A Question of Priorities and Perspectives

By William L. Garvin

Very few of the really important things in life are urgent; that’s why it is so easy to procrastinate on them.  In contemporary culture, very few important things have precedence over the immediate.  So, for the record, I have very little interest in Justin Bieber’s infantile foolishness, the Richard Sherman-Michael Crabtree testosterone fueled feud or Sarah Silverman’s blasphemous, pathetic attempts at comedy.  Furthermore, I have even less interest in all things Kardashian.

 

However, it is with a deepening sense of foreboding that I watch the obsessive fury of forces that seek to concoct a direct connection between Chris Christie and a traffic jam but simultaneously ignore President Obama’s promise to reward his friends and punish his enemies.  Only conservatives and Obama “enemies” are guilty until proven innocent.  Liberals blissfully ignore Tim Geithner’s not-so-veiled threat to Standard and Poor’s after they downgraded the country because of a national debt that paled in comparison to today’s burden.  Naturally, they also ignore DOJ’s lawsuit against S&P and the lack of action against other credit rating agencies with similar records.  It’s “Crime” to speak out against The One and “Punishment” by any means possible.

 

Remember when President Obama was “outraged” about the IRS targeting and punishing of conservative groups that were applying for 501(c) 3 status?  How has that turned out?  First, they had to exhaustively cull agency records to identify a couple of liberal groups that had been treated the same despicable way as hundreds of conservative groups.  And it continues.  “Friends of Abe,” which is probably the only conservative group in Hollywood has been jumping through IRS hoops for two years and is still waiting approval.  The IRS has not interviewed any of the 41 victim groups represented by the American Center for Law and Justice but has already indicated that there will be no criminal charges.  Of course, now that Eric Holder has pulled out an Obama donor from the Civil Rights Division to “investigate,” I’m sure justice will prevail.  Adding insult to injury, Democrats like Chuck Schumer are calling for increased targeting of the Tea Party and new regulations are being developed to “legalize” this administration’s political purge of all opposition.  Liberals will tolerate anything but dissent; just ask Governor Cuomo!  On another front, President Obama is again attempting to blame his failures on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.  What’s the matter…did you forget your George Bush punching bag?

 

There seems to be an interesting pattern of interviewing or not interviewing witnesses to wrongdoing by this administration.  One would think that the survivors at Benghazi would be among the first witnesses to testify.  They weren’t.  One would think that the Accountability Review Board would interview Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  They didn’t.  One would think that the Congressional committee charged with oversight and chaired by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein would interview Hillary.  They didn’t.  When the report concluded that the attack was preventable, media should have asked Hillary why she didn’t answer the 3 a.m. phone call.  They didn’t.  As for the president being curiously missing in action during this attack, the mainstream media has made no substantive inquiry.  Nor will they.

 

The Obama administration and mass media (redundant?) will attack en masse to destroy any opposing candidate or viewpoint whether it was Hillary Clinton or is Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee or Ted Cruz.  Now of course, the media allegiance is shifting from the “First Black President” to the “First Woman President” and Operation Planet Hillary is already in full swing.  With the New York Times leading the charge, her history is being reconstructed, buffed up and glossed over.  Expect to hear a continual drumbeat about forty years of exceptional service but little discussion of tangible accomplishment.  Don’t expect them to question any contradictions or omissions.  Expect the full monty of whitewashing a la Wendy Davis.  You remember her, don’t you?  She’s the Abortion Barbie who wants to be the Governor of Texas.  She fabricated a biography out of thin cloth that quickly wore thin and is full of holes, yet is still hailed as a feminist icon. 

Believe it or not, all that is still small potatoes.  What is truly frightening is the one major campaign promise that President Obama is keeping.  He is indeed fundamentally transforming the United States of America.  And the future disintegration is becoming truly frightening!

 

Brave New (Media) World

By William L. Garvin

"Pusillanimous, pompous, patronizing, two-faced, forked tongue, hypocritical, double standard, subservient, sycophantic, boot licking, progressive propaganda puppet, pathetic, and predictable"  (Adjectives suitable for contemporary mass media)

Well, well, well.  The Snow White media has been awakened from its somnambulant state by Prince Charming.  The investigative Phoenix has arisen from its ashes.  The Frankenstein monster has been charged into raging life.  And to think all it took was a couple of polls showing that Chris Christie had an electoral edge over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.  A new governor is now being Palin-ized by the media.

As soon as Sarah Palin's dynamic acceptance speech gave John McCain a boost in the polls, the journOlist cabal (both formal and informal) sprang into action.  Ethics complaint after ethics complaint ad nausea was filed.  None were ever founded but the compliant media dutifully reported she was "under investigation."  Media also failed to report that she had to fund her defenses out of her private funds per Alaska law in effect at the time.  The journOlist media members actively conspired to spin every possible negative her way.  The media dispatched an army of reporters to review her emails.  No smoking gun was ever uncovered but that was seldom mentioned.  It didn't fit the progressive agenda of conservative thought destruction.  Her every utterance was scrutinized, distorted, and magnified.  Hollywood jumped into the smear campaign with both feet and received honors for their complicity.  Palin's  book was "fact checked" by a platoon of nitpickers but  President Obama's books have yet to be placed under a similar microscope.  You see, no one would be allowed to challenge "The One."  No one will be allowed to challenge the heir apparent.  The media has decided.

So here you go, Governor Christie.  You are now the eye of the media hurricane or the center of the media feeding frenzy, whichever metaphor you choose to employ.  Note the ubiquitous media mantra:  "If he was not involved (eye roll) and did not even know (uptalk) what was going on, as he CLAIMS (raised eyebrows)…."   You are a Republican and you are guilty until proven innocent…and that will never happen.  No matter what you do, no matter how promptly you act, no matter what evidence you produce or the lack of evidence on the media's part, you are the loser.

