6 posts tagged “media”

All this talk of “flip-flopping” and supporting evidence from everywhere; can we trust either of these people?  What is going on?  It’s like there is a flip-flop fever going around.

The camps of both major party’s hopefuls for president have been ramping up the rhetoric about the other candidate’s “flip-flops” and inconsistencies.  When one follows the facts, the truth is that both candidates have had major flip-flops over the past year.  Flip-flops big enough to make one wonder; “Who the heck are these people and what do they stand for?”

The truth of the matter is that June and July historically are the months when candidates retool their message and their stands to move a little closer to the center and away from the extreme ends of their party’s ideals to appeal to larger voting segments.

What makes it different this year?  I think there are two things that are different.

I think with Senator Obama, his voting record shows him to be almost as far to the left as one can be, while his rhetoric, campaigning, and speeches make him appear to be very close to the middle and as “The Candidate of Change.”  There a already many huge question marks about who he really is to begin with without him changing the message again.

For Senator McCain, he already has done more and more to alienate the far right within his party over the past eight or nine years and who he really is also warrants a huge question mark from his would be supporters.  Many of the things he stands for and represents already is a hard sell to people in the middle or on the right at any level.  Keep in mind that he represents the same party as the largely unpopular current president which makes his candidacy a hard sell as it is.  He has somehow got to get the support of the right and the middle at the same time when both are skeptical to begin with and he is even going so far as to try to draw from the right betting on the fallout from the Democratic primaries.  For those who are not already set on a candidate or a party (voting for a candidate simply because of party affiliation at this point in history with all that could happen over the next four years is not only stupid but grossly negligent) his message seems to be all over the map and makes him even less understandable to us.

The other reason I think this is such a big deal this year is the fact that there are more mediums that will verify what they are saying and more people who are apt to research such things. 

How many of us have heard something stated by one of the candidates and then by the next day heard and read a firestorm of contradictions stated by the same person as noted on “factcheck.org” or other such organizations. 

What I am saying is that the microscope has grown more powerful for this year’s elections and the candidates are under much more focused scrutiny.  I suspect that if previous candidates had been under the same level of scrutiny as the current candidates history would be vastly different.

Are the candidates “flip-flopping” and still undefined?  Absolutely!  Are these candidates distancing themselves from their own past stands and voting records?  Absolutely?  When I look at both of their past stands and voting records, this is not really a bad thing if we are talking about a true change of heart. 

The problem is, will this newly retooled and refined candidate show up in the Whitehouse if elected president or is it all for votes?  I for one sure do like the candidates’ campaign faces a lot better than what the facts show.

This morning as I went through my morning ritual of watching the news from several different sources and then getting into my car to listen to the local public broadcasting station in the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Silicon Valley area, I noticed an interesting phenomenon:  the news was dominated by one story.  The story was gay marriage.  

I was okay with this at first because no matter which side of the argument for or against gay marriage one is on, it is a newsworthy topic of relevance.  The problem I had was that our local public broadcasting station took it over the top.  I will explain.

I eagerly went to my tiny but efficient commuter car to spend my twelve dollars in gas to get to work and listen to a mostly impartial view of the news as I usually get on my local public broadcasting station in my travels.  I felt largely ill informed this morning getting into my car because most of the stories I was really interested in were not touched in any detail because the big story in my area was the marriages that took place yesterday.

I turned on the radio only to get approximately forty-five minutes of human interest stories relating to gay marriage with occasional news squeezed in. 

I suppose for some this is a monumental moment and for some this is a terrible moment, but for me I simply wanted to hear the news.  The urgent, pressing, and life changing news.

What is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan?  What is going on with this increase in oil production promised by Saudi Arabia, will it actually help us or not?  What is going on in the elections?  What is going on Capitol Hill?  What is going on with the economy?  What is going on with the value of the dollar?  Is the government going to do anything to keep us all from loosing our homes?  What is going on in al of the states that were flooding yesterday?  What parts of our state are burning to the ground today?  Am I headed into a huge traffic jam?  What is our governor and our state government going to do about the sinking ship that is our state budget?  And on and on and on…

Is this marriage story really that big of a story that it completely eliminates the need for other news?  Maybe I am the only person today who was interested in all of these other things, with all of the supporters of this doing a victory lap and all of those in opposition circling the wagons to fight against it.  I guess with that kind of emotion flying around it is hard to see anything else, but in my mind, people are dying, starving, loosing their jobs, loosing their homes, going broke paying for gas, and two are running for president.

