Rather than cover Obama, MSM cover for him
Given the unprecedented sums of cash the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has raised, one would expect that campaign finance to be a hot topic for the news media. But, as former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey, now president of the New School. observes this is the “big unreported story” of the current election cycle:
There’s a liberal bias. There’s a preference for Obama and it’s getting underreported as a result. . . . . If this thing was running the other way, if Obama was taking the public money and McCain had opted out and raised $150 million in September, do you think The New York Times would have an editorial against it?
Even as “the Obama campaign refuses to make public its list of contributors” and evidence emerges that campaign operatives “disabled the security settings on vendor identity to expedite online donations, gifts that then speed through to fund election activities that would be flagged as illegal under normal FEC reporting standards,” the MSM show little interest in the story. You think the media would rush to cover a story that where a presidential campaign appears to be in violation of election law.
But, as Kerrey noted, they prefer Obama so choose not to get to the bottom of stories which could hurt the Democrat.
Nor do they seem too interested in stories about Obama’s radical associations. And not just Bill Ayers. You’d think that when a newspaper gets information about a presidential candidate’s ties to terrorists, they’d rush to report it. Not so if that candidate is Barack Obama.
The LA Times has video that Democrat attending an event where speakers attacked Israel and he himself toasted Toasting a former PLO operative, Rashid Kalidi, but refuses to release the video. Not only would the video shed more light on Obama’s radical associations, it would also call his candor into question. The Illinois Senator played down his association with Khalidi. You know, just another guy in the neighborhood, with whom he happened to dine regularly.
Somehow this isn’t news, but it is news that Sarah Palin’s husband had a DUI twenty-two years ago. Imagine if she toasted a man who advocated bombing abortion clinics.
Amazing that the Times would withhold this video. Michelle speculates that “the reporter [in possession of the video] doesn’t want to open himself up to the Joe the Plumber treatment.”
Just another sign that the MSM would rather cover for Obama than cover him.
UPDATE:Â Looks like the Washington Post is at least taking note of this story, but they take the campaign’s word that new safeguards are in place, without addressing the disabling of the AVS system.
UP-UPDATE: Credit where it’s due. The LA Times did cover the dinner where Obama made his remarks.
14 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Michelle is an idiot. Why would a reporter get the “Joe Plumber treatment”? Reporters are the ones reporting, so they’d be exempt from it. And if the LA Times released it, no one would even know who was behind it, because it would just be posted on their website.
Comment by Mitchell Blatt — October 26, 2008 @ 6:01 pm - October 26, 2008
There is one silver lining to the massive MSM bias in favor of Obama. It’s a reach, but stay with me.
The MSM bias means that average Obama voters in the political center truly *aren’t* getting all the information. So it will be a little easier for them to turn on Obama, once he starts in with the America-destroying stuff we all know he’s going to do: the corruption, the raising taxes in a recession, the caving into the enemies of civilized people everywhere, etc. People will honestly be able to say, “Whoa, I did not know what I was voting for. I wasn’t given all the information.”
In any scenario where America manages to survive Obammunism and recover from it, today’s Obamedia will serve as convenient (yet appropriate/deserved) scapegoats.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — October 26, 2008 @ 6:05 pm - October 26, 2008
The MSM will not turn on Obama. The MSM have too much invested in Obama. They are the helicopter parents, and he is their princeling.
The MSM are dying. New York Times credit rating is at junk-bond levels. The network news audiences are dwindling and elderly. This is their last chance to prove they are relevant, so they are all-out pushing for Obama in order to recapture some of their former glory.
Plus which, when Comrade Obama reinstates the Fairness Doctrine, they hope all the pesky new media will be destroyed, and they will have their monopoly on information back.
Comment by V the K — October 26, 2008 @ 6:32 pm - October 26, 2008
V, was that a response to my comment? Not sure. Don’t want to assume. For the record, I didn’t talk about the MSM turning on Obama, but the average voter turning on Obama – later, once Obama’s bad policies become too painful. The average voter will then be able to say “I never voted for this” and blame the MSM for not telling them.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — October 26, 2008 @ 6:35 pm - October 26, 2008
If Obama wins this election, I predict that every negative event for the next few years, possibly into a second Obama administration, will be blamed on Bush.
If Bush is being blamed for the current economic crisis, and no media is correcting that impression, do you doubt they’ll continue to cover for Obama, blame Bush, no matter what?
Depression, terrorist attack, an especially warm summer, whatever, it’s Bush’s fault.
