The media’s corporate whores merrily turn over pebbles in quest of dirt
The whores of the Big Media are blooming in buckets lately. People in the primary states understand that the frenetic pace of a presidential campaign always causes imperfect scheduling. 9 times out of 10, it’s handlers overbooking the candidate, sometimes it’s unpredictable delays, on rare occasions, the candidate earns the blame. So when Julie Bosman runs with a hit piece on John Edwards, pointedly noting he tends to be later than Late Obama and Late Hillary, her agenda should be clear.
The corporate press decided long ago that the presidential race only had room for Hillary, Obama, Giuliani and Romney. And when Huckabee upset their narrative while Giuliani’s obvious weaknesses caused his inevitable fall, they regrouped to champion McCain. How dare actual voters think they should decide these contests!
They see Edwards’ numbers start to elevate slightly and they go into ‘He Must-Be-Stopped’ mode. And they stoop to any square inch of dirt that might influence anyone to suggest there’s some deep character flaw in the one guy remaining who can upset the race the media decided on a year ago.
In the past year, I learned that he spends the money he earned in honorable ways on expensive haircuts, and one nice home. He spends nothing on hookers, drugs, drunken sprees, gambling, or shady deals. And he tries to keep his campaign free of undue influence from the corporate world. He also occasionally sounds angry about corporations that have stiffed millions of American workers, that do business with our government from offshore tax havens, and have devastated numerous communities in numerous states yet get handed favors from politicians whose campaigns they finance. Oh yeah, and he’s tardy.
With Saddam captured in December 2003, Americans have been kept waiting for a troop withdrawal for four years. But 45 minutes? Kneecap the bastard!
This is corporate media whoredom at its worst. It’s two-faced, too. Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bush the Elder, Bob Dole and John McCain can run repetitive campaigns for the Oval Office, but when was the last time the corporate media granted real credibility for a losing Democratic contender to run a second presidential bid?
The best funded campaigns are pro-corporate. They’ll spend more on advertising. Corporate media outlets will profit more. Is it so hard for American voters to understand the motivations of corporate media whores? It’s not about the best interests of most Americans. It’s about the best paydays for the media.
They get peeved when small media markets like the St. Louis Rams play against the Tennessee Titans in the SuperBowl, too. Only this ain’t football. Hundreds of millions of lives depend on the outcome of presidential races. A few spending choices, justifiable anger and a few minutes of delay….. Julie Bosman, is that really all you’ve got?
I guess during the holidays, they have to let the custodial staff fill in for the big name whores. I trust the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire aren’t so easily fooled. But then, Iowa went for Bush in 2004, so you never can really guess how important stupid media tricks can be till the votes are in.
Just do me a favor and stop calling it journalism. A hit piece by any other name, still smells like like the floating, rotted corpse of a dying Fourth Estate unwilling to protect anyone outside of the corporate boardroom.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
The implication, too, implicit in this piece is that Edwards is a political lightweight.
I am not impressed with Edwards because I think he’s not nearly intelligent enough to be granted the Presidency, and I’ve seen few particulars and a lot of vague notions in his campaign promises. This may be my own bias talking, but he’s never impressed me much.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Edwards won in NC, winning a seat once held by Jessie Helms. That was no small feat: a moderate winning in a conservative state. In 2004, he outperformed Gephardt, long a union favorite, in connecting with working class families.
The record popular vote recorded for many years was Reagan’s in 1984. Bush the Elder didn’t break it. Clinton didn’t, either time. Bush missed it in 2000.
Edwards, on the Kerry ticket, surpassed Reagan. So did Bush. Despite their loss, without Edwards, Kerry would certainly have fared worse, as he lacked the common touch that reaches the working class. And in person, both John and his wife really connect, per all accounts.
Myself, I think some folks have a Paul McCartney backlash going on… he’s too good-looking to be smart or wise.
In 2004, I was for Dean, then Kerry. I thought Edwards was okay but not a standout. What he’s done in the intervening years, his humility about the Iraq military authorization bill, his real work for the poor, indicates to me he’s shifted further left from his political roots.
I’ve seen several notable American politicians do so over the course of many years: Barry Goldwater, JFK, RFK, among them. That suggests to me that real morality was winning them over more than ideology was. As they saw what was occurring around the country, they recognized they had to take risks and lead the nation on very tough issues, not just do the bidding of political advisers.
If you read Krugman today, I think he’s correct. The push towards society’s unity is important but that can’t be achieved by non-partisanship. It takes a willingness to stand up and fight.
Comparing him to Hillary, she strikes me as conservative on foreign policy and economic policy, only liberal on a few specific social issues. Yet social advance for so many in the bottom 40% is limited by conservative economic policies.
But she’s not unseasoned.
Obama strikes me as very naive. He’s the guy Krugman’s trying to advise. Charm and good oratory skills can’t be underestimated and his record as a state legislator means he’s not unseasoned. Yet the corporate support he’s gotten clearly causes some to wonder who he’ll be beholden to. Will he know when and where to brawl to get things done? That’s the big question.
Edwards’ private career was all about winning brawls with corporate America. Had he stayed in the Senate longer, I think we’d already be seeing more of it.
As I was too young to really pay mature attention to the 1960 race, subsequent study tells me that same label was applied to JFK: lightweight. He demonstrated that the real challenge was to advance a vision of what America could yet aspire to be and to mature to adapt to fresh challenges quickly.
I hate making exact comparisons because no two politicians are ever the same. But overall, Edwards seems headed in the same direction. But the MSM decided long ago that it’d be more exciting to report on a groundbreaking race than include Edwards in the mix.
I’ve also come to believe that those well-skilled in the give and take of the legislature aren’t automatically skilled at the bold initiative approach that marks successful executives. Which is why governors generally fare better pursuing the presidency than Senators do. That’s why Huckabee’s done well in the campaign and why I wish Richardson was doing better. I rate Richardson as the leader in actual accomplishments, Dodd ahead of Kucinich in accomplishment of a liberal agenda, and Edwards as better skilled as a campaigner, with very Dodd-like liberal beliefs. The only demerit for me, in Edwards, is his support of capital punishment.
I suspect we’re in for a period of economic stagnation for 50% to 60% of the country. That’s why I decided two months ago to back Edwards. He knows what that means from his family’s experience, while others mouth the words: I feel your pain.
But that’s just my opinion. I’m sure there’s others wiser, and you may be right, as well.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
[…] But then, Iowa went for Bush in 2004, so you never can really guess how important stupid media tricks can be till the votes are in. … A hit piece by any other name, still smells like like the floating, rotted corpse of a dying Fourth Estate unwilling to protect anyone outside of the corporate boardroom…. source: The medias corporate whores merrily turn over pebbles in quest of dirt, The American Street […]