I'm noticing a trend.The civil unrest of Americans seems to be continually labeled as a manufactured product by the squawking Republican party. Article after article is published, downplaying the genuine discontent and concern of Americans over national issues, and painting it as emotionally charged, hate-filled semantics. As quickly as the Press can casually shrug off serious issues like the ACORN scandal, our school children singing Praise and Worship songs about President Obama, and unconstitutional healthcare legislation, controversial issues continue to surface almost daily. Media heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are continually portrayed as intellectual pygmies, that no one in their right mind would take seriously. The truth of the matter is, the media is in no real hurry to reveal the ratings of Beck and LImbaugh, because they are crushing everyone else in talk radio. Perhaps their ratings are such as they are because Beck and LImbaugh are two very articulate, capable and talented men, but maybe it's also in part because Americans want to hear voices from the other side. Perhaps Americans are catching on to the liberal indoctrination trend of the mainstream media, and know they themselves are experiencing very real concern and anger- so they're not buying that the rest of the country's unrest has been fabricated by the GOP; a notion the mainstream media continually spoon feeds us every day.
Glenn Beck's face graced the cover of Time Magazine this week, with his tongue stuck out like a bratty toddler and the words, 'MAD MAN' beneath him. Very sublte. Fan or not, everyone can agree that Beck is no wall flower. He's intense and driving and does not hesitate to ask questions or report on things no one else in the media dare touch with a ten foot pole. Interestingly enough, both Limbaugh and Beck's ratings prove that more people are listening to them individually, than almost anyone else in talk radio. So the attack that they are ranting lunatics, is not only lobbed at Conservative Talk Radio, but its shrapnel can be felt cutting into the intellectual flesh of every American who takes these commentators seriously. Also, it's interesting to note that 'crazy' Glenn Beck was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the ACORN tax-fraud/ prostitution scandal to light. The American people learned that one after another ACORN office was guilty of fraudulent behavior and promoting underage prostitution, largely with tax-payer money. The media and Obama downplayed the incident, of course, "Frankly, its not something I've followed closely. I didn't even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money," our President said. Yea, I'm sure you didn't, Mr. President. Either way, the House voted last week to cut off all federal funding for ACORN, which would probably have slipped under the radar and not been detected had Mad Man Glenn Beck not used his television program to expose the organization for the corrupt thieves they are.
Another note-worthy incident was Joe Wilson's gaff during the President's Health Care address to Congress, and it got more than its fair share of media coverage. Although the general consensus is that Rep. Wilson's outburst was inappropriate and disrespectful, that was the extent of his offense. Not that he accused the President of lying, but how he went about timing the accusation. The media spun the event to portray Wilson as guilty of daring to accuse The Omnipotent President of being untruthful, as if that were a sin in and of itself. No, Wilson violated the rules of democratic etiquette; that people should be allowed to state their case on the floor, even if you believe their words to be dishonest. It was wrong and tactless of him to interrupt the President's address, parties on both sides of the aisle agree there. We can move on. But his accusation was valid. Rep. Joe Wilson was correct; the President was not telling the whole truth in claiming illegal aliens would not be covered in his proposed healthcare legislation. He wasn't lying, per se, but he wasn't telling the truth either: Obama's favorite game. House Democrat's proposed bill does, in fact, offer financial assistance to illegal immigrants, because it does not require them (or any health insurance beneficiary) to verify legal status in this country before beginning to receive subsidies from the government. They can accurately say illegals aren't covered, because technically they aren't, but they most certainly could obtain coverage through the every-popular and ever-present "loophole" in the system. If we're not checking the legal status of those applying for the public option, what is to stop the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants in this country from applying for tax-payer funded public health coverage? Absolutely nothing. Also, Democrats were well aware of this gaping hole, because they TWICE voted down amendments to add a certification of legal status amendment to the healthcare legislation. Interestingly, after taking the bullet for the his own misstep, it appears Joe Wilson's outburst created enough media blitz to shed necessary light on the issue. In the days that followed the Wilson debacle, the White House moved to support adding a verification provision to the bill.
The mainstream liberal media would like to portray the anger and outrage of the American people as loud-mouthed pouting by the Republican party for the loss of the 2008 election. The media portrays the GOP as capitalizing on the opportunity to sensationalize important issues. And that might be true in part, except that serious political opposition figures, like Newt Gingrich and John McCain are not part of the media machine, and they too are very openly critical and equally outraged, not just by the unconstitutional legislation being put forth by the Obama Administration, but by the blind eye The Administration turns to partisan corruption. Perhaps the right wing media is sensationalizing the controversy, but publicity is publicity. In a nation where the media is almost entirely partisan, save one news network, publicity is the only tool that brings the corruption of Washington D.C. into the living rooms of the American people, and forces the government to be held accountable. I've noticed the trend of the mainstream media to laugh off criticism from the right, as though it were the temper tantrum of a 2-year-old that is to be tolerated with a smirk. Besides the American people being smart enough not to fall for that, all of this outspoken accusation from conservatives just may be functioning as a useful tool to expose injustice, grossly misspent American tax dollars, and less than ethical provisions for anyone physically in this country, except (apparently) those of us with social security numbers, who go to work everyday and pay our taxes.
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