How the modern press became the biggest enemy of the truth

Closer to Ohio Appalachia than north of Cincinnati

If you've not heard, a living nightmare of a home was discovered in Vinton County here in the Buckeye State.  Over a dozen children were living as animals.  Strike that.  Animals live better.  They were abused, imprisoned, and starved.  When authorities discovered the living hellhole, most of the children were on the verge of death.  The four adults - all family - have been taken into custody.

Of course this has opened up quite a debate.  How did the authorities miss this?  Where were local health professionals?  How about social services?  And the schools?  Apparently they were enrolled in the local school district, but never attended.  Did anyone notice?  Where was everyone?

I'm not one to always rush out and blame anyone and everyone when something like this happens.  I understand we are an imperfect brood, despite what we might want to think.  But I'll admit, this was so horrific, sustained for over such a long period of time, and dealt with so many children, it does make you wonder.  But it doesn't make me wonder about this:

That's from the local NBC outlet, though others jumped on the bandwagon. But what debate?  At no point has homeschool even entered the discussion.  There is no evidence that school in any form existed.  Reports so far suggest they weren't even enrolled in the local school district, much less that they filed notification to homeschool.  So nothing reported has suggested this was in any way linked, even with the most extreme stretches of the definition possible, to homeschooling.

So why say something that is based on absolutely no evidence?  Because homeschooling is anathema to the modern Left establishments, for which the media is the propaganda organ.  It doesn't matter if it's true, if there are or aren't facts, if there is any reason in the world to suggest a link could be found.  It's important to attack. 

In many ways, the press has emerged as a sort of secret police industry for the Left.  In addition to nakedly ignoring endless human death and suffering if it might make the Left and its narratives look bad, it has no compunction over attacking anything that challenges or stands in the way of the Left, with or without evidence for doing so. 

Again, based on all reports so far, homeschool has no more to do with the household of horrors than NASA does.  It hasn't been brought up until this article.  This was merely an attack.  It was a purposeful assault on a perceived threat to the Left - homeschooling.  Doesn't matter if it's true, if the facts point that way, or if there are no facts at all.  Journalism that cares about such things as facts and truth and humanity sailed off into the sunset years ago. 

Why I don't buy the media's Jan 6 narrative

Or any media narrative for that matter, is because when I see this:

I'm reminded of the recent explosion of these and similar stories:

If years of a particular group being attacked and murdered by the tens of thousands leaves the press scratching their heads and wondering if it rises to the definition of massacre or persecution, then I'm sure not going to believe them when they insist the January 6th Capital riot was an existential threat to life and democracy and the worst terrorist attack in America since 9/11.  The fact that so many outlets zero in on the word Genocide and ponder what it could mean in the way Gary Johnson pondered what Aleppo could mean only exacerbates the mendacity. They never seem to worry about terms like white nationalism, white supremacy, fascist, authoritarianism, or even genocide when applied to anything right of center or historical America.  No complications there. 

Oh, and for those using the excuse that Muslims have also been targeted by these groups in Nigeria, I remember when pointing out that white Americans are also killed by police each year didn't matter in the wake of George Floyd.  Call me silly, but I reject the whole notion so common among the Left that declaring X to be true only matters until it's not convenient for X to be true. 

Everything about the news media and its coverage of Donald Trump today

 In one brief clip.  I'm thinking of this scene from A Fish Called Wanda.

Be aware, some language here.

I love that.  The shock.  The panic.  The hysterics.  And then - somebody just called!  Not even a fake name. 

That's the press right now.  Take anything - the economy, tariffs, Ukraine, deportations, cabinet shake ups, dogs and cats - you name it.  Just act like Jamie Lee Curtis.  Panic, hysteria, floods, fire famine, doom, defeat, despair! Doesn't matter the topic, just repeat the hysterics with every report.  You don't even have to sweat details. 

Not that I'm not worried of course.  Trump is taking a big risk.  There are three things that can happen.  This all works, very few are hurt and in a year or two the economy is roaring back in real life and not on media teleprompters, while other problems have been fixed and we're moving forward with a renewed hope for the future and love for our past.  I see a President Vance in that future scenario.   

Or, the tariffs and the upheaval do the job, but in the meantime millions are so damaged by the tactics that they will be left far behind the benefits, and in two and four years will vote accordingly.

