Where has the News Media been? - Of course Incumbents are Threatened this Year!

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After what seemed like a stunning defeat of Republican conservative Senator Bob Bennett in the Utah caucus to determine primary candidates the national media suddenly realized that all incumbent members of Congress could be an endangered species this fall.

What kind of idiots write for the news media? These are the same people who declared the national Tea Party movement dead at first, and then decided it was overrun by right wing radicals. Of course one of those right wing radicals was beaten up by left wing SEIU thugs but the media tends to overlook those kinds of facts.



But the fact of the matter is the news media, in particular the left leaning media, was dead wrong in doing a post mortem on the Tea Party just as they were dead wrong in believing the Tea Party was some kind of Republican plot. The Tea Party are Americans, Independents, Republicans and Democrats, who believe Washington, DC has lost touch.

They are the little people who know the corruption in our nation's capitol is so deep that the conflict of interest running rampant between politicians and special interests cannot be controlled, it must be eradicated. No politician is above the law and the people are fed up with the lame excuses from politicians, the conflicts of interest, the favoritism and the partisanship.



The Tea Party is sick of politicians who have excuses for what is not being done and who keep piling up greater and greater national debt, now projected at about $20 trillion under Obama and the Democrats. Bailouts, deficit spending, reckless bureaucracies and growing government are the enemies of the Tea Party people because politicians have demonstrated they do not have the decency, honesty or fortitude to fight for the people.

All incumbents are threatened in spite of the ignorance of the news media. What the media have accomplished with their constant efforts to manipulate the news and cover up for the crooks is to alienate themselves from the public as well as the politicians. No one believes in the integrity of the media nor should they.



News in America is advertiser based. We get the best news money can buy and quite frankly, their best is simply not good enough. All polls show that as politicians continue to lose credibility so do the news media who cover the politicians.

For over a year the people of America have let their disgust with existing politicians be known. For almost two years we have been writing about the growing discontent in the nation and the shift of Independents as well as conservatives from both parties into an anti-incumbent mood. The shift continues to grow and as it grows all incumbents are becoming targets.



There can be no doubt that high taxes, deficit spending, increased debt and bailouts are the enemy of the people. If incumbents participated in any of these actions there time may be limited. It is a long overdue purge of the partisan, corrupt politicians in Washington. Keep spending money, keep ignoring the growing debt, keep crooked campaign laws in effect and you may very well be seeing the end of you career in politics.



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The Washington Press Corps - the New Age Idols and Idol Makers

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Have you ever heard the expression "you've lost your compass", meaning you have lost your way? Well when it comes to the news media corps in our nation's capitol it seems their compass is hopelessly lost in the Bermuda Triangle. That's where the needle of the compass just starts spinning.



I've worked in Washington for the Office of the President and for Congress and spent some time with different federal agencies. Then I worked in Washington with private corporations and not as a lobbyist which means I've lost a lot of potential revenue.

For the past couple of years I have been observing Washington and my focus has been on the news media and whether they really fulfill their role as the eyes and ears of America. Such a romantic thought, that the journalists in the news media were protecting the nation from the crooks in Washington and on Wall Street.

Let me tell you my conclusions. First, there are a few good journalists there who really try to act like the news media of the old days, seeking out truth and reporting objectively. Unfortunately they are few and far between.



There is a new standard for news media in our capitol just as there are new standards for politicians, Wall Street executives and special interest groups. Today's media seem to spend more time interviewing each other on the many news, talk and entertainment shows than they spend interviewing real news makers.



What is with that? Since when did the reporters become the stars? At what point did they acquire the audacity to believe they were the news makers? Fox, MSNBC, CNN and even the network news shows have far more so called reporters as guests than real opinion makers.



And speaking of objectivity, when reporters speculate on what is going to happen in the future, like Chuck Todd, White House correspondent for NBC and MSNBC did recently when he said what would happen in the Florida Senate race that is not over until November, it makes you wonder at what point did the news corps become their own source for information.



Just how objective can Chuck Todd be if he is predicting the outcome of a story? Wouldn't that influence him to report the story in a way that makes him look right? Far worse, of course, are the many made for television reporters whose liberal or conservative views dominate anything they report on. If partisanship is bad for politics as Obama likes to say, then ideologically slanted reporting is the death knell for news journalism because almost every reporter who is leaning to the right or left has lost their ability to be objective.



