Barack Obama has to fight not only John McCain which includes the RNC. He also has to fight a McCain biased media. Never before has the media shown such open bias as demonstrated in this 2008 Presidential campaign. For whatever reasons, the media has decided to defend and interpret John McCain’s gaffes in favorable lights because he is their known "son".
The media has been wined and dined by McCain for many years and many are prominent members of his fan club. So no matter how he mixes up names, facts and figures; he gets a pass. While Obama gets blasted, misquoted, and marginalized.
Many Obama supporters have decided to boycott Fox News, which is not fair nor balanced. There is a petition by Moveon.org to take Fox News to task for it’s outright lies and misrepresentations. And while this avenue may take time and require a cohesive movement from Obama Nation it may be the only way to inform Main Stream Media, that we the people will no longer tolerate their ridiculous posturing any longer. Case in point John McCain has flipped flopped on so many issues, and has become : the anti-torture candidate supports torture. The pro-immigration candidate opposes immigration. The candidate who opposes tax cuts for the rich supports them. The pro-campaign finance reform candidate has a campaign that is run almost exclusively by lobbyists, and exploits loopholes in the law to skirt spending limits--even the laws the candidate wrote. The candidate who opposes "agents of intolerance" in the Republican Party embraces them. The candidate with the foreign policy experience frequently confuses Sunnis and Shiites and misreads Iranian influence in the region, but is proposing permanent war. The candidate who claims to be a fiscal conservative wants to bust the budget. The candidate who claims to take global warming seriously does not want to take any serious action to address it. (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080707/alterman) But the press is not spending time informing the American Public of this side of John McCain, they gloss over these and pick apart Michelle Obama’s primary season remarks, or Obama’s vetting team, or his gaffes.
They do such a great job that John McCain has begun to believe his own press. He points the finger as does the press, at what he perceives as an Obama flip flop on public financing, of which the media has decided not to report the entire situation and does the sound bite version to keep it going. The media is the republican’s right hand in the "smoke and mirrors" game. They talk about something else that’s not really important, so that they can screw you over with the things they really want to do, usually to the public’s detriment. Many of these people are paid large dollars and are not impacted by gas or food prices, lack of health care, jobs being outsourced or issues facing 97% of the American public. I am not hating, it takes time to climb the ladder of success for some people and you should be rewarded for hard work. But, you should remember that reporting the news should be factual and objective.
By not being factual or objective in their reporting the news, they are guilty of once again covering up the republican flaws. What the MSM is counting on is that most Americans will not research, will only believe what they tell them and as such they get to keep their high paying jobs. And to some degree they will be successful. However, the beauty of the grass roots movement is that we are challenged to become engaged in the process, to read, to Digg, to discover the facts and pass them on. I rarely watch MSM's at all anymore, and am converting my husband to change the channel. We now research and come to our own conclusions. That is empowerment, which is what will eventually make the Repubs mirror and smoke machines obsolete. Business as usual is changing.
One of the things that Obama wants to institute is cabling throughout the US so that internet access will be available to all. In fact he intends to have a department in the White House committed to this so that he can have open and fast communication with the American people. Not only will we free ourselves from dependency of foreign oil, but in future generations our children will be free from a corrupt press that can be bought with free access, gifts, meals and booze. Many of the old school reporters will be lost. But those who really know and understand the signs of the time will embrace this technological move and be prepared.
Obama’s defense has not been to cry unfair, it has not been to challenge the MSM’s. Nope they will hang themselves. Obama’s defense is to motivate people like me, to really take a look at my country, the issues I face and make my decision to support his campaign in spite of the hypocrisy of the press, in spite of the lies said on Fox News and their fake apologies, in spite of the power of the written word. MSM’s have been wrong about most of this historic campaign and they hate that. I understand, what they still have not gotten is that they have misread the American people. We demand change and have chosen Obama as our candidate. Even if Obama was not in the mix, we would still demand change. Obama has recognized this and gives us the credit, and rightfully so. It is because he lacks the baggage of years in Washington that makes him appealing. Obviously, the MSM’s feel he has not paid their dues, not enough food and drinks I guess, because unlike McCain, Obama is not their favorite son.