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Media elites like to see the world through a partisan lens: every issue has two sides, which can always be seen in liberal/conservative terms. For example, opposition to the war in Iraq is seen as a "liberal" concern, despite the fact that, at its high water mark in 2008, 63% of Americans believed the war was a mistake. But never mind the pesky contours of reality–it’s much easier to describe feelings about Iraq in left-right terms than it is to get into the weeds to try to explain how it is that a majority of all Americans came to see the war as a mistake (that number is now at 58%).
Today on Morning Joe, David Gregory applied the left-right paradigm to reports that former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was "pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over." Gregory opined that this "confirms fears on the left."
Gregory’s comment may sound like a throwaway line, but it’s pretty revealing of a media mindset that has failed us. When everything can be squeezed into a left-right paradigm, there’s no such thing as objective outrage anymore. It’s a kind of moral relativism. Instead of describing reports that the Bush administration politicized terror as something that breaks a trust with all Americans, Gregory suggests it’s something only liberals will be concerned about.
It’s the same problem we’re having with the health care "debate". Media elites have a hard time describing lies about death panels and euthanasia. Later on Morning Joe, Scarborough trotted out the tired line that both sides are to blame for the scare tactics that have filled Americans with misinformation about health care reform. Scarborough equated Harry Reid’s description of the people spreading lies about health care as "evil mongers" with the lies Palin, Gingrich, Grassley and others have spread.
Sometimes, reality is not "balanced". Sometimes, one side is to blame for spreading baseless lies that are skewing public debate. Sometimes, there are reports that a Republican presidential administration scared Americans in an effort to score political points. Media elites have the power to shape the way we see these things. They can pretend it’s just the same old old left-right politics (as Chris Matthews similarly did last night on Hardball), or they can do their job.
8 Comments
The left-right paradigm is doing even more damage than that. In the health care debate, it is setting up a false dichotomy between helping those without insurance and protecting those who already have it – as if we have to choose between one or the other.
excellent point Jim–there has been so little discussion about the incredible problems that need to be solved–people who declare bankruptcy because of medical bills, people dropped from insurance coverage when they get sick, underinsured people lining up to get free health care from organizations designed as a stop gap for people in the developing world. as you say, there has been a false choice presented.
have we heard of any “outrage” from the right about this ?? au contraire .. andy card and others are saying: “tain’t so” …
right you are JKat. The standard Bush admin response is to circle the wagons and blame the person who reports on the latest outrage see e.g. Paul O’Neill, Scott McClellan, Lawrence Wilkerson. It’s like something out of Animal Farm.
and check out Joe Scarborough’s comment at the beginning of the clip above–when Mika B. says she wants to talk about Ridge he exclaims “good lord” like he’s sick and tired already of hearing about how the Bush admin politicized terror in order to scare people into voting for Bush
The moral sense of big media hacks was destroyed long ago. Now, it’s about process, not about what’s true and not about what’s right. Of course, you’re right. Even their treatment of process is flawed because process is much more complex than the left-right spectrum. That’s why the media was so surprised by the emergence of Obama in the first place.
thanks lgid. A lot of it seems like intellectual laziness–as you say, their “left-right” lens ignores complexity. The focus on process is infuriating–everything’s like one big horse race, even when we’re not in election season. They might as well be covering sports–nothing against sports, but coverage of politics ought to be different than reporting on the score/outcome.
Is there a list of corporate media journalists who are KNOWN to be corrupt, by their own acts? Gergory would be on it, right? Why does he still have a job, why was he not disciplined for offering a deal to Saford?
At least Gregory should be made to explain himself. One could make the case that it was a journalistic ploy to get an important public official, who might be clinically disturbed, on the air for a public examination. I wonder if Gregory could pull that line off?
And Solomon should be on it too, right? Is there a list someplace? Just asking.