Ted Rall just spat on the memory of a good man, and many folks (only conservatives, judging by the blogosphere and blogdex) are outraged.
Why?
Did you expect anything different from this guy? This is the same jerk who slammed the families of 9-11 victims; why are you surprised about this? Isn't hateful ignorance the standard MO for a fringe lunatic type?
What does bug me though, is that he still gets national exposure in the so-called mainstream media. Let's face it folks, whether you are liberal or conservative or in between, you know without a doubt that if a conservative like Limbaugh had spewed equivalently hateful garbage, he'd be gone.
There's no question about it.
Limbaugh was fired from ESPN for making comments that brought up the issue of racial bias in the sports media. Yet Rall gets a pass from everyone.
A quick check on the liberal sites and blogs shows the usual silence produced by the left when one of their own steps in it big time. Usually, you have to prod at them to get even a mild disclaimer. Compare that to conservatives, who move quickly to censure one of their own. Remember Trent Lott?
So why is it that you can count on a conservative to speak out against his own when they are wrong, but not expect the same from a liberal?
My guess is that we have the mainstream media to thank for conservatives' willingness to to self police their more radical elements. Conservatives have long known that the liberal bias of most reporters and editors would ensure that thier transgressions would receive the utmost scrutiny, and have developed the defense mechanism of doing it first. There's no great moral superiority in this; it's just simple political expediency, like a University sanctioning it's sports program in an effort to avoid worse sanctions from the NCAA.
Liberals, on the other hand, have, by and large, not had to face such a level of scrutiny before. In the past, their fringe elements been given pretty much a pass by the press. But not anymore. Two trends have emerged that will make it exceedingly difficult for liberals to continue to gloss over the more radical elements of their party.
First, in part because of the long standing and relentless pursuit of conservatives, political journalism has become a blood sport. It's no longer as important what the politics of the person are; once the press smells blood in the water, they go into a feeding frenzy. Liberals are beginning to feel the effects of the same treatment the press has given to conservatives for decades; Bill Clinton was only the first victim.
Second, the media, both old and new, are now more than ever driven by the demands of the public. Where the news business once held itself separate from the people, providing information that was needed rather than wanted, for better or worse, it's now all about ratings, which means they give the people what they want, not necessarily what they need. And that has led directly to a political balkanization of the media. Instead of providing the basic facts to everyone, each media outlet caters to a target audience, and slants its coverage accordingly.
And that means that it's always open season on someone. If NPR isn't going after Bush, then Fox will be going after Kerry. Unfortunately for liberals, conservatives have benefited from bitter experience, and know how to minimize the effects of an attacking press corps. Liberals will learn eventually, but until they catch up, conservatives will have a decided advantage.
And it's all due to a liberal media. It's positively darwinian.
Posted by Rich at May 4, 2004 1:22 PM | TrackBack