I also suppose that there may be need for a diversion from the stress of focusing on all of the stress that is normally related to our news lately, but I am interested in these other things.  I would venture to say that in my mind these other stories are at the least as relevant and in my mind a bit more relevant and should get equal time at the least. 

I also have to wonder what motivation the radio station that I usually listen to for impartial views has for letting human interest stories related to gay marriage dominate large blocks of the airtime.  I can only conclude that it has sunk to pandering to one side of the argument to get more listeners or it already has taken a side and is trying to campaign for that cause. 

These are things I expected from the mainstream media that is funded by commercials, but this usually is the one place I have been able to count on for somewhat impartial vies on things.  I like to hear both sides of the arguments and have my preexisting beliefs challenged.  I like facts and opposing facts.  I have been a listener to this station to receive balanced news not propaganda.

I am not sure what I am going to listen too on my ride to work anymore, I suppose I will have to find something more impartial on the internet in the form of a Podcast to download each morning or something of that nature and play through my car stereo.

I am not saying that the gay marriage story is not a good news story, I am saying don't get stuck on one subjsct when there is so much of deep relevence going on.

I was thinking about our government and the stalemate that we are in and I thought of an analogy.  What if the goal of the government next week was to screw in a light bulb.

Senator Obama would give an awesome speech about the equality of all light bulbs and discuss how he is going to get everybody light bulbs if elected.

A certain Mr. Wright would suddenly surface describing how different light bulbs are just different and how Senator Obama had to distance himself from him because of politics.  

The media would find every tidbit that could sound strange to listeners from Mr. Wrights speech and play these clips over and over and discuss these clips over and over.

Senator Obama would again try to distance himself from this person.

Senator McCain would ask Senator Obama why he spent so many years in a church with such beliefs about lightbulbs.

Senator Hillary Clinton would have said that Senator Obama does not have enough experience to put in a light bulb and does not really have enough support to screw in a light bulb, but she has finally realized that she is not going to win the Democratic primaries.  So now she will say that Senator Obama, her friend, is well equipped to screw in light bulbs.  But, she continued to campaign because she felt the American people deserved the best light bulb screwer-inner person that there was and she is that person.  The popular vote showed that the American people know who can better screw in a light bulb and voted that way. 

Hillary Clinton supporters would say that the media stated that Senator Clinton could not do a good job of screwing in light bulbs because she is a woman and would want her to keep trying to stop Senator Obama from being the one to screw in the light bulb.

Former President Bill Clinton, would start calling members of the press scumbags and other names for the conspiracy against his wife and for using the light bulb as a tool to help Senator Obama get elected.  He would later apologize but, Senator Hillary Clintons approval rating would take another hit anyway.

The media would have debates and talk show hosts would rip on different people for not getting the light bulbs in fast enough.

President Bush would tell congress to write a bill stating that the light bulb should be installed.  Because the bill idea came from the President, the Democrats would say it is a terrible idea and try to draft their own, somehow different proposal.  The Republicans will write a really long version of the bill and have it read aloud to the entire group to irritate the Democrats.

Senator McCain would say nothing about the President Bush idea (because he has to distance himself from the administration).  The Senator would get in front of his green background with a small handful of supporters (trying to sound like more than they really are) and give a speech repeatedly saying that the kind of changing of light bulbs that Senator Obama wants to is not change at all.  He would then give some reasons why the light bulb that was already there is fine and should stay and then screw up a perfectly good speech by saying it would be okay if the light bulb stayed in for a hundred years.

Senator Obama would reply by saying that Senator McCain just wants to keep changing the light bulbs with the same kind of light bulbs that President George Bush has been putting in which means that electing Senator McCain is just like giving George Bush a third term.

The media would just keep playing clips of Senator John McCain saying he would leave the light bulb in for a hundred years.

The Democrats would fight amongst themselves in drafting their own bill because of the carbon footprint of making the light bulbs and that the light bulbs create.  There would be a huge debate on florescent light bulbs and the fact that their disposal is as big a problem as the footprint of regular bulbs.

