In January 1789 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Richard Price, an English clergyman who had supported the American Revolutionary War. Speaking of the newly ratified U.S. Constitution, and his pleasant surprise that ratification had been obtained, Jefferson said,
It is to me a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well-informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.
We offer this quote as background for what a reasonable person might argue is at the root of much that currently ails our republic.
In the past four years, things have happened in the highest precincts of our national government that at one time we would have never imagined. Time and space are short, so the list is only partial.
We now know, via written and audio record, of wrongdoing on a massive scale by the Department of Justice, the FBI and top members of the Obama administration. We now know that the DOJ prosecuted Michael Flynn, a decorated Army general and newly appointed member of an incoming presidential administration, even though they fully knew that he had committed no crime.
We now know that Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, when he was vice president, threated to withhold U.S. aid to Ukraine unless Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko fired the prosecutor that was looking into severe corruption involving Biden’s son.
We now know that top Obama administration officials went to extraordinary lengths to sabotage the incoming Trump administration following the 2016 election. In connection to that attempted sabotage, National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote an email – in literally the waning seconds of the Obama administration – for no other plausible reason than an attempt to create an after-the-fact cover story.
We know these things, and others like them, that have “gone so far wrong.” The “we” in this case consists of you and I, who consume talk radio, the Fox News Channel and a handful of websites (including this one).
Yet, there is almost no coverage of these things “gone so far wrong” in the so-called ‘mainstream media,’ from which a majority of Americans still get their news. With the possible exception of some excellent reporting on the Flynn case by Catherine Herridge of CBS, the media is deliberately silent – and millions of American remain uninformed, rather than well-informed.
As we said last week, the most insidious form of dishonesty is not the spoken lie but rather the unspoken truth. The biggest threat facing our country is not corrupt politicians. Corrupt politicians will always be around. Nor is it rabid ideology that is antithetical to the country’s founding principles. That, too, will always be around.
No, the biggest threat to the American republic is entrenched corporate media that is as corrupt as those upon whom they should be reporting. For the sake of the republic, it is the media itself that must be ‘set to rights.’
I couldn’t agree more. The other night I listened to “breaking news” on CBS Evening News, listing all the actions of the Trump administration in dealing with the coronavirus. Immediately following were the “buts” of how wrong these decisions potentially were. I followed that by changing the channel. FOX far outperforms most other news programs, often more than the others COMBINED! That is the good news – lots of Americans are hearing, and learning, the truth.
The MSM since the days of LBJ has been nothing more than a hand puppet for the DNC which is abominable!
GOOD POINT about “corporate media,” which dutifully disseminates that-with-which advertisers are comfortable.
And those two major political parties? They’re one, The Corporate Party.
Recall bellicose Candidate Trump boasting that he gave ‘em both money?
Why the U.S. Tax Code is SO long and convoluted? Every sentence was bought-N-paid-fer.
How does one gain power using words? Become a lawyer of very elite fraternity that makes the rules. Lawyers, engineers, politicians, law enforcement; all members of a group of highly specialized professionals who figured out they MUST take care of their own no matter how heinous the infraction against society least hey loose that power to the people. Egos run very high and superficial in these groups. Not bashing them; only pointing out what I have learned by experience from working for and with all these groups over 40 plus years. This is only a talking point.
Even Fox News is getting a little left of center these days
Yes Sir, you hit the nail on the head. Been watching enough FOX to get very irritated at their leaning left. Of course we have no one to point this to on the station.
Au Contraire: Howie Kurtz on “Media Buzz” (Sunday mornings) hasn’t spared-the-rod.
Excellent column!
I believe, that to receive even a fair view of news, one must go to conservative news outlets as they have become the only place where fairness and news worthiness is to be found.
The “main stream media” such as certain television broadcast networks, three of which I have come to refer to as “the meatball, the eyeball, and the strutting bird,” to watch and attempt to gather any news from these is to be more misinformed than to have any accurate account of the facts.They have lost all viability whatsoever to the American people. Even the terms “fake news” has become part of the lexicon to describe news that is unfit, unfair, in short, A LIE.
Yes, KTBB, Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart News, and for news unfiltered from The White House.. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump all are preferable sources for the truth, the facts, and the news. Your mention of Catherine Herridge to note is spot on as her work is stainless as she is a Journalist and a person of integrity. If only the broadcast network she works for, as well as certain cable networks could be as honest.
The pamphleteer in the days of Thomas Jefferson was the critical front line for disseminating information that “set to rights” the powerful. These were some of the most astute and articulate of all the professions, and they played a vital role in the development of our republic. Sadly, over the years, these alert watchdogs have devolved into very obedient lapdogs for the Democratic Party. In many schools, the curriculum required for a journalism degree became a magnet for the lazy and complacent. Of course, this is a generalization, as there are many who possess the curiosity and diligence to become outstanding reporters. It just seems that far too many are seeking a major that requires courses without labs or other challenging demands, and only the easiest route to a degree. The honored profession of journalism has become populated with “reporters” with mediocre credentials and very large egos. In my opinion, this unfortunate combination has led to the shameful lack of curiosity and failure to “set to rights” some of the actors in these recent scandals by the previous administration.