 at 8:46 pm 1Tapper’s not the worst of them. He wrote about Obama’s disgusting Spanish ad which accused McCain teaming with Rush Limbaugh to deport “stupid Mexicans.”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/from-the-fact-1.html
(Harry, your link for Tapper goes to Ghost Town on IMDB.)
Factcheck.org debunked a lot of Palin smears here:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html
Howard Kurtz gets no defense from me.
Sharon Fergusonon 20 Sep 2008 at 8:47 pm 2Im a FReeper - will check to see if it has been
Danilaon 20 Sep 2008 at 8:49 pm 3Harry, thank YOU for this post. No one is talking about this, and I agree with you, this could decide the election. John McCain, for all of his MANY faults, has always been a straight-shooting truth-teller. And in fact, until this past month, Obama wasn’t arguing otherwise. But now that the Obama campaign has decided to go with the “say they’re just lying about EVERYTHING” strategy, the media is fully on-board. Obama has come out saying the abortion survivor ad is just lies, when there’s nothing untrue in it. In fact, Obama is proud to have fought that legislation! He doesn’t even deny it, he just claims they’re telling vague “lies” and that’s enough.
The Bush administration has a reputation of dishonesty (not saying if they deserve it, just that they have it) and this has tarnished the Republican Party. It’s obvious to me that the blatant whoppers keep coming from the Democrats but McCain-Palin, the maverick candidates, are the only Republicans who were free from that taint. McCain was respected by a great many independents and moderates, and Palin is obviously very above-board, and even though some people hate everything she stands for, she doesn’t hide what she stands for. They’re trying to tear all of that down now and the media is fully on-board.
Factcheck.org is the biggest travesty in all this. I realized this a couple of weeks ago after the GOP convention, when I went over to factcheck to see what the spin was. For example, factcheck claims Palin lied when she said Obama never authored a single piece of legislation. Factcheck says he “pushed through” some legislation. But where is the lie? There’s no lie there! And that’s just a small example.
This started with the “sex ed for kindergartners” legislation that Obama supported. This was the “big lie” and all of the media got on board. But…the legislation did call for sex ed starting in kindergarten when it had previously begun in sixth grade. There was no lie or even deceptive spin on the McCain campaign’s part. And I’d bet money that like most liberals, Obama has no problem with sex ed for young children just like he is proud of fighting the “Born Alive” act. He just denies those things now just to be denying them.
He’s just willing to do anything to win right now. And the media is desperate for him to win, because they made him. They’re hammering McCain. A lot of this stuff is obvious and easily proven. It’s not requiring the media to be nuanced or go into too much detail, these are flat-out simple things. But they’ve decided that “McCain lies” is the story that will win it for them. So after the debates, they’ll just say he lied and that’ll be that.
Sharon Fergusonon 20 Sep 2008 at 8:53 pm 4its been posted!
David Marcoeon 20 Sep 2008 at 8:58 pm 5As I said earlier, McCain might well kick the little messiah’s butt in the upcoming debates but these biased and morally corrupt truth squaders are all set and to jump in the tank marked “Obama” and use the next news cycle turn a McCain debate victory into an attack on his credibility with more of this out-of-context truth-squadding.
Which, as with Palin, has the potential for more blowback, as McCain’s a known quantity and are not looking favorably on the media. On top of that, you just counteract negative media exposure with the talk show circuit; Leno, Letterman, Conan, Stewart, and others. It’s a venue that’s less biased and less tightly controlled, as hosts have to maintain modicum of neutrality and due to the format, they can’t edit the thing to death. Allow them to slip in a few tough questions in between the softballs, (which sweetens the pot and allows the candidate to answer charges) and you’re golden.
Moon 20 Sep 2008 at 9:10 pm 6“If we lose this campaign, it will be on this ground.”
Yep. Which is what angers me the most.
It’s one thing to lose in a fair fight. But this? This has been beyond shameful. It’s almost impossible to debunk every lie and distortion because there seems to be a new one each day! But if we don’t at least try, then as the years go on, all these lies will become cemented as truth in public memory - the way all the lies about President Bush have been. Even for those of us who know what’s true and what’s false… it sometimes becomes a bit fuzzy, doesn’t it? Brainwashing will do that to you. And that’s what this has been, 8 years of brainwashing about President Bush. And now it’s starting all over again.
