Election Time for the Media

The war is on...

by Tom Adkins
10/16/03

This week, we discovered our esteemed Mayor, John Street, is being snooped. Not by just anybody. The feds actually planted a coupe of bugs right in his office. Whoa. That’s big news, folks. Unfortunately, the feds can’t tell us who is doing the investigating or who the target may be. Could be that no-bid airport maintenance contract to Street’s brother, or maybe that 125,000 parking-ticket fixing scandal. Trust me…the Feds probably discovered what every Philadelphian knows: when it comes to scandal, this Mayor’s office is a “Target rich environment.”

Just so you know…to bug someone, federal investigators have to convince a bunch of crusty old-school Justice Department bureaucrats. Then they have to convince a federal judge there is probable cause that a crime was committed, that all other normal courses of investigation were tried and failed, and it’s too dangerous to try anything else.

And that judge has to agree.

That’s the standard to bug an average citizen. Can you imagine telling a judge, “Oh…did I tell you this is for Philadelphia Mayor John Street?”

So, the Philadelphia Inquirer must have had a big story on this, right? Teams of reporters digging and digging, looking under every rock and crevasse, probably a 35-part series or something. So I bought today’s Inquirer to catch up on the latest. Let’s see…page one…Drivers license problems, Iraq, the Eagles and a story on fat people. Page two, Siamese twins. Page three…Joe Lieberman’s latest class warfare and Dennis Kucenich’s official Presidential announcement. Hmmm…must be here somewhere…Page 4, sniper suspects legal bills, Page five? Nope. Six? Bush thing from page one. Seven? Osama’s son taking over the family business. Eight and nine, an EPA thing. Ten was the drivers license thing, eleven was the Eagles thing again. Surely by page 12, right? No…another story on fat people, and a story about saving the real whales. Really.

Okay…they must be saving it for the Editorial Page. Actually, no.

Nothing in Section A. Or Section B.

Or C, D, or E.

Nothing.

With federal agents practically sniffing up the Mayor’s undies, the Philadelphia Inquirer chose to publish not a single story. You thought the LA Times was the only paper that had an agenda? I blush in laughter.

It’s election time, folks. That means the normal discourse ceases. Time to arm for war. Swords are sharpened. Battle axes ground. Heavy guns polished. The media is swinging into action.

Take a look on AOL today. The front page doesn’t say, “President takes the case of Iraq to the people.” Instead, the AOL editors chose, “Working to Spin Distrust of Media Into Votes.” For good measure, AOL also used the worst possible photo, one that makes Bush look sweaty and tense. Like most Republicans, George Bush’s team has neglected the art of pushing the President’s message every day, every week, on every news show. You know, the strategy that kept Bill Clinton in office. Finally, the Bush people started hitting back with Condoleeza Rice and Dick Cheney popping up on a few pundit shows. Finally, George Bush held a little press conference for the non-mainstream media. And he offered this gem yesterday: "There's a sense that people in America aren't getting the truth," In a week, his poll numbers rose almost 10 points. Keep talking, George.

On the same day the Inquirer buried the story about Mayor Street, USA Today had a puff piece about Wesley Clark that sounded like a high school crush. Halfway through, I almost wanted to tell reporter Jill Lawrence to get a hotel room somewhere.

Add the LA Times, New York Times, CNN, and the three major networks to this ugly party and you are still merely scratching the surface. Liberal media bias isn’t just noticeable. It isn’t just pervasive. It isn’t merely “everywhere.” It is the very essence of the media. The media is liberalism. They fight mercilessly for their cause. With the advent of the Internet and Fox News, their masquerade of moderation is over. There is no longer any pretense. They are liberal. That is that.

Now? It’s time to protect their ideology. Time to run cover for their vaunted leaders. Time to rally the troops. Time to stop pretending and take sides. Mayor Street getting investigated? Never heard of it. Gray Davis beat his secretaries? Don’t know nuthin. There’s a Republican? Dig up the dirt!! Lie!!! Cheat!! Steal!!! Lie about the economy. Lie about Iraq. Lie about the Liars! Even lie about the lies!

Yes…it’s election time, folks…You can tell. Watch TV. Read the paper. Still wonder if there’s a media bias? Exactly how much proof do you need?