I often wonder if the current courses for journalism in college might not include classes like make up, camera awareness, how to write a book with no experience and nothing to say, battling for the anchor's seat, charisma and charm and of course, finding the right dentist for maximum whiteness. Come to think of it, with the time today's reporters spend on camera they might need acting courses as well.



Then there are the editorial journalists, the self-proclaimed sergeant in arms for discipline of the ranks, the self-perceived "Chosen One" to keep the people's philosophy in line. Truth has little to do with the field of ideological warfare. More entertainer than journalist, at least these types seldom claim objectivity.



While the TV journalist is required to write and possibly sell books, the editorial journalist is expected to crank out books, coffee mugs, do live, stand up on stage appearances, and generally whatever it takes to whip the true believers into a frenzy. They are also required to complete basic evangelizing courses.



Those claiming to be reporters who do television interviews, not of news makers but them being interviewed by the many so called news and opinion shows who can't get quality guests, also seem to belong to the club of "longing to be loved by celebrities and politicians".

As professional name droppers whose standing is measured by whether they are on a first name basis with the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, they are sent into long periods of depression if they aren't invited to the most expensive affairs of the Washington elite. To them success is measured not by winning a Pulitzer prize but by Obama knowing their name or a backstage pass to meet Sting.



If the journalists were doing their jobs the economic collapse would have been known ahead of time, the crooks who caused it would have been exposed, politicians would no longer be able to lie to the press, illegal influence of special interests would have been exposed long ago, and perhaps we would have known the truth. As it is, the only truth we may find is with the citizen journalists blogging their stories while the paid news media is getting smashed at the latest White House gala.

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Sarah Palin Crashes National Gridiron Club - Five Blocks from White House

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Sarah Palin showed no fear in entering the belly of the beast when she shocked the Washington elite and agreed to be featured co-speaker at the National Gridiron Club, home of the nation's elite journalists in our nation's capitol.

Last Saturday she traveled to Washington, DC and joined fellow co-speaker Barney Frank, yes that Barney Frank, and won raving reviews for her series of one liners. Interest in Palin by the enemy camp was so great that the attendance doubled from normal and they even agreed to waive the normal rule that the talks were off the record so the many journalists could cover the speech.

Since the media were incapable of giving a full review of the speech, as the left leaners could not allow themselves to say too many nice things about Sarah, I am reprinting the entire text of her talk.

It was a new, confident and self assured Sarah Palin who stood before the gang who once said she was afraid to confront the major media of America. Enjoy...



Text of Remarks by ex-Gov. Sarah Palin to the Gridiron Club, Dec. 5, 2009:

Good evening. It’s great to be in Washington and I am loving the weather.

I braved the elements and went out for a jog! Or, as Newsweek calls it, a cover-shoot.

It’s a privilege to be here tonight at the Washington DC Barnes & Noble. Tonight, I'll be reading excerpts from my new book. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? “Going Rogue”

Yukon wasn’t sure if I’d go with that title and somebody suggested I follow the East Coast selfhelp trend and go with, “How To Look Like A Million Bucks…For Only 150 Grand.”

Todd liked, “The Audacity of North Slope.”

Hey, I considered not having a title at all.



I’ve said it before, but you Beltway types just don’t seem to get it. You don’t need a title to make an impact. But anyway, let’s get started. I’ll begin my first reading on Page 209.

It was pitch black when we touched down in Arizona late on August 27, 2008. The next morning we drove to John McCain’s ranch in Sedona. John was waiting on the porch. Before he can say a word, I tell him, I'm quoting now:

I know why I’m here, and I’m ready. But, I'm worried. The cost of credit protection for the largest U.S. banks is rising precipitously. Have you given any thought to the run on the entities in the parallel banking system? Do you realize the vulnerability created when these institutions borrow short term in liquid markets to invest long
term in illiquid assets?

John said, “You betcha!”

I thought, “You betcha?”

Who talks that way?

Well, sometimes you just have to trust your instincts. When you don’t, you end up in places like this.

Who would have guessed that I’d be palling around with this group? At least now I can put a face to all the newspapers I read.

It is good to be here and in front of this audience of leading journalists and intellectuals. Or, as I call it, a death panel.

To be honest, I had some serious reservations about coming to visit your cozy little club. The Gridiron still hasn’t offered membership to anyone from my hometown paper in Wasilla, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley Frontiersman.

