Fart Jokes and Hypocrisy--Let's Hear it for the Right
One of the more troubling developments over the last year is the Salem witch trial like atmosphere our good friends in Congress, the FCC (read, Michael Powell), the Parents Resource Council and other fringe "groups" have created for proponents of free speech. Every time the Right takes down its perceived enemies, it lights up a $25 cigar, cracks open the courvoisier, and damn near tears a rotator cuff patting itself on the back because of the great good it did in the name of free speech. Then, without any sense of irony, they snuff out the cigar, take the last swig of their drink, and then jump feet first in the fight against free speech by grousing about Howard Stern and Janet Jackson's left breast and all other similar evil. The bill likely to be passed by Congress to raise the fines for "indecency" is nothing more than a direct attack on free speech itself. And don't you just hate when they hide behind the "responsibility" banner that has become both sword and shield for the Right in its justification for ridding the public airwaves of fart jokes and pierced nipples. When broadcasters are fearful that televising "Saving Private Ryan" will expose them to crippling fines, there is no question that free speech is being chilled and that the populace and the greater good are much worse off for it. Two of the patron saints of the Right--Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved--would, if they had their way, destroy every print of "Million Dollar Baby" because they believe it makes the case of compassionate assisted suicide. Never mind the ridiculousness of the proposition to anyone who has actually viewed the movie, the insidious nature of their diatribe is what galls me. We are quickly becoming a society intolerant of opposing view points. Rather than listen and reject (it's too hopeful to believe someone could learn from an opposing viewpoint), the right believes it is better that any speech that fails its ever shifting litmus test of "offensive" be outright banned. Personally, I find anything involving Paris Hilton offensive. But I don't think she should be banned. Ultimately she'll suffer a much greater indignity--rejection. That kind of stuff always does die its natural death. Why can't the right be comfortable with that notion?
Ok, enough for now on the rather bizarre indecency bill floating its way through Congress. There is enough through the looking glass activity going on there to scratch one's head bald. You have religious right fanatics in bed with politically correct left wing loonies both proudly and boldly proclaiming that it is their full intent to chill speech and engage in censorship. We certainly aren't in Kansas any more. I suspect that this bill will die in conference, but who knows?
More disturbing to me, though, is the rather odd confluence of events on the journalism front. I'm a recovered journalist myself and therefore I still have an unhealthy obsession on this subject. But even someone who cares little about it should be very, very concerned. The bloggers on the Right, Power Line is a good example, and others, proudly touted the resignations /retirements of a couple of real journalists because, dammit, they were sloppy and irresponsible. But I checked Power Line and barely a word about the Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert situation, except a gratuitous isn't it amusing take. How does the White House allow a paid stud like Gannon/Guckert to get credentialed when a legitimate journalist with whom the administration disagrees--Maureen Dowd--can't get her press pass renewed? Is it because Gannon/Guckert, a cubic zirconium of a journalist if ever there was one, is shilling for the administration while the often-shrill Dowd works for that last bastion of liberalism, the New York Times? Nah. My guess is that it's probably because Dowd's extensive background check revealed that she probably burned a flag in protest or some other similar crime against America and Gannon/Guckert's background check only revealed his insatiable interest in gay porn and male escort services. If that's the standard, then Larry Flynt has a much greater claim to seeking press credentials. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that one.
By Frank Rich's count, there are now at least six "journalists" on the Bush payroll, and probably more. Yet the Right and its bloggers remain oddly silent even complacent in light of this and the extensive, multi-million dollar budgets allocated to the military to produce its own "spin" about the war. Give the Bush administration credit for one thing, though. It can learn a lesson or two even from its sworn enemies. They didn't just watch, amusingly, as Baghdad Bob railed against the infidels in the early days of the war. They've stolen his act. If the bloggers on the Right truly are about accountability and responsibility then I would expect and accept nothing less than a series of posts demanding the resignation of Scott McClellan, who clearly participated and fostered this fraud, and anyone else in the administration associated with any program to pay and create fake news. If this is what we are fighting the war in Iraq over, we could have saved billions. Iraq already had state-sponsored journalists and were doing quite well at it.
Ok, enough for now on the rather bizarre indecency bill floating its way through Congress. There is enough through the looking glass activity going on there to scratch one's head bald. You have religious right fanatics in bed with politically correct left wing loonies both proudly and boldly proclaiming that it is their full intent to chill speech and engage in censorship. We certainly aren't in Kansas any more. I suspect that this bill will die in conference, but who knows?
More disturbing to me, though, is the rather odd confluence of events on the journalism front. I'm a recovered journalist myself and therefore I still have an unhealthy obsession on this subject. But even someone who cares little about it should be very, very concerned. The bloggers on the Right, Power Line is a good example, and others, proudly touted the resignations /retirements of a couple of real journalists because, dammit, they were sloppy and irresponsible. But I checked Power Line and barely a word about the Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert situation, except a gratuitous isn't it amusing take. How does the White House allow a paid stud like Gannon/Guckert to get credentialed when a legitimate journalist with whom the administration disagrees--Maureen Dowd--can't get her press pass renewed? Is it because Gannon/Guckert, a cubic zirconium of a journalist if ever there was one, is shilling for the administration while the often-shrill Dowd works for that last bastion of liberalism, the New York Times? Nah. My guess is that it's probably because Dowd's extensive background check revealed that she probably burned a flag in protest or some other similar crime against America and Gannon/Guckert's background check only revealed his insatiable interest in gay porn and male escort services. If that's the standard, then Larry Flynt has a much greater claim to seeking press credentials. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that one.
By Frank Rich's count, there are now at least six "journalists" on the Bush payroll, and probably more. Yet the Right and its bloggers remain oddly silent even complacent in light of this and the extensive, multi-million dollar budgets allocated to the military to produce its own "spin" about the war. Give the Bush administration credit for one thing, though. It can learn a lesson or two even from its sworn enemies. They didn't just watch, amusingly, as Baghdad Bob railed against the infidels in the early days of the war. They've stolen his act. If the bloggers on the Right truly are about accountability and responsibility then I would expect and accept nothing less than a series of posts demanding the resignation of Scott McClellan, who clearly participated and fostered this fraud, and anyone else in the administration associated with any program to pay and create fake news. If this is what we are fighting the war in Iraq over, we could have saved billions. Iraq already had state-sponsored journalists and were doing quite well at it.
posted by Gary Benz @ 9:00 PM
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