In the late sixty's and early seventy's when I was an undergraduate in the Political Science Department at the University of Oregon, I believed that the media was controlled by the entrenched interests. It was at that time that the descriptive phrase "the military industrial establishment" was born. Universities became islands of freedom that dared to defy the entrenched thought. Underground newspapers and radio stations sprang up to voice an "anti-establishment" point of view. The mindset of our generation was that truth was the first casualty when the media was controlled by the entrenched power brokers of the time.
Those of us in the beginning of this anti-establishment movement were aware, though that truth was not simply a casualty of the established power broker, but is unfortunately a casualty of the new power brokers as well. We were not so naive to think that power only corrupted the last group, but that it corrupts constantly. It saddens me to understand that so many people who today are still fighting that old establishment don't understand that they have become more corrupt and more blind to it than the original ever was. Indeed, if it was possible for the modern leftists on campus to stand before the original 1970's protestors, they would be shocked at the corrupt thinking and hypocrisy of today's "radicals." They are not radicals at all! They are the new mainstream and they blindly march lock-step to shallow and narrow thought without questioning the mind control spider web that is obvious to anyone who cares to see it.
Today, I remain the same - holding up the desire for truth rather than the war against the old establishment as my cause and belief. I want truth wherever it may be found. But so many of my contemporaries and those that came after them have failed in their understanding of this call. Rather than remain seekers of truth, they remained embracers of leftist ideologies. For sure, it is the easier course. And the left has now become the power broker. It has now saturated universities with its philosophy so pervasively that an alternative opinion cannot even be expressed on campus.
Over the last 40 years it has entwined itself into the journalism field so heavily that ideology expressed from any direction other than the radical left is fully shunned and smothered. Our schools have been flooded with young left leaning teachers that have indoctrinated subsequent generations with a "moral equivalency" prime directive that has neutralized their thinking to where they cannot tell the difference between "good" and "bad" or "right" and "wrong".
No previous entrenched power ever held such pervasive control over its society. It has become so obvious that no one is surprised when polls show overwhelmingly that the public is aware of an incessantly left bias in our media. It is actually a demonstration of arrogance that acknowledges it, shrugs, and then continues to turn up its volume.
Yuvall Levin of the NRO website today offered this observation:
I have always tended to think that conservative complaints about the media are a little exaggerated. There are occasionally obvious instances of bias and clear examples of a double standard, but most reporters don’t want to fall into those and some conservatives are surely too sensitive to them. But this week has changed my view. I have never seen, and I admit that I could never have imagined, such shameful, out-of-control, frenzied, angry, condescending, and pathetic journalistic malpractice. The ignorant assault on Palin’s accomplishments and experience, the breathless careless airing of deranged rumors about her private life, the staggeringly indecent mistreatment of her teenage daughter in a difficult time, the ill-informed piling on about the vetting process, the self-intensifying circle of tisking nodding heads utterly detached from a straightforward political event, have been amazing and eye-opening.
His closing remark was:
They have shown themselves to be too insulated and too solipsistic to help the public better understand our politics, and too self-important to report on events as they happen. This is far more than media bias. Let us hope it is a passing episode.
I have news for Mr. Levin. It isn’t a passing episode. We can expect worse from these people.
3 comments:
I heard a story about a woman who had an "anti" Obama bumper sticker on her car. A car drove by, flipped off the woman and called her a racist. Because he is black, but you don't agree with his platform...you are a racist. What a diluted way to live. I "amen" the freedom my friend.
I was curious about Mr Levin's description of the media - solipsistic. There's an interesting word. I had to look it up. Solipsism: "the metaphysical conception that oneself is the only reality, absolute egoism." I agree with you, there will be much more. It has to get pretty obvious for some people to see, but Mr Levin and others are starting to get it. The media is so out of control, they are exposing no one but themselves.
Anonymous Sister
good to see I wasn't the only one who had never heard of the word solipsistic, can't say I will be using it regularly either, but thanks for looking it up! This is a great eye opener, but unfortunately we all complain and don't diligently seek out the truth like you do. thanks for your efforts, and sharing. HB
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