the characterization of individuals, groups, or political bodies as evil or subhuman for purposes of justifying and making plausible an attack, whether in the form of character assassination, legal action, circumscribing of political liberties, or warfare.The problem is that many people who use the tactic don’t realize they are using it. They really think that George Bush is evil or stupid, that FOX News is a shill for the Republican Party, or that Bill Clinton was worse than useless as a president. The people who come to believe these things invariably get their news only from slanted sources, and their outlook is a religion rather than a political awareness.
The conundrum of course comes when there really are devils. Again, we get back to truth. What is the truth?
If Bill Clinton, for example, ever did anything truly evil it was to lie under oath, no matter that it was about covering up a sexual peccadillo—it was a Chief Executive lying under oath. That is disgraceful. Maybe not evil, but close to unforgivable.
The Democrats and leftists demonize George W. Bush for many reasons. All of the reasons are conspiratorial. They ascribe motives to him, and then demonize him for these motives. He invaded Iraq to further his oil interests or those of his friends. He invaded Iraq to avenge the assassination attempt on his father. He is not running the country; Cheney and Rumsfeld are. These are all assumptions, without proof, and, I believe, without logic.
The only demonizing of Bush that has, in my opinion, any basis in fact is that he is “stupid.” Bush’s Bushisms
"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006make him seem less than bright. They are fodder for the late night talk shows and comics like Jon Stewert. And since the demonizers take Stewert and Jay Leno as news, they believe they are hearing truth.
Believing Bush is stupid, of course, is patently absurd. You don’t win governorships and attain a high approval rating as governor, and win two presidential elections by being stupid. It is simply not possible. Yes, Bush was born into power and he has connections. So were a million other Americans. Bush rose above them all to become the most powerful man in the world. It is even probable, despite his present approval ratings, that he would win a third term, if that were allowed. He, not Carl Rove, not Dick Cheney, is politically canny. If Rove and Cheney suddenly were not around, George Bush would still be there, doing the right things at the right time to get elected again, despite his Bushisms.
Let’s consider FOX News, on their 10th anniversary. They rose from nothing to become the number one cable news outlet, far surpassing CNN at this time in viewership. Yet, because all the main media and late night talk shows are leftist (and don’t even realize it), FOX is demonized. All the left demonize them. I watch FOX, in addition to CNN, MSNBC, PBS, Al Jazeera, ABC, and on and on, trying to get all sides of issues. FOX truly is “fair and balanced,” as they claim, as opposed to all the other networks. FOX presents both sides of issues, and for this they are called “conservative” or “Republican.” NBC and the rest present only the liberal viewpoint, and they are called the fair ones, the balanced ones.
The problem is frame of reference. The norm had become leftist, Bush-bashing, anti-conservative. So, if you present both sides of an issue, pro- and anti-Bush, for example, you are a “shill” for the Republican Party. You “heathens” don’t stop at just Bush-bashing, like the other networks. You go on and present the other side, which breaks the norm. How dare you!
The biased, demonizing left had owned the media for years, and now they are crying because truth has crept into their midst.
Demonizing is an old political tactic. Abraham Lincoln was treated mercilessly. They called him a bumpkin (remind you of anyone?) and even a “monkey.”
The only tactic against demonization is, of course, to stay the course, do the right things, live a good life, and be effective. Eventually, history will treat you kindly for this. (Of course, you might get assassinated, literally, in the meantime, because of the demonization. That’s the price of being good.) We call the “monkey” now our greatest president. I doubt that George Bush will ever be called our greatest president, but he will one day be recognized for his accomplishments.
FOX News will live or die as a network depending on what they do next. If they overreact to their demonization, they might become a network like all the others, and so lose their competitive edge. If, however, they realize their original insight, that the people hunger for the truth, then they will grow and prosper in the next ten years.
If you are demonized in your life, then you know how it feels. All you can do is stand up for yourself, be assertive, and then just lead a good, productive life, assured that doing so matters. And it does. It counts, no matter that you are misjudged.
Life is tough and there are nasty people in it. I’m with you. God is with you. God bless George Bush (but please, God, put some sense into him about immigration and over-spending, will You?) Water off a duck’s back.
