Fooled - Andrea Mitchell buys "doctored" Romney Tape on MSNBC - image: nickrangone.com
In what appeared to be a badly hacked video (see below via hotair.com, MSNBC’s editing took a turn to the left to the point where Politico ran the headline: “MSNBC Misportrays Romney’s WAWA Remarks”. In the article the anchor, Andrea Mitchell, apparently believed that the clip was “real”. This illustrates the depths to which the “opposition” (left) will go to make a candidate on the right appear to be “clueless” once again. The original stump speech included a bit about how difficult it was to complete a change of address versus ordering a sandwich – Romney has developed (or perhaps, in a more realistic light) simply has a solid sense of humor. This was edited in order to make it appear that the former Governor was somehow fascinated by the development of a touch screen ordering systems. Seriously – MSNBC was caught with its “pants down” by a citizen attending the Romney event. Go figure.
It only took CBS and Couric’s editorial team seven hours to piece together an interview of Sarah Palin to make it appear she was an idiot – but to their credit, no matter how desperate the network was to sink Palin’s popularity, it looked as if it were real – almost. With the MSNBC hack job, the fact that Andrea Mitchell even bought it – is startling. It’s as if the playground has morphed into the American mainstream media houses, and the bully’s are trying as hard as they might to make something out of nothing in order to down Romney. If one is watching the CBS, ABC, NBC evening news (say the 11 o’clock news), the take on Obama is one of normalcy – one of “nothing to see here, move along, he’s cruising to victory, he’s done this great, he’d done that great, followed by perhaps 30 seconds on Romney and (pick a problem) - yada, yada. One wonders if, somewhere in someone’s small mind, that might fly, or if in the even smaller circle that is the “news”, the grasp of the simple, has alluded or deluded them into thinking they have the power to sway minds.
All very Machiavellian to be sure, but, unfortunately true – which is why consumers have to “shop for their news” or watch everything with a huge grain of salt – what the media tells the public as fact, may or may not be belied unless backed up by ”plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence…..not to mention the aerial photography (Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant - truncated), or in the case of MSNBC and the rest of the bunch – citizen video’s of the same event or situation.
The quest of the broad brush and branding of Republican’s is nothing new, and as a result, makes more than a few politicians who have remotely right thinking credentials (or more precisely are running as a Republican against a Democrat), somewhat leery of certain networks – evidenced by:
Senator Scott Brown’s acceptance of a Debate with Ms. Elizabeth Warren, Harvard Professor and one-time Obama Crony, who has a history of fabricating everything from her background to her cookbooks (well, the cookbook – that’s plagiarism), came with the condition that MSNBC not be allowed near the event. (Boston Herald) – If one has seen Ms. Warren Debate, one must know that above all else, the horse pulling the carriage does not want these debates seen in Massachusetts, at a time when the general voting public can actually see the event. Which is also a condition of the Brown Campaign – the debate must air in Massachusetts. One would think that Democrats in Massachusetts would be proud to show off their elite education and ability to best those “out of touch” Republican’s (or in Brown’s case – Independent on the Cusp of Conservative), for the general public. Yet, each and every debate is marginalized, no matter the office, and shown at odd times, on odd channels – say a PBS debate at 2PM when – literally no one is watching but those in the studio. Brown’s no dummy; he’s got a pick-up truck and takes his message to the people.
Romney’s opted for a bus – larger scale, but then larger office.
And the spin goes on – and it will get worse, and perhaps they’ll employ better editing or not, as the case may be – but one must be aware, that between the studio’s in Manhattan, and elsewhere, and the reality on the ground, that the favorite son of the Media (who happens to be President Barack Obama at the moment (or any Democrat in trouble) is to be protected at all costs, no matter how much one must put a spin on a story, tell a story straight faced on video, or even tell a story straight faced on a video a smart 3 year old beagle could understand was unduly edited (and that beagle is taxed in Massachusetts).
Anyone signing up for Google News Alerts, or any news alerts will quickly understand if one has either Brown or Romney as the topic, that the media has taken a spin to the extreme – headlines sound bitter and angry, even Ann Romney’s Horse is not off-limits, and they are still going after Palin with gusto. One has to wonder what happens when Obama carries perhaps 10 states in November. Is there a contingency to have grief counselors standing by? When a group is so vested in control of a message, and will do anything to keep that message alive, it plays psychological havoc if they lose – recall Bush Derangement Syndrome – seriously, this may be much worse as declining ratings, declining subscribers, and even web stats, tell a more realistic story of who’s zooming who (Aretha Franklin), and who is losing the battle – regardless of the cost.
Should someone get a clue at some point, the American media, such as it is, might actually report the news, without a spin, without injecting party politics, and watch in amazement as ratings increase and subscribers jump back on board for more than the weekly coupons. They have, in fact, alienated 50% of the population and possibly more, but, as it has been noted in the past, are too ideologically blinded to understand the public may be smarter (or less trusting) than those in ivory towers believe them to be. Meanwhile, they bleed jobs, and then report “shock” as the new weekly jobs reports appear less than expected. It is a fact that the American Public has come to expect more, and to not accept a partisan spin on any news article – regardless of the source, which includes all networks including Fox. Op-ed or opinion is, of course, a different horse of a different color, which is why it allows readers to understand it is an opinion of a situation not a fact (unless based upon the aforementioned criteria (see Arlo).
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