The tree huggers will protest outside of government buildings demanding that the light bulb not be put in and that the light bulb is destructive (because they heard all of the news reports about the fight the Democrats were having).

I would take one look at all of this, freak out, turn on my computer and type a blog post. This post would talk about how stupid all of this is and how our government is broken etc.

In the end, the light bulb will not get put in.  Everyone would still be fighting and the whole government would still be in a stalemate. 

Where is (really who is) the person who would just take charge and put the light bulb in. The person who could do what is the best solution to the problem and rally the American people and the media to support what has been done. That person should be president and other like him or her should replace the people that are in our government at all levels.

This is the only way I could think of to describe how ridiculous all of the partisan politics that is going on at this point in history seems to me.  There is a lot going on while at the same time nothing is really happening of substance and even less is getting accomplished.

What a Mess!

As I have listened to and read reports of what has been going in the trial for five of the men suspected of being responsible for the Sept 11 attacks held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.  I cannot help but think the media coverage is an accidental act of terrorism or at least a tool of the terrorists. 

I am more and more convinced that the thirst of our public for every detail of everything that happens in our world is creating an environment where our media empowers and even facilitates evil.

All of the reports centered around two things:

1. The peer pressure to conform to what the others are doing (particularly the perceived ringleader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the pressure of the group on Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi)
2. The vocalized desire of the defendants to die as martyrs at the hands of the American courts

For us this leads us to gasp at how crazy these people must be as we think:  “There it is, case closed.”  But, the other side of that same coin is that in the world of radical fundamentalist Islam, these same statements make these people the heroes they aspire to be.  Their public statements are like the speech of a great politician.  Strong, full of hope, and empowering.  This is what terrorists and radicals all over the world were hearing as told by the free press of the world.

Everyone who reads this blog knows that I of all people believe in the free press.  I am not sure however how I feel about empowering terrorists and extremists with what I am writing. 

At the least, when our politicians attempt to manipulate the media or to put a “spin” on something, there are media sources that attempt to call them on it at some point.  An example is the several analysts on this news show or that news show that believe differently who discuss and debate if this person is just manipulating the media etc. 

Maybe a discussion of the mindsets of someone detained this long with this much time before the trial to think.  Or a discussion of how this person knows that he is going to get the death penalty anyway and is just making a last attempt at being spiteful.  How about a discussion about the pressures from the group and the radical terrorist world to say such things or be considered a sellout. 

These kind of ongoing discussions come quickly and turn up everywhere when Americans particularly politicians are involved.  Why not with nonsense like this. 

If we tear apart every word our own politicians (and their pastor friends) say under a high powered microscope, we should do the same for those who are possibly evil and enemies of our country. 

For the record I think this was a carefully planned act of terrorism and old fashioned spite.  This Khalid Sheikh Mohammed knew exactly what he was doing and how many millions of people would end up hearing about it.  It is as if Al-Jazeera had done the reporting. 

The shock and awe that this person’s shocking statements instead of a defense caused in the news (which could also be called a small amount of terror) is an act of terrorism. 

I think it is okay to report these sorts of things, but only if they undergo the same rigorous examination, commentary, and debate that so many other stories are forced to undergo. 

How dare our media spend so much time tearing apart American politicians and public figures yet protect such people as terrorists by being the vehicle that the message of evil is carried on.

It is a fine line between reporting on someone and broadcasting the message of someone.

This weekend the frenzy of debate between the Democratic presidential hopefuls ratcheted up again.  The rhetoric is back up to speed as Senator Obama switched to the attack and Senator Clinton was on the defensive.

Senator Barack Obama was on the attack in the press this weekend most notably stating that Senator Hillary Clinton’s Iraq policies are “too much like” President Bush’s Iraq policies. 

Sen. Obama has been skillfully dancing through questions about his friend Mr. Wright in an impressive manner.  The truth is that the damage has been done and even if it is going to be turned around, it will take a few weeks.  Of course there is the possibility that a certain Mr. Wright might resurface and again lose his mind publicly.

