When I first saw the now-famous CNN segment in which their reporter Drew Griffin sandbagged Sarah Palin by distorting a Byron York National Review article in such an egregious manner, I wondered what would happen to Griffin. As the man charged with such decisions at the small (but growing) Pajamas Media, I know what I would do in an instance like this. Unless there was some excuse unknown to me—hard to imagine what that would be—I would let Griffin go.
But then I remembered, this is CNN, the network whose values we learned so well back in April 2003 when Eason Jordan—their chief news executive– admitted in the New York Times the network was willing to downplay the viciousness of Saddam Hussein in order to gain access to his dictatorship. If you are willing to overlook rape rooms, routine defenestration, tongues being cut out, etc., what are a few cheap lies to a vice-presidential candidate?
Well, probably a lot, because Palin is certainly the most maligned candidate it my (increasingly long) lifetime. It’s hard for anybody to know what’s true in the welter of disinformation about her. But lots of people are drawing conclusions. That’s our media.
BUT… I wouldn’t go so far as Michael Moore and say this is proof of the existence of God… It is, however, at least an indication that the laws of karma are at work.
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32 Comments
1. Minerva:PJM is all we have left and even then I hope some of its contributors leave to work for the Rama regime.
Oct 24, 2008 - 8:52 am 2. Charlie (Colorado):At least someone is finally using “karma” correctly.
Oct 24, 2008 - 9:00 am 3. David Thomson:CNN and the MSP (main stream propagandists) are perhaps of secondary importance to the corrupt behavior of the polling community. Most of us assumed that pollsters, at the end of the day, will ultimately be judged on the accuracy of their work. And yes, I include myself for being so gullible! We failed, however, to realize the extent of the pressure exerted on these individuals by their left of center friends and neighbors. The “main stream” pollsters have in this particular election cycle heavily weighed their results in an unprecedented fashion to favor the Democrats—and especially Barack Obama. Their excuse is that the Anointed One is an incredibly exciting candidate who will get more of his supporters to the polls on Election Day. This nonsense has resulted in helping Democrats raise huge sums of money and severely discouraging Republicans. We have been played for suckers. Thankfully, there is still time to turn things around.
Oct 24, 2008 - 9:23 am 4. NRA Life Member:I just completed my absentee ballot. Straight Republican. I guess I just missed the wisdom of the MSM because I’m clinging to guns and religion.
Oct 24, 2008 - 9:53 am 5. Lola:It would be really nice if PJTV was closed captioned - any chance of that in the future?
Oct 24, 2008 - 9:53 am 6. Webrider:Roger, I think that the CNN overlords reined Drew Griffin in. If I recall correctly, he was the guy that gave us a couple of glimpses about the annointed one that didn’t fit the template of CNN. I recall people openly commenting that they figured his tenure was limited, perhaps this is how he “bought” his way back into a semblance of good graces with the leftist management there?
Oct 24, 2008 - 10:20 am 7. ricpic:I’m past 65 and I don’t feel as though my lifetime has been long. Quite the opposite. Bam! I’m 65. Downright disconcerting it is.
Oct 24, 2008 - 11:29 am 8. davidingeorgia:Griffin has since come out with a more “real” apology (i.e., he finally actually apologized period), but he apologized to York and NRO, *not* to the person he screwed over with his little sandbag…Sarah Palin…Griffin has been the *only* dissenting voice at CNN (he’s been covering ACORN like it’s actually a real news story) so I might be inclined toward believing he made a sincere but unintentional screw-up (his explanation), but then, this is CNN and he is a professional, and I have a hard time believing it was just an accident, not to the degree that quote was taken out of context (that is, 180 degrees backward)…(shrug)…I don’t believe anything I hear or see in the MSM anymore, or I guess I’d be more upset about it.
Oct 24, 2008 - 11:33 am 9. EdSki:Months ago I announced I could guarantee who would be the biggest looser in this election. I can’t predict who will win, but the looser is the main stream media.
When the smoke clears and the dust settles, they will be nothing more than empty husk of their former selves.
