Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

When I wrote Journalistic Bubble Wrap in The Tentacle on October 15, 2008 -

One of the hottest subplots to the 2008 presidential campaign is how would the contest, the polls and the final outcome have looked if the “old – elite” media had not been so biased towards the Democratic Party in general and specifically the Democrat nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

I wish I had written it as well as when Orson Scott Card wrote Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

October 5, 2008 - Featured on Rush Limbaugh 10/22/08

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html

Editor's note: Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this opinion piece he takes on both while lamenting the current state of journalism.

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.

They end up worse off than before.

This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)

Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" ( http://snipurl.com/457townhall_com] ): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

Read the rest here: Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

20081005 Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

When I wrote Journalistic Bubble Wrap in The Tentacle on October 15, 2008 -

One of the hottest subplots to the 2008 presidential campaign is how would the contest, the polls and the final outcome have looked if the “old – elite” media had not been so biased towards the Democratic Party in general and specifically the Democrat nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

I wish I had written it as well as when Orson Scott Card wrote Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

October 5, 2008 - Featured on Rush Limbaugh 10/22/08

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html

Editor's note: Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this opinion piece he takes on both while lamenting the current state of journalism.

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.

They end up worse off than before.

This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)

Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" ( http://snipurl.com/457townhall_com] ): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

Read the rest here: Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

20081005 Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? By Orson Scott Card

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

Folks have been asking where they can find my three-part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle from October 1, 2 and 3, 2008.

They may be found here:

October 3, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On May 13, 2008, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama compared the current housing crisis in the U.S. to the Great Depression in a campaign stop in Missouri.


October 2, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For several weeks the nation and the world have been watching the financial news emanating from Washington and Wall Street with that “deer in headlights” look as everyone holds their breath in disbelief and worries another shoe will drop.


October 1, 2008
Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In response to the increasing wrath of the American voter, the U.S. House of Representatives came to its senses on Monday and voted 288 to 205 to kill the rash and ill-conceived proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

20081003 My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

Folks have been asking where they can find my three-part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle from October 1, 2 and 3, 2008.

They may be found here:

October 3, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On May 13, 2008, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama compared the current housing crisis in the U.S. to the Great Depression in a campaign stop in Missouri.


October 2, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For several weeks the nation and the world have been watching the financial news emanating from Washington and Wall Street with that “deer in headlights” look as everyone holds their breath in disbelief and worries another shoe will drop.


October 1, 2008
Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In response to the increasing wrath of the American voter, the U.S. House of Representatives came to its senses on Monday and voted 288 to 205 to kill the rash and ill-conceived proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

20081003 My three part series on the current economic mess in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Truth, Lies and The Media
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Just two long weeks ago, Republican presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, announced that he had chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate.

For conservative Republicans, the cheering has not yet subsided. On the other hand, the elite media and its Democrat friends immediately ran into the room with hatchets drawn.

Writing for The Wall Street Journal, John Fund noted that “Democrats have airdropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators, and opposition researchers into Anchorage, the state capital Juneau, and Mrs. Palin's hometown of Wasilla to dig into her record and background. My sources report the first wave arrived in Anchorage less than 24 hours after John McCain selected her on August 29.”

The Democrat National Committee denies this. In all candor, Mr. Fund has more credibility.

No matter how you slice and dice the 2008 presidential election, it is one for the record books. It will be an election that will be studied for many decades to come. On the one hand an African-American will be our next president; or – on the other hand – a woman will be our next vice president.

For many these facts alone are enough to celebrate. Finally, we have candidates running for office that look like the country they intend to lead if elected. In many ways, all of America is the winner.

However, if the country is the winner, the media will, no doubt, not be treated too kindly by history.

Read the entire column here: Truth, Lies and The Media


A Miserable Mistake
Tom McLaughlin
Other than he is a Republican, anti choice, pro war, a trickle down economist, drill here, there and everywhere fanatic, and a DNA clone of the mind (or lack thereof) of George Bush, there are few other things about Arizona Senator John McCain that bother me.


Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Facing Reality
Roy Meachum
The latest White House military pin-up vigorously protested the administration's hard-core policy toward the Middle East. Instead of calling for more and more young men and women to become cannon fodder, Gen. David Petraeus said: "You don't kill or capture your way out of an industrial strength insurgency."


The Dream Realized
Nick Diaz
A young man, (let’s say “George”), a former middle school student of mine, was doing fine in high school until the spring of his senior year at a Frederick County public high school, many years ago. He was near the top of his senior class, and his list of activities – curricular, extra-curricular, and service-oriented – was impressive. It appeared to all at the time that he would go to a great college and do important work.


Monday, September 15, 2008
A Media Vetting
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Sally Quinn, a noted national political journalist, finally said aloud what many have long known about professional political journalists.

Ms. Quinn, in a nationally televised interview, expressed the idea that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's choice for running mate, was not qualified to be on the national stage. Ms. Quinn was pressed on her comment, and – in a moment of stunning clarity – issued the following observation. "Governor Palin needs to expose herself to professional political journalists. She needs to be fully vetted by the news media and asked tough questions before the American people will accept her as being qualified to be vice president."

The last person in the world who would guide my opinion on the qualification of a national political figure would be a representative of the national news media. There can be no doubt that we need to see our national leaders or aspirants face difficult, probing questions from journalists. But we'd prefer, for the sake of our own determination, that the journalists be free from bias and preference.

Read Delegate Weldon’s entire column here: A Media Vetting


A Bias About Media Bias
Steven R. Berryman
Last Saturday my attention was taken from Tentacle scribing and also from my other compulsion, posting comments to www.FrederickNewsPost.com, by their Ask the Editor feature, “The dark secrets of our political bias,” by Comfort Dorn.


Friday, September 12, 2008
Seven Years Ago
Roy Meachum
The phone rang; it was my Texas "child." Knowing my penchant for working mornings, he guessed correctly that I had not seen television that day. He had been watching a national trauma that changed the world. It was seven years ago yesterday.


A Little Convention History
Kevin E. Dayhoff
It would be an understatement to suggest that the events of last week were quite different from the first Republican National Convention June 17 to 19, 1856.

That convention was attended by 600 delegates and 100 news reporters, who had ample room to move in the 1200 seat Musical Fund Hall, near 8th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia. This year’s convention was attended by 45,000 including some 15,000 members of the media from all over the world.

The last Republican National Convention to be held in Minneapolis-St. Paul was in 1892. Qwest Communications, which handled all the technology demands of last week’s convention, noted that in 1892, the convention attendees “relied solely on the use of the telegraph and did not employ a single telephone…”


Thursday, September 11, 2008
A Pit Bull With Lipstick
Chris Cavey
Sen. John McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was the dominating conversation in St. Paul at the Republican National Convention. The resulting affect of this selection vice presidential pick was a totally revived Republican Party, like giving a huge shot of adrenalin to a formerly lethargic patient.


What’s The Difference?
Joan McIntyre
A community activist, a freshman senator, with a huge resume of “present, yep I’m here” votes. What do you do, wake up one morning and say I’m a little bored today so – BAM – I think I’ll go run for president?


Eloquent Prose – Excellent Friends
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last week I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to tag along to the Republican National Convention with the Maryland delegation.


Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Four “E’s” of the GOP Convention
Kevin E. Dayhoff
I made a concerted effort to arrive early on each of the four days of last week’s Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN.


Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Ivins' Mystery Still There
Roy Meachum
Sunday readers of The Frederick News-Post and The New York Times should not have been surprised. The investigation of the Fort Detrick anthrax incident is still very much alive, despite declaration of its death by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Following politics rather than proof, Jeffrey Taylor officially closed the case.


Summer’s Dog Days: Elephant Time – Part 2
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
So, after a cautious decision to postpone the GOP festivities in St. Paul, Gustav's lack of massive destruction allowed a resumption of good old fashioned partisan-bashing.


Scaling The Abyss
Farrell Keough
Many have heard or read about the new math system being instituted by the Frederick County Board of Education. This program, TERC (now called Pearson Math Investigations) has a poor foundation and virtually no books or parent involvement. In short, the child taught under this program will fall well behind within a few short years.


