Curmudgeon's Corner

The Duplicitous Fourth Estate

Posted by Al Campbell on Feb. 27, 2013

U.S., Political, Economy, Quality of Life, Taxes

The Fourth Estate has apparently become fully joined at the hip with the Executive Branch of our government.  This has led to an almost total lack of truth so far as the sequester issue and its effect.  The President is able to make claims that are incapable of being substantiated and the press ignores that fact so that the President’s claims about the impact of sequester remain to appear as being truthful.  Many of our citizens are all too happy to let this go since they are either ignorant of the truth or are aware but firmly in the President’s camp.

A release of undocumented immigrants, guilty of crimes, supposedly due to sequester was unchallenged by the great majority of the press.  Imagine the outcry had this occurred under the presidency of George W. Bush.  His lack of truthfulness would’ve been the subject of thousands and thousands of column inches over a week to ten days.  The press would’ve been wild-eyed at press conferences.  Newspaper editors would’ve been writing editorials that covered the complete page.  Television anchors would’ve been spending the entire program, or very nearly that, touting the lies of the President.

This is a dangerous alignment.  We have always relied upon the press to stand for truth and to demand truth.  We are now witnessing an almost complete disregard for the real facts in favor of the shaded ‘facts’ that are just not fully factual.

On top of the national press having largely given up its right to claim it is unbiased, except for a few news entities that are still reasonably dedicated to the truth but which are denigrated as tools of the “extreme right”, the entertainment establishment is hot on the heels of the media helping to make the First Lady seem a star in her own right.  Hollywood is almost entirely in the camp of the political left.

There are nearly four full years remaining for this President.  Where will we be as a country at the end of those four years?  By all accounts, we will have continued to spend way beyond our means.  The costs of PPACA (a/k/a ObamaCare) will have become very apparent and we will see that this great new national health care plan was sold with lies, too.  The alternate political party may still be on its heels given its performance to date.

I dislike having to say this, but it is certainly the age of liberal dominance and it appears this is not about to change anytime soon, barring some as yet unforeseen occurrence that startles the country into a swift change in its political leaning.

This is the kind of thing that feeds the purchase of every gun that can be manufactured as quickly as the new shipments reach the store.  The shortage of ammunition plays right into the storyline, as well.

This is all a very dangerous alignment that could challenge the stability and durability of our democracy.  You may think that an overstatement and I earnestly hope you would be correct.  I will greatly enjoy being proved wrong in this case.