A dead skunk in the road
I'd rather clean up skunk roadkill in East Texas on a Dog Day in August than pick up a Newsweek ever again.
The recent screwup at Newsweek has stirred up the blogosphere like nothing since Rathergate. Last night I read the Newsweek article and the commentary on the web and thought I was Ok.
But this morning I saw a Newsweek and felt like I'd just run over a skunk.
One has to ask several questions.
First, if they, meaning the MSM, blew something as big as this, then what else have they told us which is not true in part or in whole?
Is this lack of clarity due to incompetence or is it due to maliciousness?
The Powerline excerpt of todays White House press conference is telling.
"Press:With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?"
WTF? Is that a question or is that a reporter lecturing a White House Official?
1. One of the top TWO US Weekly news magazined LIED. They printed a story which had no basis in fact and was used by Anti-US forces to inflame public opinion against the USA.
2. People have died as a direct consequence of this story.
3. The press is openly hostile to a White House official who is stating a Fact - that the retraction is a good first step.
4. Any polite individual and most Americans would agree with the White House that Newsweek needs to make amends.
5. The Newsweek story and the resulting press reaction as shown during the press conference shows just how out of touch the press is with both the Real World, US public opinion, and common standards of decency.
6. The ongoing MSM pattern of deception and agitation raises a disturbing trend that verges on sociopathy.
In her book The Sociopath Next Door, Martha Stout depicts the various degrees of evil inherent in a sociopath. She also gives us some rules to spot these often dangerous personalities.
The first and strongest rule she has is that if you catch a person in three lies, then you MUST break your ties with them, because lies are the primary hallmark of a sociopath. This is the Modern's restatement of the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."
How many lies has the MSM pushed in the last 12 months?
Ask yourself if this was a Medical Doctor or a Lawyer or an Engineer? Would this person still have a job? Or would they be in jail?
There is only one conclusion one can reach - that there are persons in the MSM that are sociopathic and who mean us, meaning most Americans, real harm, either by stupidity or outright maliciousness.
UPDATE: The New Criterion has a quote from Dennis Praeger.
UPDATE2: Orson Scot Card, author of the brilliant Ender's Game jumps on the bandwagon as well. He gives us an essayist's eyeball view of the press crowd in all their hickish faults.
The recent screwup at Newsweek has stirred up the blogosphere like nothing since Rathergate. Last night I read the Newsweek article and the commentary on the web and thought I was Ok.
But this morning I saw a Newsweek and felt like I'd just run over a skunk.
One has to ask several questions.
First, if they, meaning the MSM, blew something as big as this, then what else have they told us which is not true in part or in whole?
Is this lack of clarity due to incompetence or is it due to maliciousness?
The Powerline excerpt of todays White House press conference is telling.
"Press:With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?"
WTF? Is that a question or is that a reporter lecturing a White House Official?
1. One of the top TWO US Weekly news magazined LIED. They printed a story which had no basis in fact and was used by Anti-US forces to inflame public opinion against the USA.
2. People have died as a direct consequence of this story.
3. The press is openly hostile to a White House official who is stating a Fact - that the retraction is a good first step.
4. Any polite individual and most Americans would agree with the White House that Newsweek needs to make amends.
5. The Newsweek story and the resulting press reaction as shown during the press conference shows just how out of touch the press is with both the Real World, US public opinion, and common standards of decency.
6. The ongoing MSM pattern of deception and agitation raises a disturbing trend that verges on sociopathy.
In her book The Sociopath Next Door, Martha Stout depicts the various degrees of evil inherent in a sociopath. She also gives us some rules to spot these often dangerous personalities.
The first and strongest rule she has is that if you catch a person in three lies, then you MUST break your ties with them, because lies are the primary hallmark of a sociopath. This is the Modern's restatement of the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."
How many lies has the MSM pushed in the last 12 months?
Ask yourself if this was a Medical Doctor or a Lawyer or an Engineer? Would this person still have a job? Or would they be in jail?
There is only one conclusion one can reach - that there are persons in the MSM that are sociopathic and who mean us, meaning most Americans, real harm, either by stupidity or outright maliciousness.
UPDATE: The New Criterion has a quote from Dennis Praeger.
UPDATE2: Orson Scot Card, author of the brilliant Ender's Game jumps on the bandwagon as well. He gives us an essayist's eyeball view of the press crowd in all their hickish faults.
posted by Red River at 9:09 PM
2 Comments:
I enjoyed your comments over at Wretchards - 3 cheers for western civ! Best Regards- DA
Love your blog-- linked in through PhantomProf.
Regarding the comments about Greenville... I had the great misfortune to live there for 6 years while I finished my undergrad and then grad work in Commerce. Greenville is an absolute cesspool of disorganized, mismanaged (let's all say it together, shall we) bullshit. One look at the way the town is "developed" is evidence enough of that. Hope there's another feed store close enough to not be inconvenient to you. Great admiration on this end for ranchers and farmers. You truly have a real job.
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