EdSki
The media is dead. Long live the new media!
Oct 24, 2008 - 11:36 am 10. Lightnin' Hopkins:If you think the treatment of candidate Palin is bad, just wait to until you see what they do to Vice-President Palin if she and McCain can pull this out. It will make the coverage of Dick Cheney look downright fair and respectful.
Oct 24, 2008 - 11:52 am 11. Neocon Hippie:9. Edski
What’s a “looser”?
Oct 24, 2008 - 11:59 am 12. Paul:NRA Life member said:
“I just completed my absentee ballot. Straight Republican. I guess I just missed the wisdom of the MSM because I’m clinging to guns and religion.”
Although there’s much about McCain I don’t like I AM VOTING for McCain/Palin AND REPUBLICAN across the board (regardless of the person running). Doing my part to rein in Pelosi, Reid, and MSM.
Oct 24, 2008 - 12:20 pm 13. Anita Hope:LAST NIGHT ON ” LARRY KING ” MICHAEL MOORE WAS ACTING LIKE HE IS THE SAVIOR OF THE MASSES AND WANT’S TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HE HAS DONE WRONG THAT THE INDUSTRY IS SO ANTI AGAINST HIM??? AFTER ALL, HASN’T HE EXPOSED ALL THE BAD CORPORATION’S IN AMERICA, I PULLED OUT MY CRYING TOWEL AND TRIED TO WIPE AWAY HIS TEARS, BUT HE KEPT IT UP. HE PICKED UP WHERE “GRIFFIN ” LEFT OFF ATTACKING ” PALIN “. WHAT HE FAILS TO UNDERST AND THERE ARE A FEW OLD TIME DEMOCRATS IN HOLLYWOOD THAT DON’T LIKE THE NEW BREED OF DEMO’S AND HAVE MOVED
Oct 24, 2008 - 12:39 pm 14. cfbleachers:INTO THE INDIE CENTER SO AS TO THINK BEFORE THEY SPEAK AND VOTE. HE HAS BEEN A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP NOT CARING WHAT DISHES HE BREAKS
AS LONG AS HE CAN USE PAPER PLATES AND GET NEW ONES WHEN HE WANTS. HE NEEDS TO RECOGNIZE HE IS FILLING UP THE GARBAGE DEPO WITH WASTE AND GO BACK TO USING WASHABLE DISHES, START THINKING OF THE “HELTER SKELTER” TROUBLE YOU ARE CREATING AND LIKE “GRIFFIN” APOLOGIZE AT LEAST TO THE MASSES, IF NOT TO ALL THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE CONDEMED WITH YOUR ATTACKS ON SOME OF THE INNOCENT ONES.
When the entrenched media adopted the full time mantle of leftist propaganda tool, they set the wheels in motion for a buyer backlash. Karma is nothing more than wilfully dismissing over half of your marketplace, then boring the hell out of the remainder with rabid echo chamber drivel.
Forming a joint venture with the left of leftists, the paper of Duranty absorbed a “You slander, we pander” editorial policy with each passing day. Eventually, they stopped waiting for the slander to come to them, it was just as easy to invent it.
“Junk” is as junk does.
Oct 24, 2008 - 12:45 pm 15. Brooke:Simon, you made my day with your link to the NYT’s story. I wonder if my parakeet will now object.
Oct 24, 2008 - 1:22 pm 16. Mike_K:The NY Times actually has a pretty good story on the McCain campaign and it includes the story of how Palin was chosen. Once in a while real journalism slips through.
Oct 24, 2008 - 2:17 pm 17. gsarcs:I didn’t see your prediction Edski, but I agree with it wholeheartedly. The major media will be surprised when even the lefties see them as “Eddie Haskell” and treat them with the contempt they will so richly deserve. I would say that they are in for a major suprise when they try to report on the first story that is critical of The One’s performance.
Oct 24, 2008 - 2:27 pm 18. John Galt:There will be other losers as well. My view of “karma” is “That which goes around - comes around.”
