Thursday, December 3, 2009

Two Presses



There are two presses in America: The cynical press and the idealistic press.





For awhile in my brief days as a newspaperman I thought the cynical press was the idealistic press, but it was I who turned out to be cynical.

[Photos from wikipedia entry for printing press, commons license, see wikipedia for more on the license. Same goes for White House picture below, except it is under White House, not printing press.]


Lest you get idealistic about the idea of an ideal press, let me point out that Adolph Hitler, and maybe Ronald Reagan, were idealists.


The cynical press essentially looks for the bad in everything. They are the muckrakers, the "investigative reporters," and sportswriters.


Well, okay, there's also the pandering press, of which sportswriters also tend to be a part, but the pandering press really isn't about news, it's about putting people's faces in the paper and sucking up.


The cynical press is going to attack whomever.


The idealistic press is going to stand up for their ideals. My country, may she ever be right, but right or wrong, my country.


As long as it is a Republican country.


This is why Barack Obama has an image problem. If he were a Republican, the cynical press would be attacking him, but the idealistic press would be supporting him. But he's a foreign-born socialist muslim, so the idealistic press attack him.


The net result is that, unlike his predecessor (the worst President ever to desecrate the White House), Obama has no public voice of support.






If the Huddled Masses are actually swayed by the shrill of the press, then there's some chance the Cons will retake control and finish the job.