Rock
(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)
Subscribe to my feed
Join me in the war on error, in the fight for truth, justice, and the American way! Support this site! Wanna swap links? It’ll help us both. Truth—The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone
Join Rock's Political Blog Ring. Both Liberals and Conservatives are Welcome. (see left side bar or below these posts)
New! Join Rock's Chatroom and Rock’s Truth Forum, both uncensored. You’ll be a bit lonely for now, until traffic starts to discover these new venues, but whenever I’m on line, I’ll check to see if anyone’s chatting.Plus, I have added a special poll each week, where I craft the poll questions, Rock's Poll Question of the Week. This week's question is, "Will the Mark Foley scandal hurt the Republicans in November?"
2 comments:
Alright, I admit that I am one of the MAIN people to criticize and "demonize" Fox"news" for their not-so "fair and balanced" reporting. To paraphrase Juan Williams, "Their reporters and anchors may be conservative, but the news is presented in a fair and balanced way." I'll give them some credit for "presenting" both sides of an issue at times, however, there are a few things I notice about their "style" of news reporting that strikes me as odd....
1. Reporters and anchors consistently repeat the phrases, "We are fair and balanced" or "That's what we do, we report it in a fair and balanced manner" or "Fair and balanced reporting is our specialty" or "You decide America!" or any other derivative of their main slogans. My thing is, if you're news presentation is truly unbiased, the reporting should speak for itself. You shouldn't have to etch it into the minds of your audience like kindergarteners. The broken record mantra has begun to sound like a not-so-subliminal brainwashing in order to convince the world that they are truly "fair and balanced" when in fact they are not (see below).
2. I've noticed that Fox has an interesting way of conducting interviews. Whenever a host is involved in a dialogue with a guest who has a "liberal" perspective, the host asks a question and while the person is answering the question, the host will cut off the guest and ask another question before they can finish the first. They subsequently do it with following questions with the host at times shouting them down when they don't agree with something they've said. Eventually, the flustered guest is tripping over themselves trying to maintain composure. This makes the guest seem less attuned to the issue and their points invalidated. Very RARELY if ever have I seen that happen to someone with a "conservative" viewpoint. They always allow those people to get their messages out without the verbal beat-down. They may throw a few "tough" questions their way, but never in the same manner as with the "liberal" guests. If you're going to be "fair" at the very LEAST, let the other side be heard uninterrupted. Rock, we've talked about this before- Hannity, O'reilly, John Gibson and (at times) Neil Cavuto are masters of this. Although They finally let puny Alan " the liberal" Colmes get in on the action as I watched him brow beat some guy who dug up 20 year old information on John "get us out" Murtha. Yeah, that's fair....
3. Speaking of alan Colmes, why is the ONE "liberal" host on Fox the ugliest guy on the network? Hannity is this laid back, relaxed, handsome figure and Colmes is the guy who looks and sounds like a chihuahua that got hit by a mack truck? Just asking...AND he rarely has a good point to speak of, not because he's "liberal" but because he doesn't make good points. So he's supposed to be the representative of liberals? Yeah, fair AND balanced.
4. The role of the news media has been to be the liason between the government and the people- asking the questions the public wants to have answered. When issues come up regarding government activity, Fox is reknown for NOT criticizing the president or the administration on ANYTHING, but rather, tossing a blanket of jargon in support of their efforts- regardless of how ridiculous. Remember the Dubai port issue? Fox's reporting focused on the economic benefits of allowing the deal to go through, NOT questioning the security issues that came along with it. Karl Rove and the Valerie Plame issue, I remember the Judge Stephapopoplisisiss saying with a sly smirk that charges shouldn't be filed against Rove, THE DAY the news broke that Rove was the "leaker". Huh? All the facts weren't out, but yet he's announcing that Rove was within his rights. Don't even get me started on their coverage on the runup to the war (like most other news outlets). No hardball questions, just pandered justifications. Immigration? Outsourcing? Overspending? No criticisms. Why?
5. You ever notice how badly they always talk about Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton? I'm not talking about guests being interviewed, it's THE HOSTS. I can remember watching Fox and Friends one morning when a report on Ted Kennedy came up and Brian could be heard in the background CLEAR AS DAY saying sarcastically "Oh GOD!!!" when Ted's name came up. News HOSTS are supposed to report the NEWS, not express their personal opinions on the air UNLESS it's a clearly stated editorial, which that segment clearly was not. I have to really scratch my head and wonder how they can call themselves "Fair and Balanced" when they cross the line so often.