Roger,
We are of a similar age (and recovering liberal background). I think the MSM has been in the tank for the Democrats for a long time. Remember how Goldwater was transmogrified into a deranged character waiting to blow up the world? It seems seems like their behavior is more egregious every four years, but we are just more aware of it, thanks to the internet and Fox News.
They have a special hatred for race and gender “traitors”. Clarence Thomas was (and continues to be) treated in a shameful manner. If McCain were well ahead in polling, we would see another Anita Hill character going after Sarah Palin.
Wait… isn’t that what the Troopergate story is all about?
Oct 24, 2008 - 2:41 pm 19. Eric R.:I would like the MSM to die too, but once Obama is inaugurated, he will return the media’s favor by doing everything he can to return them to uncontested dominance and crushing and alternative conservative media — the UnFairness Doctrine will be imposed, ownership rules will be rigged to favor liberal broadcasters, “hate speech” laws and excessive lawsuits by left-wing tort lawyers will be used to silence any criticism of leftist policy, and some excuse will be found to provide government subsidies to keep left-wing newspapers afloat.
And the brief media awakening will be utterly crushed and discredited. Think of it as the crushing of our Prague Spring, sans Russian tanks.
Oct 24, 2008 - 4:30 pm 20. V.B. Bart:How I would love to borrow Alberich’s tarnhelm of invisibility for a few hours to attend, quite undetected, the next New York Times Board meeting, and the next few family gatherings of the Sulzberger clan. Talk about major karma comin’ to ‘ya (locution just for Peggy No-No-Na, No-Know-Nada)! Pinch is going to have to explain to his esteemed relatives, the only shareholders who matter, since he clings to his job as publisher of the Old Grey Hag only so long as they suffer him to continue, that they will need electron microscopes to find the pittance formerly known as their dividends (and next quarter…..maybe CERN will be able to detect a Times dividend somewhere to the left of a Higgs particle). Then will come the pure Cherry Orchard questions….. Will anyone ask, “Where the devil are my goloshes?”….. Sad, really. Mais, tu l’as voulu, Georges Dandin, tu l’as voulu…. These are moments that deserve to be immortalized, as the late, great Misha Auer would tell us. Hmmm, Roger, can you record video from behind a tarnhelm?
Oct 24, 2008 - 4:34 pm 21. Roger L Simon:Tarnhelm? Isn’t that the helmet from Das Rheingold? Well, anything is possible, I suppose.
Oct 24, 2008 - 4:39 pm 22. Alan Kellogg:Anita Hope, #13,
New keyboards are cheap these days.
Roger Simon, #21,
Tarnkappe is what he was thinking of.
Oct 24, 2008 - 7:05 pm 23. Ravalli County News » Blog Archive » “Palin is certainly the most maligned candidate it my (increasingly long) lifetime.”:[...] Roger L. Simon [...]
Oct 24, 2008 - 7:26 pm 24. Jeff:Is there any high-ranking Republican willing to take a stand against this? For 8 years we’ve had Bush who wouldn’t fight back, at least not with the gusto I’d like. Even if McCain wins, I’m afraid he’ll be worse than Bush on this front. Don’t they understand that no matter what they do, no matter how nice they are, no matter how many times they “reach across the aisle”, they’re always going to get the same treatment by the press? Like Charlie Brown and Lucy, pulling the football away every time.
I’ve often thought about how I would approach an interview with one of the network jerks (or any reporter, for that matter) if I was an elected official. They ask for an interview, I’d say “Sure, as long as we get to video tape the entire thing and post it unedited to the internet, and I get to interview you afterward on camera”. Have a staffer do some research prior to the interview, getting some choice video clips, articles, whatever, that I could throw back in their face on camera. There are too many examples of where they cover something heavily when a Republican is involved and basically ignore it when a Dem is involved (Mark Foley, anyone?). Hell, 10 minutes of research at Newsbusters or the Media Research Center could supply you with enough ammo to embarrass any of them. What I wouldn’t give to see the shoe on the other foot, watching those smarmy, condescending, ass-clowns sit there and squirm while they’re asked uncomfortable questions. I guess I can dream.