(On the other hand, given the cooling trend of the past few years, I might argue that Bush solved the problem of global warming without doing economic damagek; it’s just that the MSM doesn’t report the good things he quietly accomplishes. Nice work, W. I only hope Obama doesn’t let the earth start warming again.)
Comment by Polly — October 26, 2008 @ 7:14 pm - October 26, 2008
Sorry ILC, but several posters at other blogs as well as this one have been putting up the idea that the MSM will turn on Obama after the inauguration. So, I was sort of biased to read that into your comment. My mistake.
Comment by V the K — October 26, 2008 @ 7:18 pm - October 26, 2008
Oh, I agree. The MSM is not going to turn on Obama.
They’re dominated by the “entitled”, baby-boomer, Vietnam generation. They want abortion and socialism.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — October 26, 2008 @ 7:50 pm - October 26, 2008
Welcome to the made for TV movie candidate and his made for TV family. We have a well marketed hologram and they will continue to control him via the White House press corps. Some say we get the leader we deserve – well, we have been mighty naughty!!
Comment by Judy — October 26, 2008 @ 8:01 pm - October 26, 2008
Ayers is beyond “radical” – he is an extremist.
Comment by Jeremayakovka — October 26, 2008 @ 9:07 pm - October 26, 2008
I think the media does more than cover for Obama. They prevaricate, obfuscate and dissimulate for him; to put not too fine a point on it they lie for him.
Even worse though is their incessant drum roll of attacks and character assassination on anyone who dares to point out the incongruities in Obama’s history or his wilful stretching of the truth and total lack of candor.
But I think it goes even further. The media has so failed in its duty to play a nonpartisan role in reporting the events that have led up to this election not to mention its abject refusal to shed any light whatsoever on those Obama has chosen to surround himself with, that before long they will find themselves consigned to the ash heap of history, as outdated as the Pony Express.
It certainly does appear that the left has found the means to once again grab the levers of power; however, I think when the 5th of November rolls around we just might be treated to seeing a present day version of Truman holding up the Chicago newspaper hearlding Dewey’s triumph.
This country has survived worse than the threat of Obama. We managed to wrest our freedom from the strongest power on the globe even though we had a sizable population (read the “Tories”) who actively worked against our nation. Just as the Tories were not able to circumvent our founding as a free nation, the media today will not be able to bring about our demise as a free nation.
Lie as they might, the media is not the last resort and answer, the people who vote in this election are and I believe the media is in for a huge surprise and disappointment.
Comment by Not Always Right — October 26, 2008 @ 10:08 pm - October 26, 2008
Not Always Right: One just has to look at the last several elections since Jimmy Carter to come to the conclusion that polls are not accurate and always favor the Democrat regardless. National Polls are about as important as saying “Obama is the taller candidate”. It means nothing to people in Vermont who people in California are voting for because we have separate state elections. Like you, I believe that the MSM is in for a rude awakening with the caveat that the Democrats haven’t already stolen the election by fraud. I believe that the latest poll numbers have been crafted in a way to discourage McCain/Palin voters from showing up. I hope it has the opposite effect in making Obama supporters over confident to the point they won’t wait in line for long periods of time. I’ll bet the polls, immediately before election day show something different than what they are showing now to prevent such an event from occurring.
Comment by Dave B — October 26, 2008 @ 11:11 pm - October 26, 2008
Dave B, I hope you’re right.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — October 27, 2008 @ 3:54 am - October 27, 2008
Mitchell
just felt I should point out that a reporter who released that tape would be subject to the same colo-rectal exam that Joe was. just because said reporter was on ‘their side’ doesn’t mean that he’d be exempt from such an assault.
Indeed, many groups police their own more intently.
And Michelle is not an idiot. To call her such, because you disagree with her premise would be as bad as me calling you a snot nosed punk for disagreeing with mine
Comment by The Livewire — October 27, 2008 @ 6:52 am - October 27, 2008
I start getting a feeling that in its zeal to promote Obama MSM has signed its own death warrant–at least for many concious Americans, who will increase a reader base of alternative media and bring in more readers through their own connection. I’m hardly a pundit, but there’s something about the power of altenative media when you get tens of replies like this to a post about the true nature of this election:
Thank goodness others see the danger to our country under an Obama administration. If only the MSM would wake up and really report the truth instead of just repeating what their corporate leaders tell them to say. But then, if they did they would be out of a job. I feel that most of the so-called reporters actually believe the garbage they feed us each day
My post was about the fact that it’s no longer about GOP vs. Dems
http://drslogan.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/nov-4-your-county-your-call/
Comment by Dr. Slogan — October 30, 2008 @ 2:11 pm - October 30, 2008