The trouble with CBS...
Okay, I know I haven't posted in a while. Sue me. I'm taking a break from work to write about this whole CBS producing false documents thing.
For those of you who've been in a cave (or in many cases, a dorm room) for the past two weeks, CBS recently claimed that George W. Bush used his father's connections to get into the National Guard and avoid Vietnam, and that even there he wasn't exactly the most diligent soldier. I personally have no doubt of these claims (and care about them about as much as I care about John Kerry's war record), but the problem is that the documents supporting those claims were bogus.
Now the issue to me here is not the decision to report on these unconfirmed documents - that's been pretty well covered in the media anyway, and CBS is trying to acknowledge that and move on, which I applaud them for. The issue here to me is that in rushing ot air this report, CBS (or at least Dan Rather) is perpetuating the myth of the liberally biased media.
People, wake up: the media is not that biased. The fact is the media happens to be composed of individuals, and individuals are inclined to incorporate their personal opinions into what they talk about. But they try. At worst, most media outfits may be slightly left of center, and Fox News might be slightly right of center. CNN does not stand for Communist News Network.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "Only fools trust the liberally-biased media." You know what my first thought was? "Yeah, well only fools trust the conservatively-biased president." A little harsh, I admit. But let's face it: the president, or rather the White House, is our primary source of information concerning the issues that our nation faces. Until we have robots reporting to us (may that day never come), don't expect total objectivity. It's fool's gold.
And of course, there's the larger point that giving a flying shit about what the president did 30 years ago (much less 20 years ago when he was an alcoholic and possibly a drug addict) does absolutely nothing to advance the national rhetoric. I could go on about that forever, but I know we've heard it all before.
Song lyric of the day:
"I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives"
-Green Day, "Holiday"
For those of you who've been in a cave (or in many cases, a dorm room) for the past two weeks, CBS recently claimed that George W. Bush used his father's connections to get into the National Guard and avoid Vietnam, and that even there he wasn't exactly the most diligent soldier. I personally have no doubt of these claims (and care about them about as much as I care about John Kerry's war record), but the problem is that the documents supporting those claims were bogus.
Now the issue to me here is not the decision to report on these unconfirmed documents - that's been pretty well covered in the media anyway, and CBS is trying to acknowledge that and move on, which I applaud them for. The issue here to me is that in rushing ot air this report, CBS (or at least Dan Rather) is perpetuating the myth of the liberally biased media.
People, wake up: the media is not that biased. The fact is the media happens to be composed of individuals, and individuals are inclined to incorporate their personal opinions into what they talk about. But they try. At worst, most media outfits may be slightly left of center, and Fox News might be slightly right of center. CNN does not stand for Communist News Network.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "Only fools trust the liberally-biased media." You know what my first thought was? "Yeah, well only fools trust the conservatively-biased president." A little harsh, I admit. But let's face it: the president, or rather the White House, is our primary source of information concerning the issues that our nation faces. Until we have robots reporting to us (may that day never come), don't expect total objectivity. It's fool's gold.
And of course, there's the larger point that giving a flying shit about what the president did 30 years ago (much less 20 years ago when he was an alcoholic and possibly a drug addict) does absolutely nothing to advance the national rhetoric. I could go on about that forever, but I know we've heard it all before.
Song lyric of the day:
"I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives"
-Green Day, "Holiday"
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