“You were wrong when you thought the mainstream media hit bottom in 2004.”
Oh, absolutely. 2004 horrible for me. I lost many friends. (All that tolerance, you know.)
But it was child’s play compared to this.
Katoon 20 Sep 2008 at 9:12 pm 7The greatest trick the devil ever played was to convince people that he didn’t exist. And the greatest trick the MSM ever played was to convince people (not all, but enough) that they are impartial referees. We need to explode the myth once and for all that the MSM — the broadcast news programs, CNN, city newspapers — are unbiased.
In the meantime, maybe we should set up our own “fact check” website. Make it seem impartial by posting an occasional criticism of McCain’s ads. Actually, if we played it straight, that’s how it would turn out, with the bulk of the errors on the part of Obama’s mendacious campaign.
RESon 20 Sep 2008 at 9:17 pm 8Shucks, why not just come out and recognize it: the MSM are the East German judges of this election.
bradon 20 Sep 2008 at 9:50 pm 9Here is the dirtyharry thread going on at freerepublic right now.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2086903/posts?page=14
MovieBobon 20 Sep 2008 at 10:12 pm 10“If we lose this campaign, it will be on this ground.”
I’m confused. I thought this was the irrelevant “dinosaur media” the no one (or at least not the “real” Americans) paid attention to anymore… how can they cause you to lose anything?
Dirty Harryon 20 Sep 2008 at 10:21 pm 11Movie Bob — where did I ever say that?
Mike Kriskey — I’m aware Tapper covered the Limbaugh ad and that factcheck reported on Palin — Not saying thiey’re 100% wrong and even mentioned the Limbaugh ad was covered.
I’m talking in general and if you look at the narrative now it’s that the truth squads are calling McCain a liar based on ads that are in fact true.
Link fixed. Thanks.
Thanks for the freeper link as well. Love that site. Best news political news site on the web. Smart commenters as well.
Boon 21 Sep 2008 at 12:33 am 12The people that buy this crap are already the Left Kool Aid drinkers.
Really.
When indy’s hear that Obama never went bi partisan on any bill and is the most far left candidate since McGivern his numbers will shrink even further.
Give Americans some credit.
Conan O'Lenomanon 21 Sep 2008 at 2:02 am 13Kinda like the fox guarding the henhouse.
Stephanieon 21 Sep 2008 at 5:51 am 14Guys honestly calm down. This has been going on since 2000. The MSM is losing viewers and readers everyday. Look at how many reporters have been laid off lately…I guy I despise Jay Mariotti said News Papers were dead. Who reads them anymore? Everyday more and more people look at Drudge, and get their news from sources other than ABC, NBC and CBS. Everyday FOX gets more viewers, so do the other two. And whats funny is that a poll came out not too long ago that proved that FOX was the most fair and balanced news source because viewership actually evened out between GOPS and Thugrocrats.
Just calm down. Polls are tied. OK? Thats what we wanted…..
Scriveneron 21 Sep 2008 at 6:04 am 15Points of order, Stephanie. Polls are not tied. We are down two-plus, and still sliding. You may talk about “margin of error,” but I note we (and I do include myself here) weren’t thinking “statistical tie” when McCain was up by two-plus just a week ago.
And speaking for myself, I didn’t want a tie. I wanted Obama down ten with an imploding campaign. I didn’t want the hippopotamus sitting on my chest every day. I didn’t want to stare into the prospect of this cult of personality taking control of the last, best hope of Earth.
I want to believe the American electorate will wake up in time … but I’m not going to fool myself. I lost that innocence in 1992. It won’t just happen. It must be made to happen. As for how to do that … would it be gauche to say that that’s above my pay grade?
I just hope somebody in the right position has the solution, and implements it.
Stephanieon 21 Sep 2008 at 6:21 am 16Scrivner a one ahead in Rasmussen is a tie. Now if you want to go commit Hari Kiri fine please do. Now stop the whining crying and hand wringing or I will go R Lee Ermey on you. You won’t like it. Cowboy UP FELLA! COWBOY UP!