Or, it blows up in Trump's and our faces, accomplishes nothing, causes endless damage and plunges things into far worse conditions than they were (which can always happen no matter how bad things are).  In which case, VP Vance can look for other employment in 2028 and we'll be looking at President Whoever-Isn't-a-Republican. 

That's about it.  Nonetheless, I'm certainly not stupid enough to buy into the manufactured hysterics and fearmongering that, for some reason, isn't being condemned by the usual sources that are often so quick to condemn such tactics.  Especially when compared to the 'forget about it all is well' from a year ago. We all know why this is and why trusting the modern press is for fools and nobody else.

In 2017, after weeks of protests, riots and violence, it became all about Trump and Putin having corrupted our democracy and stolen our election.  The election was fake, illegal, stolen, and every other week we heard stories of the latest scandal or leaked memo that was gong to topple Trump once and for all and undo the 2016 election.

This time, however, Trump's victory and, more to the point, the Left's defeat was far too decisive.  So now it's go straight to perpetual panic, the way they did in 1981 when Reagan took office.  I remember that well, as I was old enough to understand what was going on by that stage in life.  I remember the way they told us the only good thing about the Great Depression redux Reagan was about to plunge us into was that he would provoke the Soviets into a nuclear holocaust before it could ever happen. 

Having failed to experience such a depression or nuclear annihilation of humanity because of ol'Ray-gun Ronnie, I've learned that when it comes to being told to panic, the last ones I'll take seriously are journalists.  So we'll just wait and see and pray for the best.  Oh, and do ourselves a favor and ignore anything the modern press has to say about life. 

And that's that for topical posts this week. Again, it's a week for loftier things than concern about the obvious.  

What we can expect to hear all day every day from the American news media for the next four years

 

My boys chuckled and said that in four days, they have heard more negative press coverage, more stories invoking scandal and controversy, more unfavorable analysis of what is actually happening with the incoming administration, than the total of the last four years combined.  

Not only that, but we caught a segment on one of the news shows pondering if Trump can live up to his campaigning and fix the economy as he promised.  We immediately asked fix what?  For three years the press insisted it's a mother beautiful economy.  Even on election night, on the ABC round table, they questioned why Americans just couldn't feel the awesomeness of our strong and robust economy.  Most likely something to do with many Americans not being able to afford shelter, fuel and groceries was our guess. 

But it's so nakedly obvious.  All pretense of not being ministries of lies and propaganda for leftwing globalism has long been tossed out the window by the media. Though it didn't work this time, just like it didn't work in 2016.   And my oldest son, no fan of Trump that he is, maintains that Trump's loss in 2020 was not some universal mandate for the Left.  He believes had Trump not told his supporters to sit on it and reject early voting, he might have won then.  

So the idea that the media and leftwing establishment has the power it had, even in 2014  - when BLM could change the appraisal of our history, leading to Talibanish purges of our historical monuments and memorials unhindered, and experts were trotted out to explain that Islamic terror attacks in America is the new normal, and that obviously boys should use girls bathrooms or the Fed will pull your funding - might even less true today than 2016.  

Though there is a positive, if you think on it.  Years and years ago, at the defunct Catholic and Enjoying It, Mark linked to another blogger who addressed the issue of Catholics voting.  At the time, Mark was moving toward his 'pox on both houses' position.  But the blogger stated that there was one unarguable reason to vote Republican.  Because as soon as Republicans are anywhere close to the majority, and certainly when they hold the White House, the press gets busy and begins telling us just how terrible things are in America and the world.  Mark agreed then, and I agree today, with the caveat that now the press isn't content with reporting the bad, but it will report that everything is bad whether true or not.

Courage, Rebel, Counterculture, Non-Conformist

Are words that came to my mind as I note the growing whirlwind of rage from the always tolerant and open minded progressive wing of American society.  That whirlwind involves Harrison Butker, a kicker for the Kansas City Swifts.  Apparently a more traditional leaning Catholic, he gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College.  This might be because he now holds the record for the longest kick in a Super Bowl game ever.  One that figured prominently in the team's victory I'm told.  I don't know.  