Monday, September 8, 2008
Summer’s Dog Days: Elephant Time – Part 1
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Two weeks ago, Barack Obama wowed 'em in Denver. Last week, John McCain tip-toed across the balance beam of public opinion, beginning the week with a compassionate whisper and ending it with a partisan roar.


Dressing the Moose
Steven R. Berryman
I’m loving the political jokes now: What’s the experience difference between Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama? Answer: Not much when taken in aggregate, but Governor Palin is a better ice hockey player and can shoot straight…

20080917 This week in The Tentacle

20071006 Katie Couric praises Attila

Katie Couric praises Attila

October 6^th, 2007

“Happy Anniversary Attila! Luv ya man,” praised an effusive Ms. Couric as news of the Pillage Idiot’s third anniversary was received with accolades from all over the globe.

Attila over at the Pillage Idiot has been enlightening readers now since October 5^th, 2004. We have now delightfully enjoyed his work for three years.

Accolades have poured-in from all over the universe, but here at Soundtrack, we were especially touched by Katie Couric’s heartfelt best wishes…

Happy Birthday Attila.

####

20070625 CyberAlert

CyberAlert

Media Resarch Center

A usually-daily report, edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert is distributed by the Media Research Center, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.

The 2,434^th CyberAlert. Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996

6:15am EDT, Monday June 25, 2007 (Vol. Twelve; No. 107)

---

1. NBC: 'Ugly Emotions' on Illegal Immigration 'Fanned' by Limbaugh On Sunday's NBC Nightly News, reporter John Yang distorted Pat Buchanan's point about the level of crime committed by illegal immigrants as he impugned Rush Limbaugh for helping to "fan" such "ugly emotions." Previewing the expected Senate vote Tuesday on whether to revive the immigration bill, Yang asserted that "the outcome is uncertain, largely because of the heated debate over how to treat people illegally in the country." Yang charged: "On NBC's Meet the Press today, that debate turned ugly." Viewers then saw a soundbite from Buchanan: "Many of them are child molesters or drunk drivers, they're rapists, they're robbers, they've got a variety of crimes but they commit a felony by being here." After a clip of Democratic Congressman Luis Guttierrez, on the same show, condemning Buchanan for casting "aspersions" and reasonably insisting that "the vast, overwhelming majority of immigrants that come here to this country come here to work hard, sweat, toil, and make our country a better place," Yang, presumably referring back to Buchanan, alleged: "Those emotions are being fanned by conservative radio talk show hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh." Yang played an audio clip of Limbaugh: "They want low-skilled, uneducated, cheap labor in the country -- because that's their next class of victims."

2. ABC's Marlantes: Bush Policies Worse than Illegal CIA of Past On ABC's World News Sunday, during a story about the release of classified information regarding the CIA's "cloak and dagger" past in the 1960s and 1970s, correspondent Liz Marlantes suggested that the Bush administration engages in abuses that are worse than the illegal activities detailed in the documents: "But this all comes when the CIA is under fire for an alleged array of current abuses, including the use of secret prisons and torture. Some say the activities of the past may look mild by comparison."

3. NYT Movie Critic Praises 'Sicko,' Frets Lack of 'Social Welfare' New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott called Michael Moore "a credit to the Republic" after Fahrenheit 9-11 and now thinks Sicko is his "funniest," "most broadly appealing" film yet. In Friday's paper, Scott again defended (in a markedly defensive manner) dubious left-wing documentarian Moore in his glowing review of Sicko, Moore's new documentary on the U.S. health care system. Scott empathized with Moore's bewilderment over why the U.S. is now more like Western European nations: "He wants us to be more like everybody else. When he plaintively asks, 'Who are we?,' he is not really wondering why our traditions of neighborliness and generosity have not found political expression in an expansive system of social welfare. He is insisting that such a system should exist, and also, rather ingeniously, daring his critics to explain why it shouldn't."

Check Out the MRC's Blog

The MRC's blog site, NewsBusters, "Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias," provides examples of bias 24/7. With your participation NewsBusters will continue to be THE blog site for tracking and correcting liberal media bias. Come post your comments and get fresh proof of media misdeeds at: http://www.newsbusters.org