Lisa Fabrizio
Those who forget the past
By Lisa Fabrizio
At a small party over the weekend, the subject of our presidential election arose. Living as I do in Connecticut, I was prepared for the typical onslaught a conservative is sure to endure from liberals in social situations in our state. I was, of course, not disappointed.
The insults, name-calling and foul language staples of most liberal conversations directed at my fiancι and I were to be expected, as we were the only representatives of a party that our fellow guests said, "makes them sick." We once again witnessed the phenomenon where otherwise perfectly nice people were transformed into fire-breathing attack dogs at the mere mention of the GOP.
And the name most frequently offered up for hatred and derision was: Karl Rove. Yes, that Karl Rove, who ostensibly stepped down from public affairs over a year ago. But that didn't stop three angry women from blaming the dimming of their star on the wily Rove. Just as frat-boy George W. Bush wasn't capable of winning the White House without the dastardly dealings of his Texas cabal, so they are convinced that Barack Obama cannot lose unless Republican dirty-work is afoot. They told me they wished the Democrats would "fight back" once in a while against right-wing media bias. Some things never change.
The media in this country has, for some time demonstrated its own agenda witness Walter Cronkite's false assertion that the Tet Offensive was a failure and the Vietnam War was "unwinnable" yet they kept it pretty much under wraps. But this all seemed to change during and after the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Although driven from office, Richard Nixon escaped the ignominy that befell the man from Hope; an unthinkable injustice in the eyes of the press. Someone had to pay.
Even before George W. Bush was "selected" by the Supreme Court, the liberal media despised this man and sought at all costs Dan Rather's career was effectively ended to ensure his defeat. No gaffe went unreported, no misspeak was ignored and no scurrilous rumor went uninvestigated. And nowhere was this more apparent than the coverage of the 2000 election.
In August of that year, Al Gore's son was arrested for reckless driving in North Carolina which resulted in the loss of his driving privileges there. Typical of the kind of coverage this received was this story on the younger Gore's arrest last year on drug charges. After reporting the details, ABC goes on to devote six paragraphs to the Bush Twins' troubles. Yet, at the time, it was barely reported and certainly not the subject of countless Sunday morning panels and sordid speculation. Candidates' families were off-limits then.
Likewise in 2004, the endless calls for every scrap of paper from Bush's National Guard days did not suffice to quench the media's thirst for GOP blood; notwithstanding that John Kerry saw fit to release virtually no information from his time in Vietnam. This treatment no doubt led the American people to give credence to the Swiftboats for Truth campaign, but liberals never learn. Today's disgusting attacks on John McCain's health, physical and otherwise Moveon.org is calling for more info on his bout with cancer are pretty rich coming from worshipers of Bill Clinton, who has yet to release his medical records.
And can you imagine if a Republican called Obama an "African-American who is articulate, bright and clean?" He'd be tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail like George Allen; but coming as they did from the mouth of a man who seems to have arrived in Washington with Pierre L'Enfant, he was rewarded with the number two spot on the 'change' ticket.
In the bad old days before Fox News and the Internet, this kind of hypocrisy went mostly unnoticed by the American people whose attention span was short. Now, when liberal media outlets revel in Sarah Palin's "Troopergate," it will only remind us of Bill Clinton's scandal of the same name, which ended with a contempt of court citation, suspension of his Arkansas law license and a hefty $850,000 out of court settlement. And when they question Palin's experience, it will only serve to remind us of the lack of same at the top of their ticket.
But, unmindful of the fact that their relentless attacks have only served to get George W. Bush elected twice, and still confident that they can keep this country's citizens under their former fog of liberal indoctrination, the media don't show any signs of slowing down. They will continue to parrot left-wing talking points, denigrate people of faith and talk down to the majority of the American people. And they don't need Karl Rove to do it.
© Lisa Fabrizio
At a small party over the weekend, the subject of our presidential election arose. Living as I do in Connecticut, I was prepared for the typical onslaught a conservative is sure to endure from liberals in social situations in our state. I was, of course, not disappointed.
The insults, name-calling and foul language staples of most liberal conversations directed at my fiancι and I were to be expected, as we were the only representatives of a party that our fellow guests said, "makes them sick." We once again witnessed the phenomenon where otherwise perfectly nice people were transformed into fire-breathing attack dogs at the mere mention of the GOP.
And the name most frequently offered up for hatred and derision was: Karl Rove. Yes, that Karl Rove, who ostensibly stepped down from public affairs over a year ago. But that didn't stop three angry women from blaming the dimming of their star on the wily Rove. Just as frat-boy George W. Bush wasn't capable of winning the White House without the dastardly dealings of his Texas cabal, so they are convinced that Barack Obama cannot lose unless Republican dirty-work is afoot. They told me they wished the Democrats would "fight back" once in a while against right-wing media bias. Some things never change.
The media in this country has, for some time demonstrated its own agenda witness Walter Cronkite's false assertion that the Tet Offensive was a failure and the Vietnam War was "unwinnable" yet they kept it pretty much under wraps. But this all seemed to change during and after the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Although driven from office, Richard Nixon escaped the ignominy that befell the man from Hope; an unthinkable injustice in the eyes of the press. Someone had to pay.
Even before George W. Bush was "selected" by the Supreme Court, the liberal media despised this man and sought at all costs Dan Rather's career was effectively ended to ensure his defeat. No gaffe went unreported, no misspeak was ignored and no scurrilous rumor went uninvestigated. And nowhere was this more apparent than the coverage of the 2000 election.
In August of that year, Al Gore's son was arrested for reckless driving in North Carolina which resulted in the loss of his driving privileges there. Typical of the kind of coverage this received was this story on the younger Gore's arrest last year on drug charges. After reporting the details, ABC goes on to devote six paragraphs to the Bush Twins' troubles. Yet, at the time, it was barely reported and certainly not the subject of countless Sunday morning panels and sordid speculation. Candidates' families were off-limits then.
Likewise in 2004, the endless calls for every scrap of paper from Bush's National Guard days did not suffice to quench the media's thirst for GOP blood; notwithstanding that John Kerry saw fit to release virtually no information from his time in Vietnam. This treatment no doubt led the American people to give credence to the Swiftboats for Truth campaign, but liberals never learn. Today's disgusting attacks on John McCain's health, physical and otherwise Moveon.org is calling for more info on his bout with cancer are pretty rich coming from worshipers of Bill Clinton, who has yet to release his medical records.
And can you imagine if a Republican called Obama an "African-American who is articulate, bright and clean?" He'd be tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail like George Allen; but coming as they did from the mouth of a man who seems to have arrived in Washington with Pierre L'Enfant, he was rewarded with the number two spot on the 'change' ticket.
In the bad old days before Fox News and the Internet, this kind of hypocrisy went mostly unnoticed by the American people whose attention span was short. Now, when liberal media outlets revel in Sarah Palin's "Troopergate," it will only remind us of Bill Clinton's scandal of the same name, which ended with a contempt of court citation, suspension of his Arkansas law license and a hefty $850,000 out of court settlement. And when they question Palin's experience, it will only serve to remind us of the lack of same at the top of their ticket.
But, unmindful of the fact that their relentless attacks have only served to get George W. Bush elected twice, and still confident that they can keep this country's citizens under their former fog of liberal indoctrination, the media don't show any signs of slowing down. They will continue to parrot left-wing talking points, denigrate people of faith and talk down to the majority of the American people. And they don't need Karl Rove to do it.
© Lisa Fabrizio
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