Anyhoo, from the clips the news showed this morning, he must have questioned abortion rights.  He spoke of pride in light of God, rather than the pride we see demonstrated in June. Which was reported as an attack on the LGBTQ community (note: does this mean they're saying the type of pride he condemns is, in fact, what is celebrated in June?).  And he said no matter what women in the audience want to accomplish in Corporate America, the real excitement they're waiting for is the beauty of childbirth and family.  

That last part seems to be what really got people.  In a nation that celebrates that most wonderful accomplishment of aborting 60 million pregnancies in barely three generations, you can see why.  I mean, the central message of modern progressivism is that the only reason God decided to exist was to create a vast universe spinning around me.  So suggesting anything close to giving oneself up for others is anathema.  

I've seen some pointing out that the NFL not immediately throwing him out, as compared to Colin Kaepernick who wasn't immediately thrown out, just shows racism and all.  Others - and I saw plenty of examples, since the news broadcasts only showed the critics - attacked him for...thinking women should be excited by childbirth?  Pride isn't good?  I don't know.  A whole lot of people were interviewed and quoted, outrage and more self-righteous outrage and indignation, and yet nobody said exactly what was wrong with the substance of what he said.  As usual, it was just assumed that, having not conformed to leftwing same think, it had to be stupid, wrong, hateful and evil.  At least from what I've seen so far.  I'm sure editorials explaining just what was wrong will be forthcoming.  

For instance, on Good Morning America, Robin Roberts said the problem was that a graduation speech should be about the grads, not about the speaker's opinions.  I'll have to find other examples of leftwing speakers vomiting leftwing ideological and political opinions and see if she reacted that way as well. 

On the whole, this is what being a counterculture rebel, a non-conformist, and demonstrating a certain level of courage is all about.  Conforming to post-Christian secular leftwing ideology today is about as courageous as wearing scarlet and gray to an Ohio State football game in Columbus.  But challenging leftwing dogma and activism?  When running afoul of progressive tolerance and inclusion and diversity, you're probably being as courageous as you can be outside of a real totalitarian state. 

Added Note:  I should mention that, as I prepared to publish this, I was informed by one of my sons  that there is pushback against the MSM witch hunt.  And not just conservatives.  Apparently some on the liberal side are saying hey, the guy is a Catholic speaking at a private Catholic university.  It's his beliefs.  Take a chill pill people.   Let liberal Catholics freak out and go Fred Phelps on the guy.  So not all on the Left are into this, just most in the media from what I can tell.  

More leftwing tolerance.  Now about that guy paid millions to throw a football calling cops racist

UPDATE:  That didn't take long:

From an order that appears proud to have kicked the habit, as they say.  

Enough said

Special counsel worried jurors would see Biden 'as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory'

Special counsel Robert Hur wrote that he was concerned jurors would not believe that Joe Biden “willfully” kept classified documents, and that was one of the reasons why he does not think the president should face charges.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur writes.

“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

Hur wrote that: “Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023. And his cooperation with our investigation, including by reporting to the government that the Afghanistan documents were in his Delaware garage, will likely convince some jurors that he made an innocent mistake, rather than acting willfully – that is, with intent to break the law – as the statute requires.”

News media and the economy

NPR notes that a record half of Americans can no longer afford housing. This article is worth the read.  If for no other reason than its stark honesty.

For over a year, almost every economic news report has been some variation on 'things are looking up.'  The hilarious - and yet sad - part is that such reporting is often flanked with stories of Americans unable to afford groceries, utilities, housing, automobiles, needed repair work and other necessities.  Just today, CBS crowed over the growth in consumer spending.  Oddly enough, people pay more when the things they are buying have to be bought even if prices are at all time highs.  

I will give CBS credit.  It also mentioned that personal debt is at staggeringly unprecedented levels. It even suggested the two might be connected.  Though it assured us economists are optimistic, there should be no recession, and take it away Paul:

If you don't want President Biden to be reelected, I would do nothing at all about this.  I've long maintained that a reason Trump won in 2016 was because the press purposely downplayed or ignored the problems in the country.  Having learned no lesson at all, it appears that the press will try it again.  

Funny thing about people.  They will believe a lot that seems unbelievable, but they won't believe they've never had it so good when, in fact, they have it so bad. 

Like the lost tales from another world

Is what I thought of when I saw the tragic story of a woman stabbed to death in Detroit.  She was Jewish, and was Synagogue president.  From the beginning, the police have stated there is no clear motive behind the killing.  This latest article, from the Detroit Free Press, reports that the police are still saying there is no evidence that antisemitism was behind the attack.  

