(This was originally posted several hours ago at Green Mountain Daily, and it's a short little thing, but when I re-read it, I got the feeling that some folks on this site might appreciate the introduction to -- as it is referred to in the original title of the post -- The Caledonian Broken Record)
We (at Green Mountain Daily) don't do so much media critiquing, which is probably not a good thing. Of course Vermonters are all familiar with our own WCAX news bureau's well-deserved reputation for being Vermont's own little Fox News Channel, but if you want to see the most jaw-dropping, ranting, angry-to-the-point-of-delusional right-wing media source you will ever see anywhere in this nation, there's no place like St. Johnsbury's newspaper, the Caledonian Record. In fact, I have never seen another such newspaper anywhere (left or right leaning) that doesn't even bother with the pretense of objectivity, referring to itself in it's own editorial page as a "Republican newspaper."
If you're not familiar with this paper, you're gonna love this...
The CBR (Caledonian Broken Record) never fails to live up to that Republican description it wears so proudly, even when it has to twist itself into knots of self-parody to do so. You'll recall
the story from a few days back when Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker demanded (and received front page coverage from all the major Vermont papers) action from the Douglas administration on the ever-growing domestic spying scandal:
I have asked my campaign staff to investigate whether the Bush administration's warrantless spying activities, and the action of telecommunication companies involved in these disclosures, may have violated any Vermont laws, and if so, what actions have been taken to protect the rights of the citizens of this state"
The Douglas administration quickly (and wisely) scrambled to innoculate itself:
Jason Gibbs, a spokesman for Gov. James Douglas, said the governor had ordered O'Brien to determine if Verizon's actions violated Vermont law
So how does the CBR spin this?
We take this opportunity to applaud Vermont Republican Gov. James Douglas. To quote Jason Gibbs, a spokesman for Gov. Douglas: "The governor is certainly disturbed by this, and the Department of Public Service is going to take action if the rights of any Vermonters have been violated."
And how many times is Scudder Parker mentioned in the editorial? That's right - zero. That takes some serious kahunas right there, but that is nothing. This paper has a greatest hits that's worthy of the Colbert Report.
Try the editorial entitled Al Gore: The Jane Fonda of the War on Terror, or maybe Dean's Delerium (hint: he was talking about Iraq). Health Care? Check out their visciously deceptive op-ed entitled Jim Dandy To The Rescue. The Abramoff scandal? Bet you didn't know that there wasn't a single Republican involved, but virtually every major Dem lawmaker seemed to be. Who knew? Bet you didn't realize how "many black leaders are race-baiters". Don't worry, the CBR from it's perch in the Northeast Kingdom will separate the good blacks from the bad (read: liberals). After all, the Democrats are the "party that just loves to raise taxes in order to tuck another taxpayer-funded comforter around the body politic," right?
Come on, admit it. At some point reading that list you started to chuckle. Just a little.