Senator Clinton now has been tied to a gimmick in the form of this gas tax holiday.  Sen. Clinton has done fairly well in the polls and in the public recently.  She has seemed to realize that whenever she goes on the attack against Sen. Obama her popularity drops fast, so she has taken a kinder more generic tone in her debate about who is a better candidate and why.

It is going to be interesting over the next couple of days as we head into two more big primaries (haven’t they all been).  For the past few weeks Sen. Obama has been dropping in the polls and Sen. Clinton has been gaining ground.  The tone is about to change for the next couple of days, but I suspect that any major switch in the direction each candidate has been going the past few weeks, will be slow and will not be seen clearly for two to three weeks.

Then there is the groundhog candidacy of Senator John McCain.  Just like a groundhog or a gopher he pops up here and there and then disappears underground.  I am not sure this is the best way to campaign against a pair of media-hogs such as the Democratic senators.  If all that the people have been hearing about is the Democrats much of what the Republicans could say negative about the candidates has been beaten to death, the only interesting news left is going to be the negative news about the player; Senator McCain and his new vice president candidate.

There is an old saying amongst the acting community that can be translated two ways.

No Publicity is Bad Publicity!

The Reverend (I use the term against my better judgment) Jeremiah Right cannot really expect anyone of any sense to take him seriously after this week. I have been pondering the events of the past week and cannot imagine this man to believe that he is somehow a representative of God any more than people who crash airplanes into buildings.

As this weekends events progressed, the media blitz undertaken by Mr. Jeremiah Right (I will not be using the titles Reverend or Pastor from this point on) were clearly a sign of self-serving as opposed to service to the God represented in the Bible.

His message (other than to express the fact he is bitter with Senator Barack Obama, the Caucasian race, and America as a whole) is on that only represents a certain culture. By culture, I am not speaking of African Americans, I am speaking of a subculture of this people group or a particular segment of that group. Although he may find himself surrounded by this subculture where he resides and may be able to find pockets of these individuals littered here and there throughout the country, this is definitely not a representation of the views of African Americans throughout the nation or the “African American Church”; whatever that is.

I find it quite presumptuous to assume that because you are around several churches like this and have been to some in other places that all or most of predominantly African American churches hold these beliefs or conform to his stereotypes of how a church would act.

It is coming clear over the past couple of days that there are people who have had contact with this man recently who feel that his motive for all of this was revenge on Senator Barack Obama.

I applaud Sen. Obama’s loyalty but also have to question his judgment in knowing when a person is not the type of person you need feeding into your life. I do believe that he probably did not hear the particular sermons that were repeated over and over on the television as the church is in one state and the senator works in another. That being the case, he probably was not the most regular of attendees at church on Sundays. The problem is that this person can flip out like this and in almost twenty years in a close relationship you do not notice.

Mr. Wright has publicly embarrassed a person who stood by him despite the fact that it could ruin his career, much (if not most) of the African American race and those of mixed racial makeup, and many believers in the Christ who now have to spend time again trying to explain that Christians are not all crazy simply because one who is crazy has gotten a lot of air time.

Mr. Wright had the nerve to disguise his evil intention of attacking the man that he previously felt God had called him to mentor as a call for unity and a message of God. This is one of the most egregious acts ever performed.

I am still undecided about any of the three candidates I feel we are stuck with, but I think the nation as a whole has an obligation to take action against this man. People should not give airtime to this man. He is getting a lot of press and getting ready to release a book soon which means a lot of people want to read it simply to see what this crazy man has to say. Resist the urge and don’t buy a copy! Wait until you can find it in a thrift store. Do not support this man and his message of spite by giving him your money. If a station or group gives him airtime, send a letter or email expressing your disgust.

I have personally decided to stop using the title “reverend” for this man as I consider that to be a show of respect for a person and I do not find him worthy of that sort of respect.

Finally, if you are a believer, who believes in what he has done this week, look at James 4:6 which states in part that “…God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This weekend’s events were clearly about hurt pride and a selfish attempt to hurt an individual that God put under his mentoring wing. African American, Caucasian, Chinese, or otherwise, this is not acceptable to the God of the Bible. If the underlying motivation of a message is evil, the entire message is usually tainted with evil and cannot be trusted.

Mr. Wright may hit on a truth here and there, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.