Posted by
Roxanna M. on Sunday, August 02, 2009 10:47:46 AM
In a recent speech at the Aspen Institute, Dan Rather, the man who lost his job because he allowed his dislike of President Bush to override his responsibilities as a purveyor of news, made the following statement: "A truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom. This is not something just for journalists to be concerned about, and the loss of jobs and the loss of newspapers and the diminution of the American press' traditional role of being the watchdog on power. This is something every citizen should be concerned about."
Mr. Rather was talking about the need for Obama to establish a White House commission on public media to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep new organizations alive.
Two things.
One. Mainstream journalism, both print and air, gave up its role as "the watchdog on power". It voluntarily relinquished that role in order to give Obama its complete and utter devotion. The MSM wanted Obama in power, and it purposely chose not to vet him. It chose to throw softballs at Sarah Palin, but lick the hand of Obama. Even now, with the Obama administration and congress destroying this country at an alarming clip, mainstream journalism continues with its slobbering.
Two. Hugo Chavez, Obama's idol in Venezuela, is currently shutting down radio stations. The regime in DC nationalized GM, is attempting to nationalize health care, and claims the right to set the compensation packages of executives of private companies. It has appointed several unappointed, unelected, unaccountable "czars" with enormous amounts of power to do its bidding. In light of this, is Mr. Rather so clueless as to believe that the heavy hand of the State would step in to help out journalism without asking for something in return?
According to a recent poll, those claiming to be conservative outnumber those claiming to be liberal by a two to one margin. The media could return to its stated mission of government watchdog any time it wanted to by once again returning to the business of presenting the news and leaving its opinions to the appropriate sections of the paper or to segments on air. But no, it chooses to continue on its path of "all liberal, all the time" with a token conservative here and there for "balance".
And that's what Mr. Blather and his fellow travelers on the Left really want: the freedom to pursue this unfettered by such necessary things as having to raise money by offering a product that people want to buy, while at the same time silencing all those who would disagree with them.
Be careful what you ask for and from whom you ask it.