{"id":8976,"date":"2007-05-08T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-08T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=8976"},"modified":"2007-05-08T12:15:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-08T19:15:00","slug":"the-scandal-of-scandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=8976","title":{"rendered":"“The Scandal of ‘Scandals‘“"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas Sowell, on the way the MSM chooses and frames<\/a> its “scandals” (which, in case you needed it, provides additional anecdotal evidence for a media that not only skews left, but—when at all plausible—protects its ideological fellow travelers from potentially negative scrutiny):<\/p>\n

\n

Before the Washington Madam surfaced, the big scandal in town was the Bush administration’s firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. But it was not a scandal, as far as the media were concerned, when Bill Clinton fired every single U.S. Attorney in the country.\n<\/p>\n

\nEverybody knew then—but seem to have forgotten now—that all U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. He can fire any of them or all of them, at any time, for any reason or for no reason.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the case of Bill Clinton, U.S. Attorneys back in Arkansas had been investing corruption in his administration as governor before he became president. Firing all of them covered the fact that he was getting rid of those who were investigating him.\n<\/p>\n

\nBut that was no scandal, as far as the media were concerned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nThe loudest critics of the US Attorney firings have focused primarily on two things:  Gonzales’ fumbling of the explanation (the Scooter Libby gambit for ginning up the appearance of impropriety in the face of no actual impropriety, which wasn’t applied to, say, Tim Russert); and “the timing” of the firings—which, while it didn’t follow precedent, is nevertheless irrelevant.  A break from tradition is not a break from the law—but the break did allow Bushco critics once again to do what they do best:  gin up the appearance of impropriety in order to drive their carefully-crafted narrative of Executive overreach and Bush Administration malfeasance.\n<\/p>\n

\nBush has been one of the staunchest promoters of returning Executive power to what he believes is its Constitutionally-protected place—a direct affront to the other branches of government, which over time have taken power from the executive (see, for instance, the battles over AUF, FISA, etc.).  And this, I believe, is what drives much of the animus toward Bush, even among libertarians, who traditionally support close Constitutional readings (but, of convenience, seem to reject them when they believe the person wielding the powers is too authoritarian).\n<\/p>\n

\nSo even periodicals like Reason<\/i> have directed much of their political ire at Republicans of Bush’s stripe, while a more useful strategy for promoting libertarianism would be to recognize and respect the President’s responsibility for forging foreign policy (correctable by way of elections and certain Congressional maneuvers, for those who disagree with it) and concentrate less on turning the magazine into what amounts to a non-interventionalist foreign policy white sheet, and more on what would happen should a Democratic candidate (with the possible exception of Bill Richardson) win the election, and have a Democratic majority to work with in Congress.\n<\/p>\n

\nBut again, it’s all about choosing your scandal—and it seems that some who profess to be “objective” or “neutral” think it okay that their selective editing of what is or is not “news” plays a crucial role in public perception, which in turn determines election results.\n<\/p>\n

\nAlong these lines, Sowell continues:<\/p>\n

\n

It was treated as a scandal in the media when Newt Gingrich received a large advance from a publisher while he was Speaker of the House. But it was no scandal when each of the Clintons received larger advances from publishers.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor conservatives, the media standard is not “innocent until proven guilty” but “the appearance of impropriety.”\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen Senator Harry Reid received a million dollars from a questionable real estate deal involving property that he no longer owned, but whose owner had gotten favorable treatment from the government, that was apparently not even an appearance of impropriety as far as most of the media were concerned.\n<\/p>\n

\nWe have heard a lot of outrage being expressed because, under the Patriot Act, the government can find out what books you have checked out of a public library. That is considered a scandalous invasion of privacy.\n<\/p>\n

\n[…]\n<\/p>\n

\n It was a scandal when shock jock Don Imus made a typical shock jock kind of cheap remark about black girls on a college basketball team. But it is no scandal when black “leaders” like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson make racist remarks.\n<\/p>\n

\nYet who has more influence—most of it bad—on race relations in this country? Outrage at Imus by people in the media who give Sharpton and Jackson a free pass is a little much.\n<\/p>\n

\nBut that is not a scandal, since the media are who determine what is and is not a scandal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nFortunately, market forces in information dissemination have forced the hand of the mainstream media—online or alternative media buzz, whether it be Monicagate or Rathergate, etc., can eventually create so much pressure that the legacy media can no longer ignore it—but the leftosphere has since arisen to discredit media critics, its biggest players concentrating much of their energy on promoting what they themselves have referred to as a “unified narrative,” one that seeks to defang critics by first marginalizing, then dehumanizing them.\n<\/p>\n

\nThis takes a special effort—and a special kind of illiberal arrogance—but it is part of a larger strategy to control the way debates are framed, and so the way information itself is ultimately disseminated. \n<\/p>\n

\nControlling the message is the single most important aspect of any kind of totalitarian form of governance—even one that, like “progressivism,” envisions itself as benevolent and the architect of a future Utopia.\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich is precisely why people who value classical liberal ideals must repeatedly pull back the curtain to reveal the stunted wizard behind it pulling the levers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Sowell, on the way the MSM chooses and frames its “scandals” (which, in case you needed it, provides additional anecdotal evidence for a media that not only skews left, but—when at all plausible—protects its ideological fellow travelers from potentially negative scrutiny): Before the Washington Madam surfaced, the big scandal in town was the Bush administration’s firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. But it was not a scandal, as far as<\/p>\n

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