NeoConJedion 21 Sep 2008 at 8:38 am 17Hey, Stephanie — if you despise Jay Mariotti, I have a funny little story for you.
When I was a sports writer, one of my beats was the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mariotti was in town to cover Jordan’s last appearance there. And when I got to the arena that night, he was in my seat — my assigned seat that I’d used all season long (this was the year before LeBron, so it was loooong).
I told him it was my seat, and he looked at me like “Don’t you know who I am???”
He wouldn’t budge, so I said “I don’t care what kind of ‘competitive banter’ show you’re on, I have a deadline.”
The Cavs media director then stepped in, and made him move. He was trying to carry his laptop, bag, and notes, all out of the press room.
Funny stuff.
NeoConJedion 21 Sep 2008 at 8:45 am 18I saw the CNN “Truth Squad” segment on McCain’s statements on Hussein’s ties to Fannie/Freddie.
It didn’t even mention Franklin Raines once!! It turned things around so much, it actually made it look like McCain was the one benefiting from these companies — not Hussein!
It was hilarious.
Growltigeron 21 Sep 2008 at 10:59 am 19Obama’s “Spanish” ad ought to be countered with former Atty General Gonzalez making a Spanish speaking ad telling Latinos that it’s okay if they cut Dems’ lawns, sit their kids and clean their houses. “But don’t dare try to become attorney general or they’ll destroy you”. Then show the long knives who came out to get them. Obama is bound to be amongst them.
Looking Glasson 21 Sep 2008 at 11:04 am 20Dirty Harry wrote, “You were wrong when you thought the mainstream media hit bottom in 2004.
Almost exactly one year ago I posted that “Keith Olbermann’s behaviour will become the norm for the news and entertainment media. Their demeanor will race their credibility to the bottom, then start digging.”
Less than one-third of the public thinks any source of news is as much as 50% right. For newspapers one-fifth of the population has that much faith. That’s overall negative credibility.
They’re digging their own grave once again.
From the Christian Science Monitor -
“Media truth squads and the ’08 campaign: Any impact?” [LINK]
“Given the low regard in which the public holds the news media, is all this truth-squadding having an impact?”
“Research indicates that attempts to correct misinformation are unlikely to change minds. In an experiment by two academics, volunteers were given a mock news article with potentially misleading information – half with a correction, half without. The researchers discovered that the group that received the correction may end up believing the misleading information more strongly after hearing the correction.”
Danielon 21 Sep 2008 at 11:05 am 21Dennis Prager made the point, when talking about the “Obama will lose because of racism” meme that is picking up steam, that in politics, while there are two teams one team, Democrats, owns the field in which the game is played as well as the referees who are supposed to judge the game. It is amazing, given these facts, whenever a Republican wins.
And when it comes to where people are getting news. People need to know facts. Example: Cable News Ratings at TV By The Numbers:
Fox News for Sept. 18: 1,543,000
CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, HLN combined: 2,201,000
LINK
Furthermore, Fox News reporting still has a hard time describing itself as “fair & balanced.” Example: Fox jumped on the “low polls for Obama = racism” meme just like the rest of the media herd - LINK
Supramom2000on 21 Sep 2008 at 11:19 am 22Looking Glass,
I went to the link and read the article at Christian Science. Boy was it biased towards Obama. Actually calling statements that Obama’s tax plans will raise taxes on everyone a lie. No explanation as to how 95% will get a tax cut, no taking into account that 40% don’t pay taxes anyway, etc.
They bash Palin and the Bridge to Nowhere as well.
Jack Marinoon 21 Sep 2008 at 11:23 am 23It is going to get worst from the left, right up to Nov 4. Then the BOMB hits and Obama is beaten badly. Then the real vile will come to the surface. Bush ignores all his attacks which turn public opinion against him. I hope McCain and Palin get out there and fight back like tigers and show the media, the democrats for what they really are - Traitors
Danielon 21 Sep 2008 at 11:31 am 24And the Big Three Networks - NBC, CBS, ABC - that no one is any attention to according to some:
During the Democrat convention on its third night, when viewer ship dropped off according to one report LINK:
“NBC averag[ed] 5.63 million viewers”
“CBS averaged 3.59 million viewers”
“ABC’s … averaged 3.31 million viewers”
And here’s the cable ratings for Wednesday, 8/25:
FNC – 1,301,000 viewers
CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, HLN – 2,500,000 viewers
LINK
So on Wednesday, 8/25, how did the Fox compare to everyone else?