There is nothing at all wrong with this.  In a sane, pre-insanity of the Obama era world, this is how the press and the police handle it.  Before the dark ages of the Hate Crime era.  A human being has been slain.  We leave it at mourning, regret, prayers for the victim and family, and hope for justice. We are still gathering information and not leaping to conclusions.  Motives are not know, and are not speculated about.  Nothing else is being linked to it.  Nothing about antisemitism on a national stage, or even across Detroit.  No groups of people are suspect.  Again, like a time capsule from the age of sanity.

Of course we know why.  Multiple attacks and crimes against the Jewish community have happened since the beginning of the Israeli-Hamas war.  Twice Hamas has called upon global outrage and demonstrations.  Protests erupted immediately after the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.  While some were fine and peaceful, a staggering number - including around college campuses across the West - cheered what Hamas did, with some calling for more (that is, slaughter of Israelis).  And some Palestinian and pro-Palestinian protesters, along with BLM outlets and leftwing socialists, made it clear seeing more of what Hamas did in that first attack was wanted and demanded.  A few went so far as adding variations on 'Gas the Jews' to make sure we see it's not just because of Israel or Israelis, but because of Jew hate.  And all from not white, not MAGA, not GOP, not Red State, not Christian, not conservative types. 

Hence the sudden wave of 'let's not be hasty' where attacks on synagogues, Jewish individuals, and even murderers of Jews are concerned.  Again, absolutely nothing wrong with this level of restraint from law enforcement, the Jewish community, the ADL, and the press.  It's how it should be done.  There is, however, everything wrong with why they are suddenly doing it this way, and not the way we've seen for the last too many years.  

That is, immediately implying hate crime, saturating the press with stories of increased hate crimes against the Jewish community and all minorities, impugning rightwing and conservative types as antisemitic white nationalists who are to blame, and making sure to drudge up yet another wave of stories bringing up Nazis, Germany, antisemitism in the West, the Church's history, bigotry among white Christians, America as a 400 year slave state, and virtually anything to do with the sins of the last thousand years of Western civilization. 

The worst thing is, it isn't just the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust that is causing this sudden shift in coverage.  It's because of who slaughtered the Jews and who has made it clear they're willing to support more of the same.  That's the bad part.  It breaks the sacred narrative of the modern Left.  And no amount of slaughtering or protecting Jews will ever be more important to modern progressivism than defending that all important - and demonstrably false - narrative. 

Not Fat Bear Week!

 Heh: 

That made me laugh.  This is what the press does.  It can blame the GOP exclusively on any shutdown, so we are treated to an endless parade of - anything - that demonstrates the harm that will be done.  They do this when, say, a Republican is in the White House and the economy is struggling.  I recall in the 80s, in the midst of the rebounding economy, it was a regular feature for newscasts to showcase 'those who are falling through the cracks'.  In the years leading up to the 2008 collapse, I remember newspapers and news broadcasts focusing on endless families and individuals wallowing in debt, or struggling with bills, or anything that said we were heading full steam into a recession. 

On the other hand, during the 1990s, apparently everyone was doing well.  I took note at the time regarding the change in mood when the press covered the economy.  It was, quite frankly, the greatest economy in history.  And apparently nobody was falling through the cracks, since you seldom heard about it.  Whether pop culture or the press, there was no showcasing of the poor, the poverty stricken, the ghettoes, the individual families interviewed to show not everyone was enjoying the bountiful harvest of Clinton era policies. 

Same during the Obama years.  In fact, it was the Obama years in which I learned no matter what the economic reports, it was always good news.  If unemployment went down, that was good.  If it went up, that could be good, too.  If the economy slowed, or seemed to be limping along, it always seemed to herald positive news for the future.  

Just like today.  As I said here, no matter how bad the inflation, the cost of living, the number of Americans unable to keep up, it's always framed in a 'but economist predict great news for the future!' Likewise, there are no anecdotal stories about Mr. and Mrs. American who are being hurt by the current economic situation.  Again, because of who is in the White House.  

But when the blame can be dropped on the GOP?  Why, we learn that our world hangs in the balance.  We meet individuals who will be devastated, we're told of specific people who will be harmed.  And we learn that above all things, we might not be able to have Fat Bear Week!  

Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  

Sometimes you can't figure people

For the last couple days, I've seen news stories pondering why, despite such overwhelmingly positive economic news, Americans don't think Biden is doing a good job.  Some polls suggest Americans think he is doing a dismal job. 

The reason, of course, is that things are pretty miserable and we are a diminishing and crumbling society.  Part of that trend is watching a growing number of Americans unable to afford the basics.  The news keeps saying spending is strong.  Yeah.  Because the things people need to survive are off the scale expensive, and people are going into historically unprecedented levels of personal debt to keep up with just surviving.  Yesterday we had to buy laundry soap, toilet paper and dryer sheets.  We bought the smallest packages and got generic brands.  The total was almost $19.00.  That is unsustainable.  

Funny thing people.  You can tell them everything is peachy about vague things, but you can't tell people who can barely afford groceries that everything is awesome.  They won't believe you.  They may just resent you.

In 2016, after the conventions, I caught Fareed Zakaria on CNN.  He gave an editorial that had one clear message: The world was officially better than any time in history, and we owe it all to President Obama and his administration (read: Hillary Clinton).  The problem?  Things weren't great at all.  The post-2008 recovery was anemic at best.  ISIS was on the rampage and all we were told was to accept the new normal.  The African American community had all but been thrown under the bus.  And I could drive for weeks, if not months, without seeing a newly purchased car on the road. 

You can talk until you're blue in the face, but you can't tell people they never had it so good when they remember not so long ago when they had it so good, if not better.  The press made a huge mistake with that in 2016, believing that no matter what, a few propaganda nudges like Zakaria's screed would seal the deal and convince Americans to vote Hillary.  After all, Clinton was running against Trump for crying out loud.  Yet we saw how that turned out. 

You'd think they wouldn't repeat the same mistake again.  Fact is, except for hardcore leftwing thralls, most Americans can see the obvious.  As much as the press tries to make it about just hating the right groups of those people over there, most are increasingly bothered that things are getting worse and not better.  The press trying every other day to run stories about how great the economy is, how Bidenomics is doing a wonderful job, and how the future looks rosy and cheerful will at best not convince people who can't afford food without going into debt.  At worst, it will chase them away from the polls come November, or into the arms of you-know-who.

He must be making progress

I posted on Vivek Ramaswamy the other day.  Now ABC has done a hit piece on him.  My guess is that he's showing some potential.  

At this stage, the former media is more a propaganda/secret police agency.  It operates to maintain narratives by elevating or ignoring stories accordingly.  If someone is brutally murdered, the first questions are what group identities, skin color, or other designators are involved.  The answer to that will determine if it is a story plastered across front page headlines for days or weeks, or if it is covered for a day and then dropped.  We darn well know this is true.

But the press also launches attacks on anything or anyone that might challenge or otherwise harm the ascendancy of the political Left.  As in the ABC piece linked above.  It's nothing other than 'my hunch is he's a bad man, a very bad man.'  It's more gossip column than news article.   It provides some details, but wrapped in a bunch of accusations and opinions that he's really in it for all the wrong reasons.  That's because people think so. 

Hint: when someone relies on accusing someone of ulterior motives, it's best to ignore.  No matter what field they write for. 

It's difficult to find him

But I've noticed his name pop up in interesting ways recently.  I don't know much about Vivek Ramaswamy, and the media is as useless here as you can imagine.  Right now the media is already running with the "Trump v. Biden 2024" narrative that it so desperately craves.  

Despite the catastrophic failure of 2016, when Trump was supposed to destroy the GOP once and for all, the press wants to do it again.  Destroy Trump with a never ending barrage of accusations, litigations, felony charges, whatever, and then make darn sure he gets the nomination.  Similar to 2016, but with more baggage.  Or so the media assumes. 

I personally believe if they could find anyone beyond Biden they would take it.  Everyone knows Biden is in about as much control as the Sultan was in Disney's Aladdin.  But who do they have?  Vice President Harris?  That's rich.  At this point the press simply ignores anything negative to do with the White House.  Therefore the degree to which it ignores Harris shows how negative the press believes she must be.

