Where is the happy medium?
That's the question that goes unanswered with regards to politics, restaurants and carwashes. Apparently, institutions that were once understood to be unbiased, solid sources of information (network television, newspapers) have shown repeated bias in reporting and programming in general whereas the media that was thought to be on the "fringe", Internet and Talk Radio, have given individuals an outlet to report on newsworthy items and are considered more legitimate as solid sources of information. Who does one trust? CBS News or the Drudge Report, The BBC or Arianna Huffington's blog?
Now that those in the middle are being offered a variety of news outlets, comparisons cannot help emerge, and this is why network news that had dominated the airwaves are tanking in ratings and America's most trustworthy newspaper's stock is sinking faster than the Titanic.
American's and those around the world have finally been able to compare products; and traditional news outlets have been found sadly lacking in style and content.
A wise professor of history once lectured on the importance of the media to the political spectrum. Frances Jenson, PHD, taught that the media has been in the hands of liberal progressives since the 1930's and was directly responsible for shaping America's mindset. A brilliant woman, much admired, placed the demise of Richard Nixon as well as the withdrawal of troops from Viet Nam and our loss to the communists (much admired), as a direct result of Walter Cronkites nightly warnings.
Ted Kennedy was revered, John Kerry lionized and Dan Rather considered a sage, until: other voices were heard -- strange conservative voices -- voices that said essentially:
it is good to be an American, America is a great place to live, American's have a right to stand up for themselves, and Liberals (which is too broad of a term), are communists (actually socialists, but every bit as dangerous).
Now, it is difficult to take Ted Kennedy seriously on any given issue; because comparison has allowed him to become the buffoon, the blustering drunken senator from Massachusetts. When one is able to view or listen to the honorable Rick Santorum (R-PA) calmly describe that after 5 years, stockpiles of chemical weapons were indeed found in Iraq, just as the intelligence that led to our invasions of Iraq indicated. Fox Then alternately, view the response from the "left", it further degrades one political party; a party which cannot afford to alienate middle American much longer.
When weapons reports that had been buried and classified were found by Sen. Santorum (as if no one in the CIA is a liberal or a conservative in thought), the immediate response from the liberal progressives: "They are old weapons" "Degraded". Are these fools never satisfied? If the weapons are so degraded (*one compound is considered highly dangerous, while granted, mustard gas can degrade over time), then perhaps they should be shipped to Dr. Dean's farm in Vermont where he can post for photo's and once and for all put an end to the right wing lies about Dr. Dean's integrity.
As November nears, the progressives continue to make critical mistakes and the old media continues to ignore a key indicator (ratings and new subscriptions), now middle America has the internet, cable television, am radio and they listen, read and wonder. In this particular instance it would behoove the leaders of the progressive left party (Those who hijacked the actual DNC), to issue statements of support for our intelligence, apologies to the administration that they rushed to judgment and had no real way of knowing that these weapons weren't actually burred in Iraq, they just hoped our troops (the finest, all volunteer force in the world) would not find them. Speaking of our brave men and women, again all volunteer force that is risking life and limb so that old senile potentates such as Murtha, Kennedy and Carter are able to malign with malice for the body politic; people notice.
Get off the campus and go to the shopping mall, or a local mini-mart, gas station, restaurant and ask about Jack Murtha, especially in Western Massachusetts and expletives will follow. One has to wonder, if there are moderates in Massachusetts, that find the DNC's pet Vet of the moment to be a fraud and a danger to our country (the word treason is used a good deal), then what on earth must the rest of the country be thinking?
Let this be stressed again: Massachusetts has residents who are moderate, who believe that the leaders of the DNC should be tried and or moved permanently to Cuba (one of the most often cited vacation zones for Senator's Kennedy, Rep. Murtha, and cronies of their ilk.
If one studies the "red" and "blue" of the last electoral vote by county, not by state but by county, there is a trend that cannot be denied. Conservatives are entrenched in every state, and they have highspeed internet connections and 700 channel digital cable packages.
So, next time you happen to be at a restaurant or carwash, and you may be on the fence or indoubt, ask someone, the clerk anyone, what they think; first, people always reply: "No one ever asks me!" (which makes one wonder who it is that is actually being polled). Get involved in a dialog, do your own reporting; it is both eye opening and refreshing!