The faux "bittergate" scandal is winding down, but I do want to call attention to one thing overlooked: The press reaction has been that what Obama said was a "gaffe" and politically perilous, the worst crisis since Rev. Wright. My question is (the horse race aspect aside) why???
Specifically, the remarks on clinging to guns, God, and anti-immigrant sentiment are singled out. The key point overlooked is that the remarks that are supposedly untouchable are taboo only from an ultra-rightwing perspective. From a liberal perspective, they are entirely legitimate, and more than that, totally correct, at least from a liberal POV.
Think about it:
Guns - If you are a Democrat, you support reasonable limits on firearms, period. Why is the entire media and political establishment pandering to the gun nuts who will never in a million years vote Democratic? And look at the appalling silence at massacres such as Virginia Tech which are repeated again and again. There was no outcry, largely because the entire media establishment has been co-opted by the right. Pols pander to gun-nuts (and "gun nuts" there are -- sportsman don't need copkiller bullets or assault rifles) but why does the MSM roll over for the NRA's extremist views?
God - Religion is even more of a rightwing boondoggle. Religious political activists push their fanatical extremist views on everyone else, to the point of terrorism in some cases (assassinating abortion doctors, for instance). They bash gays, jews, muslims and women's rights. Democrats really are about tolerance and minority rights and about separating church and state.
Anti-immigrant sentiment - This is the worst one IMHO. We listen to Lou Dobbs rabble-rousing nightly on the supposedly centrist CNN. We hear about Minutemen stalkers harassing latinos. What exactly is wrong about speaking out against hatred and intolerance? Why is speaking out against hatred and xenophobia taboo? Is the MSM pro-xenophobia? It is unfathomable to me who would be offended by the phrase "anti-immigrant" othre than immigrant-haters. If the shoe fits.
First off, I am not talking about Obama's views on these issues. He's a bigtent Democrat who wants to reach out and not be divisive. Fine.
But what about the media, what's their excuse? Why have they swallow the GOP's version of political correctness? And I'm not just talking about the usual suspects like FoxNews and Politico. But ostensibly centrist news like CNN, MSNBC, Time, New York Times and so forth.
Why has the media rolled over to the point that it goes without saying that "urban" and "educated" is bad, that "guns" and "anti-immigrant" are good.
Bittergate brings it all into focus. The mainstream media is thoroughly infected with extreme rightwing values.