So they appear stuck with Biden, and therefore their only hope is Trump.  To that end the press will do what it did in 2016 and shut out anyone else.  At least give nobody else the same level of coverage.  I remember in 2016. I first heard Rick Santorum was in the race when the press reported that he was dropping out of the race.  Even as a Buckeye, we had a hard time finding info about John Kasich, and he had been our governor and hometown boy.  The press wanted Trump in 2016, as it does today and that is its focus.

Therefore, learning about anyone like Ramaswamy is going to be like finding Big Foot.  From what I have seen, he seems prepared to say unpopular things in ways typically not acceptable to the modern Left establishment.  Like this.  To actually come out and call out the LGTBQ narratives and point out some obvious truths about the whole farse.  Takes guts.  More to the point, he did it in a way that was respectful and courtly, if I may use that term.  It seems to have disarmed a 'pansexual' activist, and that's no easy accomplishment. 

We'll see.  Again, I found some basic bio info, but that doesn't help much.  I'll keep an eye on him.  Everyone here knows I'm not fan of Trump. Never have been.  As I've pissed off more than one leftist by pointing out, I didn't like Trump back when liberal Democrats and Hollywood celebrities loved the guy.  I was ahead of the curve you might say. Still, you never know.  As they say, anything can happen in Texas.  

UPDATE:  To add interest, he has released a 'Ten Commandments' for his 2024 campaign.  If nothing else, he's making himself clear about these issues.  All too often politicians, especially Republicans, tend to him-haw and dance around hot button issues and liberal sacred cows.  Apparently he isn't.  Still learning about him and this is not an endorsement.  It is interesting how a politician speaking openly and honestly in a civil manner is newsworthy. 

I wouldn't let most modern press outlets feed my goldfish

Much less trust them to inform me of important world events.  Or any events for that matter. 

I mention that because I see, on internet websites, news of a WaPo poll that found the vast majority of Americans oppose altering the bodies of minors in the name of 'no gender that we can see.'  Most Americans also hold the old timer view that gender is a thing where the male and female of the species is concerned.  

Not a single network news station I follow, either national or local, mentioned the poll.  I've found few national level press outlets in general - apart from the WaPo - that have mentioned it.   Do you really, really, really believe that if the poll found overwhelming support for transgender activism, it would have been passed over by the press?  My guess is it would have been a top of the first hour, headline story for days.

As it is, the facts don't support the lies, therefore they are ignored.  Again, how many times do you have to be lied to in order to stop believing the source that keeps lying?  What's the old saying, fool me once?  At this stage, if you believe the moderns press it's on you. 

“He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  Revelation 21.7-8

I always liked that.  Somehow just throwing in 'and all liars' makes it all the more emphatic.  As if to say all those who practice such horrible things will not enter into the New Jerusalem.  Oh, and that includes all liars.  

It's even more noticeable in the Greek.  In the Greek, the cadence is 'the cowardly, and faithless, and polluted, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars.'   Get that?  And  this and that and this and that and all liars.  The word 'all' (Greek pas, meaning 'all' or 'every') is put here, and here alone, to modify liars.  The importance of Truth being one of the most important parts of life.  

Which is why that line from the movie Excalibur is a favorite of mine.  When Arthur asks what the most important virtue of knighthood is, Merlin responds that it must be truth above all.  After all, Merlin says, when a man lies he murders some part of the world.  Given that standard, I'd say the modern news media more than deserves its place among history's greatest mass murderers.  

Because of the news media

That's why:

"This is how it came to dominate the marketplace and loom so large in the American psyche"

Because the news media ignores stories that don't fit the press's agendas and narratives.

Because the news media has perfected the practice of making molehills out of mountains and mountains out of molehills.  

Because the news media waits until an AR-15 or similar gun is used and then keeps the discussion focused only on that one element of the story.

Because the press spends little to no time focused on any crime, murder, killing or other tragic event unless it can tie it around America as racist, phobic, bigoted nation or an AR-15 or similar weapon. 

Because the press all but refuses to allow any solutions, causes, symptoms or anything about violence in our modern culture to be discussed if it can't be linked to American racism, bigotry or assault weapons. 

Heaven forfend the press allows the conversation to drift to the godless morals, values and narcissism we've all but sanctified as a culture, all of which preceded the sudden emergence of the era of active shooter events. 

That's how it happened.  It's not rocket science. 

