The comedy team of Laurel and Hardy made over 100 movies and short films. The gist of their comedy routine was. Stan Laurel had a get rich quick scheme and Oliver Hardy went along. The schemes always failed and Laurel refused to accept responsibility. As they were being carted off to jail or run out of town Laurel would say “A fine mess you have gotten us into, Ollie.”
A lot has been said about the Republican Presidential candidates appearing on CNN when the Democrats refused to go on Fox News. Many doubt the intelligence of going onto a known hostile network. As usual the questions were delivered by Democrat activists trying to embarrass the Republicans. Why would Republicans go into the lion’s den? The answer is simple, they had no choice. The rules are different for Republicans than Democrats. Complaining about this doesn’t solve or change anything.
The real story is not about the candidates or the questions. It is about how far the news media has gone. The day of unbiased reporting is long gone. At the same time the viewer ship and readership of the mainstream is eroding badly. Here our paper local Mercury News is on the verge of bankruptcy. They are seeking advice from the readers, which the will ignore. They are talking about what sections to drop from the paper. They have already let over ninety people go and more lay offs are coming. The sad part is they (newspaper) haven’t a clue as to why they are losing readers.
Dateline NBC created news by putting bombs in pickup trucks and portrayed them as gas tank explosions. It made good graphics but not the truth. Only in the movies and now on “The News” do cars and truck blow up on impact. This bit of theater was exposed and it harmed NBC’s credibility.
Dan Rather did the same sort of thing over President Bush’s National Guard service. He let his hatred for President Bush blind him to reality. He ran an unsubstantiated claim by an unknown colonel. His proof of this claim was a letter from the colonel. The letter was in a font that hadn’t been invented for another ten years. Dan Rather still insists the letter is valid and he doesn’t know why he was fired.
Tim Russert pointed out inconsistencies in Hillory Clinton’s statements. He was chastised and accused of being biased. The following debate was on CNN with Wolfe Blitzer. He learned his lesson and asked nothing but softball questions. He did no follow up questions. What did you expect, it’s Wolfe Blitzer.
Anderson Cooper decided to do one better with the Republican debate. He loaded the questioners with Democrat activists. Four of them had their own websites. Keith Kerr, David Cercone, Lee Ann Anderson and “Paperserenade,” all have their own WebPages. They are all Democrats and have clearly stated their agendas. So much for “undecided Republicans.” He did include a question from Grover Norquist for balance. In the case of Keith Kerr he went one step further. He paid the plane fair from California to Florida and back. They also paid the hotel bill for his stay.
The Mercury News, NBC News, CBS and CNN are all losing their audience/readers. They refuse to accept the fact that lack of credibility is killing them. They look elsewhere for their problems.
“A fine mess you have gotten us into Ollie.”