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Jewish World Review Jan. 13, 2011 / 8 Shevat, 5771 The Liberal Empire Strikes Back By Cal Thomas
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The Left apparently has taken to heart the admonition of former In the aftermath of the Tucson tragedy that killed six and wounded 14 others, the Left has attacked talk radio, Even if Loughner had watched and listened to conservative media, what does that prove? Millions do, but they don't go on a shooting rampage. What do other murderers and terrorists watch on TV or listen to on the radio? Why isn't the media they consume a matter of interest? Answer: Because it doesn't further the Left's agenda. Since the Left lost its monopoly of the U.S. media, it has repeatedly tried to suppress speech it doesn't like. Thus, we hear calls by Democratic Representative
In the 1980s when conservative groups tried to "clean up" the bad language, sexual references and violence on TV, the Left cried "censorship." When conservatives campaigned against pornography and "music" that encouraged violence against women and racial epithets, they were told a healthy First Amendment required that even the most offensive speech be tolerated. It was the same argument used to allow the burning of the American flag at political protests. But the Left is intolerant of speech it disagrees with and so wishes to censor what it cannot overcome with superior argument.
Compared to 18th-century journalism in America, today's media are tame. Burns writes of the Gazette of Burns sums up Fenno's journalistic philosophy: "He would cajole his readers, deceive them when necessary, rile them when advisable; he would praise public officials and other newspaper editors who agreed with his positions and drub those who did not, assailing their intelligence, their character, their patriotism; and he would publish the records of legislative proceedings that advanced the federalist agenda while either ignoring or deriding or sometimes even falsifying documents to the contrary." Such things were to be found on the "news" pages, not the opinion page. Entire newspapers were opinion pages. To have a page designated "opinion" would have been redundant. The 1790s were, according to historian One paper, named the Philadelphia Aurora, engaged in what Burns describes as "journalistic savagery ... not caring about accuracy or even the illusion of it." The Aurora published a series of letters supposedly written by It would have been a great story if true, but Washington wrote no such letters. That didn't bother Journalism survived, even displaying responsibility on occasion. The public can sort out the good from the bad and ugly. They don't need politicians doing it for them.
JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.
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