The Hypocrisy of Our National Media

It is only right that we, as an informed populous, expose the hypocrisy and intolerance of the mainstream media.  Many newsworthy stories are often discarded while others that may not be as deserving receive the spotlight.  When one coordinates the narratives of these stories and how they are spoon fed to us, the questioning of the motives must begin.

Letters like Mr. Herbst’s is a typical example that clearly identifies my point.  We have become a nation built on “sides” and “teams”.  While competitiveness is a fundamental American characteristic, the vitriol and hyperbole in use by the American press is a relatively new, undesirable characteristic within our current political dialogue.  These undesirable characteristics not only make us less aware of the real issues, but people like Mr. Herbst, continue to repeat the same talking points, which falsely malign those who simply disagree with his political philosophy.  The hypocrisy of his letter is not only alarming, but a great way to illustrate the point in my letter. Mr. Herbst’s article tags Rush Limbaugh as failing and because of the comments he made calling the female law student a “slut”, Herbst states, “his best and most influential days on talk radio are behind him.” 

To begin, it is clear Mr. Herbst is a victim of the mainstream media.  To further prove this hypothesis, let’s discuss the issue of Rush Limbaugh’s comments and Senator McCarthy.  Firstly, what Limbaugh said was wrong, he admitted it, and I think it is safe to say we can all agree on that point.  But the fact remains that Mr. Limbaugh was attacked by every major news organization.  But, you may be thinking to yourself, “He wasn’t really attacked, they just reported the story”.  This is only partly true. The overkill of coverage of the story put it in every household and every media outlet so that those of us who do not even know whom Rush is, had a negative opinion of him. By calling the law school student a “slut” and “prostitute” Mr. Limbaugh participated in name calling and everyone knew about it.  Mr. Herbst seems to be very interested in the prospect of Mr. Limbaugh losing his radio show, which seems to excite him very much.  However, Mr. Herbst and the mainstream media present a clear and undeniable double standard.  They have neglected to mention some of the comments TV show host Bill Maher (among others) have said about conservative women, and now even some liberal commentators are calling their own out.

In a column titled “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist” liberal commentator Kirsten Powers clearly illustrates my point; something most Americans are starting to see, but obviously Mr. Herbst remains blind to this point.  Ms. Powers cites a number of alarming incidents that I am sure no one reading this article has heard of, but I can guarantee you all heard about Limbaugh’s comments.  Ms. Powers points out that Bill Maher has called Sarah Palin a “dumb tw**” and the “C-word” (he never apologized).  Ms. Powers even notes that feminists regularly appear on Mr. Maher’s show yet they have never called out Mr. Maher on his awful comments.  In addition, the mainstream media has sat silent on these comments compared to what happened to Mr. Limbaugh last week.  More glaring examples of media bias include Keith Olbermann stating conservative S.E. Cupp should have been aborted. This was also barely covered in the mainstream media. 

My purpose here is not to defend Rush Limbaugh, but to illustrate a point.  Most women’s rights groups have condemned Rush but never mentioned Maher.  Maher also gave 1 million dollars to President Obama’s Super PAC.  

Secondly Mr. Herbst compares Limbaugh to Senator McCarthy. Senator McCarthy’s career ended abruptly because of his actions, but Mr. Herbst, in his own way, is trying to re-write history.  While the Senate censured Senator McCarthy, it later came out that he might have been onto something.  Dan Flyynn, director of Accuracy in Academia, stated in 2000 at a national conference, that McCarthy was essentially right in almost all of his accusations.  Recent Soviet files and tape recordings show, as the WND article states,”…almost every case he (McCarthy) charged has now been proven correct.” 

Finally we must examine why the media blew this situation up more than Maher’s comments, or other liberals’ comments that we never hear about (like liberal talk show host Ed Schultz calling conservative Laura Ingram a “dumb slut”).  It is my opinion this entire contraception issue was meant to solidify the President’s base before an election year and divert attention from the unemployment rate, which has been steadily over 8% for nearly all of our President’s three years in office.  Perhaps it was meant to divert us from real issues, like gas hitting nearly 5 dollars a gallon.  And after reading letters like Mr. Herbst’s, I guess it worked. Poll numbers show President Obama benefited from this controversy. 

Political discourse is never fair, but the more people open their eyes to media bias that is meant to alter and brainwash people to think a certain way, our political discourse may become more intelligent and meaningful, and with less name calling.

See Also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikW7ljSm3Fs (Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee and Jan Schakowsky who both condemned Rush Limbaugh on the House floor were asked about the comments made by Bill Maher and if they would condemn them, they refuse to do so)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--VfCiBrEb8&feature=related (ShePAC is a political action committee that released an ad that illustrates the hypocrisy of the whole situation.)