‘What Else Should a Reporter BE’ But a Liberal?
January 22, 2009 | Filed Under 00Publius Contributor, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, History, Liberals, Media Bias, News, President, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off
-By Warner Todd Huston
WARNING… Video Below Fold
So what do you get when you mix a Canadian TV hostess with the venerable Helen Thomas? An admission of bias so strong that it could ward off a vampire. Just why the image of the undead first came to my mind is anybody’s guess, but there you have it.
On a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation morning TV interview show called “Sun Day,” Thomas was interviewed on how she felt about presidents past, present what was to be future with the Obama inauguration still then days away. She was also quizzed on her profession in which Thomas claimed only liberals should be engaged. And that isn’t all. She also said that conservatives are neither thinking nor caring people.
Like most of her ilk and her era, she felt John F. Kennedy was “the best” president. It has always been a bit ridiculous to rank JFK as a great president, though. With his scant 2 years in office he didn’t really have the time to affect the policies and government of the nation in a way that might find him placed among the greats. It can be said, however, that he greatly affected the members of the media that adored him, covered for him, and elevated him to near Godhood. To folks like Thomas, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the greatest despite his small number of accomplishments as president.
I can’t help but feel that the Kennedy era primed the Old Media for this sycophancy for Obama. They had, after all, already fallen for a man with a very small record of actual achievement before. It isn’t too much lower to go to fall for Obama, a man with even fewer actual achievements than their last great hero. The bar was lowered terribly for Kennedy and now it lay nearly on the ground for Obama in the eyes of the media.
On the other hand, it is also no surprise that Thomas feels that George W. Bush was the worst president. Fortunately, her biased and wholly uninformed view will be meaningless to real historians in the years to come. It really isn’t a surprise that she feels this way based on the segment in the interview where Thomas admits to being a liberal. Allahpundit from Michelle Malkin’s HotAir says that Thomas’ admission is a “sunbeam of candor,” but I call it more like a dagger into the heart of journalism.
I am sure that most of you do not want to suffer through this whole, odious interview, so skip ahead to about 3:40 in the interview to get to the key part.
Transcript
Helen Thomas: I’m a liberal, I was born a liberal, I’ll be one ’til I die, what else should a reporter be when you see so much and when we have such great privilege and access to the truth?
CBC Interviewer: Well, you know, it’s interesting because I’m sure that if somebody from the right was sitting here they would say… if you ask the question what should a reporter be they will say, “Oh, I don’t know, How about objective?”
Helen Thomas: You’re not asking people not to think not to care are you? But you are asking them to give a fair reporting both sides and so forth and I did it for 57 years I was never, never accused of bias in my copy. But I had a right to be angry and unhappy at the trend that I saw in my country that I was close enough to see.
Several things about these comments must leave a sensible person’s mouth agape. The first is her claim to have been “born a liberal.” Seriously? How can anyone believe in such a blinkered concept? Is Thomas seriously unhinged enough to imagine that one can be “born a liberal”?
Secondly is that “seeing” the “truth” must automatically make one a liberal. This is also empty of reflection or thought.
But, of course, the chief conceit is that the only way to be a “reporter” is to be a liberal. This is proof once again of the religiosity with which “reporters” imbue their avocation. It is a mere article of faith that only liberals should be allowed to become reporters. And why is that? Well Thomas answers that question when the CBC interviewer pushes her on the matter.
You see, according to Thomas, one cannot be a conservative and be a thinking or caring person. It is clear in her reply to the interviewer. When the interviewer asks Thomas why reports must be liberal and cannot just be objective, Thomas replies with: “You’re not asking people not to think not to care are you?” To Thomas a conservative is not just wrong, mistaken, or even misguided. A conservative is uncaring and unable to think.
This is the hatred that Thomas harbors in her heart. With this slip of the mask, Thomas shows what a horrible person she really is; a hate wracked ignoramus. But at least she has finally cast aside her fake mask of civility and let the truth tumble out. And in this, she is surely not much different than her brethren in the rest of the Old Media.
(Photo credit: daylife.com)
____________
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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