Election-Altering Media Bias

It would be foolish of me to deny the obvious truth in a recent e-mail message I received pointing out how different the presidential polls would be today if the mainstream media were not so liberal.

Quit complaining, you say; there's an alternative media led by your brother, you whiner. Quit calling me a whiner, especially about the current plight of Republicans. It's my party, and I'll whine if I want to.

Unlike the MSM, the alternative media are honest that they are in the opinion business and freely admit their ideological leanings. They don't pretend to exemplify objective journalism. But unlike the MSM, their ethical commitment to truth is not routinely compromised by their mind-altering bias, as with that disgraceful episode known as Rathergate.

The MSM are a case study in psychological anomalies. They don't just deny their biases to us; they deny them to themselves, all while conspiring to affect the outcome of the election.

How do you reconcile their sincere self-denial of bias with their simultaneous demonstrations of bias? An epidemic of liberal insanity, with one side of the liberal brain forgetting to inform the other of what it's up to?

No, I think their closed culture teaches them that liberalism is so manifestly correct that its proponents embody objectivity. Bias is defined as any deviation from the only correct worldview: liberalism.

Their bizarre logic tells them that liberals care about people and are intrinsically altruistic. Only someone driven by greed and bereft of compassion could harbor a conservative worldview. Someone such as Sarah Palin, a former journalist who is unashamed of her pro-life position, to the utter astonishment of "objective" journalist Katie Couric.

Liberals seem to believe that because they hold enlightened positions, they possess an ideological holiness that prevents them from committing certain sins. How else do you explain the unmerited immunity liberals conferred on Joe Biden for his obviously racially demeaning remarks about Barack Obama's cleanliness and articulateness or his references to Indian workers at Dunkin' Donuts?

It's not just that they want Biden to win; it's that they believe that as a fellow liberal, he couldn't possibly make a prejudiced statement. But he did, and we all know it. For normal people, it's "live by the sword, die by the sword." For anointed liberals, it's "live by the sword; long live the sword wielder."

This same mindset drives Chris Matthews to incredulity over charges that the MSM are trying to destroy Sarah Palin.

The MSM's jaw-dropping denial of presidential debate moderator Gwen Ifill's flagrant and undisclosed conflict of interest is another example. But understand that it's not just that she stands to make a profit from her book if Obama wins. It's also that the very theme of her book screams her Obama-favoring bias.

The response of the MSM further proves the point. They don't challenge her conflict of interest but instead imply that because of her journalistic integrity (read: proven track record of liberal journalism), she's above charges of bias.

The Ifill affair is a minor example of MSM bias, however, when compared with their potentially election-determining coverage of the current financial crisis. I knew as this drama was unfolding that Democrats, though demonstrably responsible for the government actions that made this meltdown inevitable, would succeed in pinning it on Republicans — right before the election, no less.

Sure enough, though McCain was edging past Obama as this mess began, Obama has now taken a significant lead, and it's largely because the MSM are promoting the Democratic template that capitalism and corporate, Republican greed caused it, not bleeding-heart, social-planning liberalism. (Isn't it ironic that liberals continue mouthing the absurd argument that the crisis is being caused by federal deficit spending born of Bush tax cuts yet this bailout plan involves enormous increases in the federal deficit?)

And if the MSM were scrutinizing and reporting on Obama's truly scandalous record with one-tenth the intensity they are investigating the Palin non-scandals, the American public would be irreversibly horrified at the prospect of an Obama presidency.

All of this said, this election is far from over. And the alternative media are doing a valiant job busting MSM myths and countering their denied biases.

But it's hard to help those who are disinclined to help themselves. John McCain certainly has plenty of fight left in him. But it's time he finally got a divorce from the adulterous MSM, who just pretended to love him when it suited their ends.

It's time he quits giving Dems a pass (especially for this crisis they caused), unleashes Sarah Palin from her constraints, and re-energizes the base to deliver him a victory. Give us some red meat, senator — please.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His book "Bankrupt: The Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Today's Democratic Party" was released recently in paperback. To find out more about David Limbaugh, please visit his Web site at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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