Oct 24, 2008 - 7:27 pm 25. Anita Hope:Alan K. At almost “76″ I think I will stick with this keyboard. I sometimes use large type to make a point, sorry you find this as an important fact to complain about, no wonder we have the problem’s we have, or maybe you are just trying to stimulate business at other’s expense. Learn to be less critical on such unimportant natters as “type print”, you might be a little happier.
Oct 25, 2008 - 2:10 am 26. Anita Hope:Regarding the word “Tarnhelm” check it out as both can be used, again you seem to need to correct.
Sorry you are so negative about such small matter’s, “loosen up” life will be so
much more fun.
PS, Alan K.
Oct 25, 2008 - 2:23 am 27. hanoi paris hilton:It is a known fact that even correct spelling is not always necessary, as we use
our vision at a speed not required for letters to be in order to comprehend the
meaning when used in a sentence.
Anita Hope…
What Alan K was ever so gently trying to tell you, even offering you the face-saving out that perhaps your keyboard was the problem, was that it is RUDE to use all caps. Like screaming at a dinner party. OFFENSIVE to the other guests. No you don’t get to stand up on the table and throw your shoes down to demonstrate a point that we would otherwise all be too dim to ken out.
And yes, it is important to correct even our elders and betters when their behavior is an embarrassment to themselves and to the rest of us, and highly counterproductive to the civil encounter we generally manage to achieve here across the PJM boards.
Do you get it now?
Oct 25, 2008 - 6:23 am 28. Broadsword:As S&P has lowered the rating of the NY Times to ‘junk’, from “BBB-” to “BB-”, I have a question. Is junk higher or lower than “crap”?
Oct 25, 2008 - 7:05 am 29. Anita Hope:hanoi paris hilton, I get it now and I will refrain from using what seems to offend you, but I also gather you are in some how connected to alan k. to be
Oct 25, 2008 - 9:26 am 30. jane m:so disturbed by capital letters.. you are being overly “rude and “offensive” in your descriptive of what I have a right to do and suggesting a use of capital
letter’s is equal to standing on a table or yelling is a sign of your unhappiness of my critique of alan k. I am not a person who yells and throws shoe’s, but apparently you have experienced this behavior in your blogging, sorry you are so disturbed in your younger age. believe me,I am not embarassed and
do not need your nasty “do you get it now” remark, as this is not being “civil”, just sacastic.
have a peaceful weekend.
Anita
I am 10 years younger than you and I, was tempted to advise you that all caps type is the equivalent of yelling on the internet. I learned that at my job a few years back. (I am now retired) It is very difficult to read a comment done in all caps. I tend not to even try sometimes because it is so annoying.
I do appreciate learning what you think on many subjects as you seem well informed and (as O’Reilly says)quite amusingly pithy at times so I don’t mean to put you off by my hopefully helpful comment. You are quite correct that in the larger view, this is a rather trivial issue. However, all caps seem to run together visually on the screen and I can get tired of trying to decipher it all.
Respectfully - Jane M
Oct 25, 2008 - 4:49 pm 31. Anita Hope:jane m, Thank you and as you can see, I am more often than not using small type and appreciate your giving me the additional reason to refrain from ever using capital letter’s in writing. I was unaware and appreciate your explanation. I am not retired and still working, however from my home. Glad you enjoy my sometimes “pithy” attitudes. Again, I thank you for your courtesy of explanation.
Oct 25, 2008 - 5:29 pm 32. Dinocrat » Blog Archive » A self-inflicted problem for the media:Have a pleasant week and holiday season, Anita
[...] We understand that the MSM are in the tank for the Democratic ticket. That has always been the case in recent years. But this time around the media seem to have gone out of their way to avoid looking at areas of potential unpleasantness in their favored candidate. What will happen if and when the human Rorschach test fails them, when the air goes out of his absurdly grandiose promises? Will they be able to climb down? Nah. [...]
Oct 26, 2008 - 9:25 am