And my dad thought it was just a plain bad idea to leave the book tour for some football game. He might have a point!

I’ve been touring this great, great land of ours over the last few weeks. I have to say, the view is much better from inside the bus, than under it!

But really, I am thrilled to be with you. And I’d like to thank the Gridiron for the invitation and Dick Cooper for his introduction.

To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, this has to be the most extraordinary collection of people who have gathered to viciously attack me since the last corporate gathering at CBS.

Despite what you have read, or more likely, despite what you have written, I do feel a real bond with all of you. I studied journalism, earned a communications degree and for a time only wanted to be a journalist. I was even a television sportscaster back home.

I’m guessing some of you probably got your start the exact same way… once there was television.

Let me get back to the book. I know that many of you are still upset because I wouldn’t play that silly Washington game. You know, the one where all of you read a book in its entirety, from the first page of the index to the last.

But think about it, because you actually had to read the whole book in the vein hope of finding your name, you now know all about Denali, mom, dad, ungulate eyeballs, slaying salmon on the Nushagak and Ugashik near Alegnigak, where we make AGOOTAK and moose chili! You’re welcome.

Still, I want to do something very special for this audience of Washington elite. So, I’ll read from the index--which I chose not to include in the hardback. Would you believe me if I said I didn’t include it because we wanted to save trees?

Under A we have…

Alaska, media not understanding. Pages 1-432.

Under B…

Biased media. Pages 1-432

And under C…

Conservative media. See acknowledgments.

I’ll stop there.



I know this can be a long night, and as I understand it, we’re going to break with a Gridiron tradition. Normally, the Democrat speaker would deliver a speech after me. But instead, John McCain’s campaign staff asked if they could use that time for a rebuttal.

A lot has been made of a few campaign relationships. The closeness. The warm fuzzy feelings. John and I both agree all those staffers should just move past it. It’s history.

Let’s just say, if I ever need a bald campaign manager, it appears all I’m left with is James Carville.

I don’t want to say that I’ve burned a bridge, but I know all about cancelling a bridge to nowhere.

That Democrat speaker I referred to is, of course, the one-and-only Barney Frank.

And I’m the controversial one?

Barney, the nation owes you and the government a debt. A huge, historic, unbelievable debt. But, it’s good to be here with you, Mr. Chairman.

Because by Chairman, I don’t just mean the House Financial Services Committee. As far as I can tell, Barney’s also the Chair of AIG, CITI, and the Bank of America.

I don’t want to say that the U.S. Government is taking over the role of the private sector, but I have to admit, on the flight here, thumbing through a magazine and looking at a photo of President Obama with the President of China, the person next to me pointed at it and said, “Hu’s a communist.”

I thought they were asking a question.

Still, when I see this administration in action, I can’t help think of what might have been. I could be the Vice President overseeing the signing of bailout checks. And Joe Biden would be on the road, selling his new book, "Going Rogaine."

Speaking of books….

Did I mention mine? “Going Rogue”

Makes a great stocking stuffer. Available now at a bookstore near you.

Hey, I have to pay for my campaign vetting bill somehow.

Really, the response has been great. So I’ll close by reading a final passage. Page 403:

I’ve been asked a lot lately, “Where are you going next?’

Good question!

Wherever I go I know that, as with anyone in the public eye, I’ll continue to have my share of disagreements with those in the media. Maybe even more than my share. It will come as no surprise that I don’t think I was always treated fairly, or equally.

But despite that, I respect the media very much. It’s important. A free press allows for vigorous debate! And that debate is absolutely vital for our democracy.

So as hard as it can sometimes be, we must all look past personal grievances. We must move beyond petty politics. And we must allow these incredibly talented and hard-working women and men to ask the hard questions and hold us, and our government, accountable.

Because their mission is as true as the sun rising over the Talkeetna and Susitna Mountains. OK – so none of that is actually in the book. Not a word. But I do believe it!

And I believe we live in a beautiful country blessed with so many different people who want the best for their children, families and for our great nation. I’m so proud to be an American.

And that is what I’ll be talking about when I travel to, really where I’m headed. No better place than here to announce where I’m going. I’m going to Iowa!

I’ll be there tomorrow from noon to 3:00 pm at the Barnes & Noble on Sergeant Road in Sioux City. Come early. Long lines are expected.

Thank you everyone. God Bless the U.S.A!