Fox = 1.3 Million viewers
Everyone else = 15,030,000
It looks to me like the MSM is going to have to lose A LOT OF VIEWERS.
And I’m supposed to think that these people are irrelevant? Numbers like that count as very, very relevant to me.
Stephanieon 21 Sep 2008 at 11:42 am 25You know what you people are such cry babys. Total whining cry babies. Daniel your numbers are interesting but they really don’t say much. A lot of negative bs. But nothing substantial.
You are talking about DNC ratings. THe GOP convention drew a bigger crowd without having all of the outlets that the dems had showing it. And yet you have these numbers. Interesting but so irrevelant. Totally irrelevant.
Looking Glasson 21 Sep 2008 at 2:25 pm 26Stephanie “You know what you people are such cry babys. Total whining cry babies. Daniel your numbers are interesting but they really don’t say much. A lot of negative bs. But nothing substantial.
You are talking about DNC ratings. THe GOP convention drew a bigger crowd without having all of the outlets that the dems had showing it. And yet you have these numbers. Interesting but so irrevelant. Totally irrelevant.”
This is why conservatives win. We have the real women on our side.
Dirty Harry’s Place… » More Outrageous CNN Factchecks — Help On The Way?on 21 Sep 2008 at 3:19 pm 27[…] said yesterday that conservatives had better get their act together and call this nonsense out for what it is. The […]
Audietooon 21 Sep 2008 at 5:16 pm 28No neoconJedi: it was not hilarious, several million people still get their news and all their current ‘knowledge’ from CNN and I can tell you that their response to any good thing said about McCain is Oh I just can’t stan his lies.” This is the picture the media is painting and they are getting away with it.
Danielon 21 Sep 2008 at 7:59 pm 29Stephanie, my comments are directly related to the comments you make above, “Everyday more and more people look at Drudge, and get their news from sources other than ABC, NBC and CBS. Everyday FOX gets more viewers, so do the other two.”
What evidence, other than your own opinion do you have for this assertion? I gave you hard numbers with sources. What are yours?
That the date I chose to focus on was during the Dem Convention is beside the point. I could give you the same numbers for the GOP convention. More people watched the Palin & McCain on NBC, CBS, ABC, and every cable news outlet combined than watched it on Fox or browsed Drudge for info. Millions more, in fact.
The point is that the left-wing Main Scream Media get far more attention from the public then Drudge, Fox or talk radio put together. And I also don’t consider Fox’s news reporting all that “fair and balanced.” Fox relies on AP et al just as does every other news organization. And I would bet there are just as many left-leaning journalism school graduates in the Fox news division as there are in CNN’s & MSNBC’s.
If you want to pretend that the millions watching ABC, NBC & CBS don’t matter, fine. But don’t come here and expect everyone else to bow down before your bluster. Facts matter. And the fact is Sean Hannity just doesn’t have the market share that NBC network news has.
Danielon 21 Sep 2008 at 8:06 pm 30Saying that the numbers I present are irrelevant is kind of like saying that Pravda was irrelevant in Russian’s opinion of Stalin and America.
I don’t know if you folks have noticed but the last two presidential elections were incredibly close. America was like something short of a few thousand votes from a President Gore. And a few hundred thousand from a President Kerry.
When ABC, CBS and NBC, every weeknight, get viewers on the order of 12.5 Million viewers, you dismiss the Obama-nauts at these networks as irrelevant at America’s peril.
Danielon 21 Sep 2008 at 8:09 pm 31BTW, the reason I persist in the facts is to simply make people aware of what conservatives are up against in this or any election. I’m not a gloom & doom guy. I honestly think the numbers for McCain-Palin are much greater than the polls show, and in November there will some loser in the NBCABCCBS newsroom wondering how it happened. After all, they don’t know anyone who voted for the old white haired dude.