One pundit speculated and postulated that given Christie's image as a problem solver, why wasn't he on top of this and taking care of the problem?  Has any pundit ever asked the President where he was for the eight hours Benghazi was under attack?  Why hasn't a single one of the known terrorists been arrested?  Why were documents related to "Fast and Furious" given executive immunity?  Why didn't he know about the IRS abuse?  Why hasn't anyone been fired?
 
Others media mavens have noted the "mean spirited" nature of the bridge closing but did they show similar concern about the "mean spirited" closing of the open air war memorials?  Did they show similar concern about the "mean spirited" cancellation of White House tours?  Of course not.  It is gratifying to see the media trying to hone their rediscovered investigative chops, but it only serves to highlight their selective and partisan outrage.

In the meantime, al Qaeda flags are flying over Fallujah.  Iraq is in chaos and Afghanistan is pursuing the same road to disintegration.  Syria is still in turmoil and Americans are still in prison in Iran, North Korea and Cuba.  Sanctions against Iran are buried in Harry Reid's senate coffin.  Ninety-two million Americans can't find a job and Obamacare continues to implode.  But don't you worry about it, America.  "We The Media" are right on top of Bridgegate!  Oh yes, as to the Obama donor appointed to investigate the IRS abuse of his political opponents, that's just another "phony scandal." 

We're on to the real thing…why our commute from New Jersey to New York has been impacted!  As for Christie taking responsibility for the debacle and then firing two of the perpetrators, that's not enough.  That's never enough.  If he issues a written confession, commits hara-kiri in prime time and gives me an exclusive, that will still not be enough.  But, if he changes his party affiliation and becomes Hillary's vice presidential running mate, there might be a ray of hope for salvation!  Until then, we'll keep deciding what you should know, when you should know it, how you should vote, and who should be elected.  Trust us because we're smarter than you.

Red Lines, Deadlines, Bylines and Storylines

By William L. Garvin 

“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”         John Adams

 

 

As the New Year begins, some things change and some things remain the same.  After the Obama administration’s political rush to exit Iraq, the al Qaeda forces have now recaptured Fallujah.  All the assistance, blood and treasure expended to provide Iraq with the keys to democracy seems to have been in vain.  Also, the democrat refrain from the president and his supporters that “al Qaeda is on its heels” has proven to be patently false.  Simultaneously, civilian and military casualties, which were front page news, accompanied by running fatality totals, during the Bush administration, no longer pique media interest.

There is a similar lack of media interest with Syria now that the numerous “red lines” have become a fading memory.  Apparently, the “Assad must go” mantra is no longer a best seller.  Apparently, all the world-threatening chemical weapons have been destroyed or minimized.  Apparently, all the refugee camps are no longer teeming with fearful families.   Apparently, once again, the Arab Spring is blooming magnificently.  Apparently, according to the once esteemed New York Times, the Benghazi murders REALLY were caused by a video!  If there were ever any doubt, the “Gray Lady” has now fully evolved into the “Bearded Lady,” just another propaganda freak in the media circus.

Given the lack of accountability at the highest levels of government, it is not surprising that the lack of accountability in media circles is not only accommodated but duplicated and exacerbated.  In the “look, a shiny object!” manic movement from deadline to deadline, there is little desire to follow through, thoroughly investigate, or expose failures in the progressive schematic.  More time will be devoted to the latest celebrity entering rehab than to matters that shape the future of this country.

This journalistic malfeasance ranges from the insignificant to the monumental.  For instance, in 1999, Al Gore said that all the polar ice caps would have been melted by 2014.  Well, here we are and irony of ironies.  A group of global warming scientists were trapped in ice at the Antarctic along with rescue ships!  The polar vortex is breaking cold records across the United States and airports are nearly “polar-ized’ and paralyzed.  What do you have to say about global warming now, Al?  Don’t worry; be happy; count your money…the media won’t ask.

On a larger scale of non-accountability, the media “bromance” with the President is typified by Chris Mathews of NBC.  “I look at Obama as a perfect American. I don't mean politically. We can disagree left and right on him. You can argue about the drones. Argue about the fiscal policy, all that stuff. But as a citizen. The guy went to school, he never broke a law. He did everything right.” gushed Mathews.  No need to remember his admitted use of marijuana and other drugs.  No need to pay attention to his continual changes via executive order to the “settled law” of Obamacare.  Why expect responsible journalism when Newsweek shows Obama with a halo on its cover and Barbara Walters admits “We thought that he was going to be – I shouldn’t say this at Christmastime, but – the next messiah” and Mathews continues to feels tingles up his leg?

But the long knives will come out to eviscerate any conservative who speaks up.  When Sarah Palin spoke about the rising national debt and resultant obligations to China, she said "When that note comes due -- and this isn't racist…but it's going to be like slavery when that note is due. We are going to be beholden to a foreign master. Because there is no plan coming out of Washington, D.C. to stop the incurrence of debt."  Naturally the PC police began bleating their racist rant.  Take note:  slave, slavery, enslavement, slavish and other derivatives may not be used in metaphors, similes, or allegories by white people!  And just ask David Howard (and others) what happens if you ever use “niggardly” in regard to budgetary matters.  (Pssst…it means “stingy”!)

Another reason liberals love to mock Palin is because she appears on Fox News, the ultimate sin.  However, no one on Fox ever wore tampon earrings.  No one on Fox ever said your children did not belong to their parents.  No one on Fox ever said someone should defecate in anyone’s mouth.  No one on Fox ever said a heart should be torn out and kicked around like a football then stuffed back in.  No one on Fox ever mocked a white family for adopting a black child.  All of this occurred on MSNBC, the leading Democrat media wing.  Don’t even bother hoping for change.