NEWS COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

THE WASHINGTON POST
TODAY'S NEWSPAPER

Sarah Palin in the belly of the beast: Washington

By Steve Holland
Reuters
Sunday, December 6, 2009; 1:07 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican firebrand Sarah Palin invaded the city she loves to hate on Saturday and rubbed shoulders with the herd of journalists she usually holds in disdain.

Palin was the guest speaker at the annual winter dinner of the Gridiron Club of leading Washington journalists -- a venue at which many potential presidential candidates have made an appearance, including Barack Obama a few years ago.

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Sarah Palin: What she said at Gridiron dinner
By Dave Cook | 12.06.09

Sarah Palin served up 11-1/2 minutes of gentle gibes aimed at Democrats, the media, the McCain campaign, and herself during an appearance at Saturday evening’s Gridiron12 dinner in Washington.

Ms. Palin’s powerful impact as a cultural figure and potential future presidential candidate was much in evidence at the black tie event. The club’s winter dinner is usually a low key, off-the-record affair. This year’s dinner, featuring Palin and liberal Rep. Barney Frank (D) of Massachusetts as speakers, drew 190 journalists and spouses, an increase of 17.3 percent from the number who attended last year. The Gridiron Club’s members are veteran reporters and bureau chiefs.

In a nod to the intense media interest in Palin, the Gridiron Club’s board dropped a 100 year old rule – often violated – that comments made at the dinner were off the record and could not be reported. Instead, twittering was allowed, although not during speeches or songs. Palin tweets herself and noted in her dinner remarks that she had “the Twitter thing going.”

It's the way she tells them: Sarah Palin jokes with journalists

Former Alaksa governor mocks her reputation for foreign policy naivety at Washington dinner


THE NEW YORK TIMES
Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Comedy Duo of Palin and Frank
By JACKIE CALMES

Sarah Palin may have some ‘splainin’ to do with the conservative fans on her book tour as word spreads of her partying Saturday night with the elites of the dread Mainstream Media. In her featured “roast,” the media types even got off easier than her former associates on the McCain campaign.

Sometimes you’ve got “to trust your instincts,” she told the group. “And when you don’t, you end up in a place like this.”

The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate stopped in Washington to be the Republican speaker at the annual white-tie winter dinner of the Gridiron Club, the 124-year-old assemblage of veteran Washington reporters. She gamely appeared opposite Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, one of the capital’s funniest people.


THE GUARDIAN UK

Andrew Clark in New York
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 December 2009 15.20 GMT

The former Alaska governor Sarah Palin revealed a hitherto hidden capacity for self-parody when she delivered a string of quips at a dinner for journalists in Washington on Saturday, likening the event to appearing before a "death panel".

Palin – who became a deeply divisive figure in the US while campaigning as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate – joked to a gathering of the Gridiron Club about her reputation for foreign policy naivety.

"I came down from my hotel room and I could see the Russian embassy," she said – a play on a much-mocked election attempt to shore up her foreign policy expertise by remarking that Russia was visible from parts of Alaska.


THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

BY Andrew Malcolm

POLITICS AND COMMENTARY, COAST TO COAST, FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Sarah Palin speech: The view's better from inside the bus than under it
December 5, 2009 | 8:08 pm

The lines began forming Saturday morning outside the Sioux Falls Barnes & Noble bookstore, fully 35 hours before former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was to arrive there to sign her new book, "Going Rogue."

But the mother of five was far from South Dakota tonight. In fact, she was only about a half-dozen blocks from the White House that she didn't help John McCain win.

Palin appeared in a brand-new role for the possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate -- joke-teller as the GOP's representative at the annual winter Gridiron Dinner, a 124-year-old group of Washington writers and guests who hold such regular opportunities for political writers to mingle with the power people who really matter.

Speakers there -- past ones have included someone named Barack Obama -- are intentionally funny -- or trying to be, anyway -- and usually off the record.

But an exception allowing news coverage was made tonight given the intense interest in Palin, who attracted about twice the usual dinner crowd.

And she appeared to succeed better than her Democratic counterpart, Rep. Barney Frank. It was a refreshingly different look at Palin, who's more often quoted as a media scold and harsh critic of what's-his-name in the White House.

Palin, whose intelligence has been widely challenged by many in her audience, said she....
...was pleased to appear before an elite audience of intellectual heavyweights: "Or as I like to call it, a death panel."


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