It reminds me of journalists sitting around the table on a Sunday morning newscast wondering why Americans are so obsessed about a story the press has been headlining 24/7 for the last three weeks.  Sometimes you just can't make it up.  Nor can you fathom how the press can write these things and not see the obvious.  It's either naked mendacity, or it's a pathological lack of self-awareness. 

Deacon Greydanus misses the obvious

In a set of Twitter posts, Deacon Greydanus does his best to convince readers that Fox News is somehow worse in its biases and faulty reporting than other news outlets.  Here is the pertinent observation:

First thing I notice is that he deftly leaves MSNBC off the list.  That's because if news outlets now wear their biases on their sleaves, MSNBC has its partisanship tattooed on its forehead.  Of all television news outlets, it verges on tabloid parody.  

Second, he misses the donkey in the living room.  I'm not sure what the allusion to MSM is (typically mainstream media, not a specific outlet), but the problem isn't that they are all biased. As he correctly states, journalism has been biased since the dawn of journalism.  It's that they all have the same bias.  And that's the problem.

In fact, in a bit of irony that the good deacon seems to have missed, the reason we have Fox is precisely because by the mid 90s, a growing number of Americans - including Democrats I knew - were becoming uneasy with the glaring advocacy that the 'MSM' displayed.  It was obvious that these news outlets were all defending the Clinton White House, advocating issues like gay marriage, and beginning to focus on post-American negativity regarding our history.  Furthermore, they were doing so by making mountains out of the same molehills and making molehills out of the same mountains (or sometimes simply ignoring the mountains altogether).  Again, all of them doing so to promote the same agendas.  

Americans being more clever then than now realized that's a problem.  If all but a few outlets (WSJ, National Review) were firmly in the same camp alongside only one political entity, it could spell trouble.  Even if my friends and fellow students were democrats who reaped the rewards then, they understood down the road it could be a big issue. 

Hence Fox News was born.  And because it is one of the few openly biased outlets in opposition to the MSM's biases, it can come off as a bit rough.  Same reason Rush Limbaugh seemed worse because he was surrounded by entire swaths of a media and pop culture that did the exact same things to conservatives and Republicans as he did to liberals and Democrats.  If you lay down on one nail, it hurts worse than if you lay down on a bed of nails.  If you only have one outlet being all the bias and advocacy for one whole side, while the other side enjoys a broad representation in bias and advocacy across multiple media spectrums, it can appear more crass than it really is.

That, Deacon Greydanus, is the only real difference. 

Uh oh

Looks like that ad campaign you might have seen, the "He Gets Us" campaign about Jesus, is going to show on the Superbowl.  CNN has the scoop here. 

What's the problem?  Apparently the donors and individuals behind the campaign might not be leftists, that's what.  It's a Jesus that might not be in full lockstep with the Left.  Sure, some of the ads have shown Jesus as an immigrant, an oppressed refugee, a women's rights activists, a social rebel, and that's all fine and good.

And the ad for the Superbowl might not even aim anywhere close to below the waistline or any such cherished avenue for the Left.  And yet, we find they might be evangelicals.  They might be conservative.  They might not think like those on  the left demand they think, especially about sex stuff.  

And we all know Christians are seen by so many as hypocritical, judgmental and discriminatory.  Says so right there in the article. That's unlike the good people complaining who obviously just want people to think the way they think or else.  

Yeah.  It's that nauseating.  In a world in which something called journalism existed, the naked hypocrisy displayed in the article, as well as the obvious lies about diversity and inclusion, would be front page news.  As it is, they can actually say with a straight face that they are merely against the hate that demonstrates itself by failing to conform to leftist tolerance.  

UPDATE:  In case you cared, here is some web news thing that talks of this - from a clearly anti-Christian perspective.  Some of the Twitter posts it chooses to display are funny,  but also telling.  

When you read this piece at NPR

About the discourse between public schools and parents, consider this scene from the Brit series Midsomer Murders (it's supped to be copied to the pertinent scene so you don't have to watch the whole episode - up through about the 1:22:51 spot):

Because what was that NPR piece other than manipulation?  Power of suggestion.  Note that there is nothing in it that screams 'propaganda piece for the Left!'  Nonetheless, you can't miss that the piece is nothing but that.  And you know, in your gut, exactly what you are supposed to think about the situation once you're finished reading the piece. 