Now Rock, I issue you a challenge. Before responding, take all that I've said into consideration, watch Fox news in the evening and tell me whether you notice the things I've mentioned. We can agree to disagree (as usual) but I'd like to know if you see the things I see or of it's purely (again) a matter of perception.
paz,
I'll give them some credit for "presenting" both sides of an issue at times, however, there are a few things I notice about their "style" of news reporting that strikes me as odd....
This statement enhances your standing in my eyes. You are critical, but fair, which is hard to find. I respect you for this kind of honesty.
The broken record mantra has begun to sound like a not-so-subliminal brainwashing in order to convince the world that they are truly "fair and balanced" when in fact they are not
The libs have their mantras too, paz. Yes, I agree, FOX is a conservative network, so what? I wish they'd admit it and be done with it. I wish too, that ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS et al would admit that they are liberal, and in some cases even progressive, and be done with it. Thank God there is one network that presents the other side.
The hosts you're talking about who I agree cut off the other side are Hannity and O'Reilly. Hannity is purely partisan, and doesn't hide the fact. He is there to give opinions. O'Reilly is just an egomaniac. He bloviates on both sides of issues, conservative and liberal, and thinks he is right on everything and the rest of the world is stupid. He is mostly conservative, but he does take some ridiculous liberal stands, like blaming the oil companies for gas prices (I'm sure you'll agree with him on this one).
Other hosts, though, like Neil Cavuto, bend over backwards to be fair to all persuasions. He recently kissed George Soros' butt, and that's an ugly butt to kiss.
Bob Beckel, a staunch liberal, is always invited to speak on FOX, and he is allowed to say whatever he wants, for as long as he wants. Greta Van Susteren is a liberal. It figures that she runs a muckraking show. Yes, she's ugly too. I don't know why you are hung up on ugly. That sounds sexy-ist to me. You are a dirty low-down beauty-ist in my opinion. You handsome-ist you, you good-looking-ist. Judging people by the way they look! How dare you! Say, did you ever get a good look at some of the leftist babes they invite onto FOX--not bad, paz. Blondes galore. The conservative babes aren't bad either, like Tammy Bruce (still a Democratic, but came into her senses lately), Ann Coulter and so on. Yes, you're right, I remember the conservative names and not the libs.
You ever notice how badly they always talk about Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton? I'm not talking about guests being interviewed, it's THE HOSTS. I can remember watching Fox and Friends one morning when a report on Ted Kennedy came up and Brian could be heard in the background CLEAR AS DAY saying sarcastically "Oh GOD!!!" when Ted's name came up.
paz, Ted Kennedy is an asshole and a disgrace to the Kennedy name. If Bryan did what you say, he was restrained in his reaction. I'm surprised he didn't break out in cursing.
Hillary is Lady Macbeth. She doesn't have blood in her body. It's pure anti-freeze. Yes, she chaps my hide. Her husband at least was a good, moderate ruler most of the time. She'd be a liberal dream, and a conservative nightmare. She would ruin this country.
Now Rock, I issue you a challenge. Before responding, take all that I've said into consideration, watch Fox news in the evening and tell me whether you notice the things I've mentioned. We can agree to disagree (as usual) but I'd like to know if you see the things I see or of it's purely (again) a matter of perception.
Again, I admit that FOX is biased. Thank God. Our side needs it. Still, FOX will try to seek the truth, much like I. I am biased, but I try to listen to intelligent people from the other side, like you. And I do learn things from you. Sometimes, I even get moved a bit back to the long-haired hippie Lib I used to be. It doesn't matter to me. I seek the truth. I believe, however, that the truth lies mostly with the right at this time, and so does FOX. I think Roger Ailes is a great, brilliant man.
Now that FOX has paved the way, I notice other networks being more open to conservative ideas. Like Katie Couric with her Freedom speech dealie, giving people like Rush Limbaugh the chance to speak unfettered. Even CNN seems a bit more fair these days. They realize, finally, that they are outgunned by FOX, and they are missing a big audience potential.
I just hope we don't go too far, and turn to the Christian Right. Not that I dismiss their feelings and ideas. I just want religion out of politics. I want conservatism to rule, not the Pope or Jerry Falwell.
Well, no danger of that for now. You can relax in that the majors are all still liberal. But be careful, a sleeping giant has awoken.
Take care paz.
Rock
Post a Comment