It can be spotted, however, for several reasons if you think on it.  First we have context and know what it's all about.  We get the fact that parents, in 2020, were suddenly confronted with what their children were really learning or not learning in schools.  Then concerns brought to educators and school boards were met with pushback rather than dialogue in more than one instance.  Sometimes flagrant and condescending pushback.  Teachers, acting as if the Internet isn't a thing, were found on Zoom or other platforms calling hellfire down on conservatives or explaining why parents don't have the right to know what their kids are learning. 

All of which prompted parents to begin confronting the school boards when the opportunity presented itself.  No doubt some parents behaved as inappropriately as some of the teachers and school boards.  Note, however, the focus in the NPR piece.  

The piece also does the usual, emphasizing vast conservative funding networks, something almost never mentioned when the press discusses liberal activism.  Likewise, it suggests that the 'silent majority' is really on the side of the teachers and school boards who want this to go away.  The reporter knows this because it's the silent majority.  

Perhaps the giveaway part, however, is this little bit on down in the piece, quoting an anonymous principal who identifies as a Republican in a predominantly conservative district: 

"You can't [use newspapers] anymore. You can't use CNN because the parents will go nuts on you. You can't use Fox because it's so out there. It's hard to teach kids about what's going on in any kind of context, because there is no context anymore."

Note that.  You can't use CNN - because of those rascally parents going nuts on you..  Not that CNN is a problem.  The problem is those nutty parents.  You can't use FOX either.  Why?  Says the Republican in the conservative district - because FOX is "so out there".  The problem in this case being Fox, not the nutty parents.  

And I'm supposed to believe this is some conservative Republican principal who sees no problem with CNN but considers FOX out there?  This is as if to say 'see, Republican Conservative says FOX is a problem, but otherwise it's the parents when they question CNN'.  The power of suggestion. A big thing in our modern institutions and our modern media.  But if you step back and don't let distraction or misdirection fool you, and think things through, you'll be able to spot the illusion almost every time. 

If Catholics insist on fighting to keep abortion legal

 Then at least avoid spreading lies for the cause.  

It seems damning, until you actually look up the story and find out she was convicted because it was determined that her drug use led to the unborn child's death.  I know, I know.  The headline doesn't say that.  Never read headlines.  Ignore them.  Read the story. Headlines are made for the old 'Oh, I forgot to mention that part of the story' approach to lying.   

The headline, and Twitter copies above, are purposefully false and meant to stir up the old liberal tactic of inevitable doom at the hands of non-liberals.  The whole 'they're putting a woman in the electric chair because she bought the wrong crib, that's why Republicans will kill black people!' hysteria is old media driven leftwing boilerplate.  

I've watched it for years.  Any time a leftwing agenda might fail, they scream that we're three steps from the Holocaust, the world blowing up, all women raped, all minorities gassed in gas chambers, all children murdered, all grandparents thrown off cliffs, and all rights stripped away for the survivors. 

The more you watch the Left reveal itself, the easier it is to hold to the historical Christian Faith. 

ABC News wins the award for most stunning headline in the wake of the Buffalo shooting

 Yep:

I've not seen one come close.  If the article suggested conservatives begin wearing yellow stars on their shirts, I wouldn't be shocked.  

To understand this racist and exploitive approach to human tragedy, read this political analysis by the not-at-all-right-wing journalist Glenn Greenwald here. 

Or we could write it like this:

"Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation 

supported by less than half of Americans, 

poll reveals - live" 

See how easy it is to spin a story?  Just a little hint for you up and coming copy editors. 

A brief observation: I'm actually shocked that fewer than half support the confirmation.  At best the press coverage has been neutral, in most cases it has been hagiographical.  I've seen Beatles blogs by Beatles fans that were less worshipful than how the press covered her and her nomination. 

Oh, and did anyone catch if some journalist somewhere mentioned that she was the first  black woman appointed to the SCOTUS?  

BTW, I missed my chance. I should have tracked down Jeff Bezos and bet him his fortune that any failure to 100% support Judge Jackson and give her a pass would be labeled racism and/or sexism.  Had I thought to do that, I'd be the richest guy in the world.  Missed opportunities I guess. 

Bonus points to those on the left who have not just played the Race Card, but have also tried to suggest her hearings were among the most grueling and horrific of any SCOTUS nominee ever.  You've got to love our country's desire to make Medieval peasants look sane and balanced by comparison.