- America has always been about competition. America
has always been about diversity. America has always been about equality.
But competition in America defies equality, and diversity defies both unity
and equality. Diversity encourages competition, and in the liberating
atmosphere of freedom, improves society by allowing choice and selection,
leading in turn to the emergence of the best. And when a society
is so oriented and in harmony with itself, unity in liberty and freedom
against the backdrop of diversity is indeed possible.
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- In all probability, it is this vision of "a more
perfect union" the Founders had in mind when they preceded the words
of the Preamble with their Declaration of Independence's phrase, "pursuit
of happiness," as opposed to John Locke's mere "property."
We all start out equal at birth, but economics and social status define
diversity which drives competition and achievement. These provide
the means for all to enjoy God's gifts of life, liberty and property.
Diversity ascends to where we achieve the state of e pluribus unum: one
out of many.
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- Competition is, therefore, a very desirable trait in
any society. Competition should never be confused with the term "capitalism."
Huge, powerful corporations and their allies in the freedom-crushing political
State do not even remotely translate to competition. In fact, competing
corporations typically create an environment where the losers run to their
allies in government to saddle successful competitors with "restraint
of trade" lawsuits and other "protections." These
actions translate to higher consumer prices.
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- There once was a time in America when newspapers were
numerous and fiercely competitive. And even if some journalistic
ventures found it difficult to maintain a clear line separating news from
opinion, their readers always new which way politically the papers' publishers
and their editors leaned. And often, certain news events were framed
in what could easily be described, even back then, as "biased."
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- But journalistic biases back then had never been brought
to anywhere near the same level of public scrutiny as they are today.
This scrutiny has been exacerbated by both political parties relying on
their shadow media to engage the "enemy" party's shadow media.
This has led to a conflict between the media of the left versus the media
of the right. Or is it the liberal media versus the conservative?
Or does it really even matter anymore?
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- Acceptance of campaign promises as tailored lies are
written off to mere campaign rhetoric, and rubbing off on the shadow media
as they rally to their politician of choice. And although this is
accepted by the general public as campaign bluster it has now transcended
detrimentally to the mainstream media [MSM]. An increasing rejection
of the MSM combined with an increasing acceptance and reliance upon the
new alternative media [AM] of the Internet is now well documented.
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- The new AM offers faster and more comprehensive coverage
of any news or political event than does the MSM; its potential for transmitting
honest and important information to the public are unparalleled.
Politics takes the lead in news reporting especially today when the most
dangerous and powerful nation in the world is lead by a politician with
neither a moral compass nor a grasp on the concept of justice. Given
the horrific "advances" in technology, a technology permitting
horrendous mass murder and the annihilation of entire cities and nations,
the dire need of the many to control the dangerous few has never before
been brought more clearly and urgently into focus.
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- These most dangerous few, the torturers and warmongering
killers of the criminal Bush regime, have their collective finger on the
red button that is set to ignite World War III. Stopping them is
now of the highest priority for all Mankind! It boils down to the
very survival of the human race, irrespective of American political party
affiliation and national sovereignty. I find it impossible, therefore,
to align myself with any political party, and am increasingly losing confidence
in any and all levels of the American political State!
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- Party affiliation and political bias have absolutely
no place in the decision-making process on the part of the American people
in bringing down the dangerous and deadly Bush regime in any manner possible.
Yet, the dangerous game of world military supremacy is being ignored and
even exacerbated by a segment of the AM that continues their intellectual
myopia via label fables and blame game babble as demonstrated by the likes
of Limbaugh, Drudge, O'Reilly, Hannity and others. If Mankind is
to survive, these propagandists must be ignored, and quickly!
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- The Drudge Report, initiated by its creator by rising
above and against MSM bias intended to protect the Clinton administration,
virtually launched the Internet AM. But now, Matt Drudge has succumbed
to bias himself by covering for the Bush administration in precisely the
same manner as the Washington Post's intended spike of the Clinton/Monica
bombshell.
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- Rather than paraphrase, here are the observations of
a true conservative, columnist Paul Mulshine, from his New Jersey's Sunday
Star-Ledger column on Christmas Day: "Last week was an amusing one
for observers of democracy in America. On Monday, President Bush
held a news conference during which, in reaction to those revelations about
domestic surveillance, he expressed outrage at those who would leak classified
information to the media. 'My personal opinion is it was a shameful
act for someone to disclose this very important program in time of war,'
Bush said."
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- Mulshine continues his column quoting columnist Robert
Novak, the latter instrumental in blowing the cover of Valerie Plame: "'I'm
confident the president knows who the source [of the leak] is,' Novak told
an audience at a luncheon in Raleigh, N.C. 'I'd be amazed if he doesn't.
So I say, 'Don't bug me. Don't bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president
as to whether he should reveal who the source is.'"
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- Mulshine goes on: "Back when I was writing columns
about the antics of [Senator Bob] Torricelli then a member of Congress
and now a free citizen of New Jersey I heard from various true believers
on the right. All assured me that anyone who would leak the name
of a CIA source should be either jailed for life or taken out and shot.
Those same true believers have so far managed to restrain their anger at
the Plame leak. But if leaking the name of a CIA operative [as Torricelli
had] is bad for Democrats, then it is bad for Republicans."
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- Mulshine focuses on the "right's" selective
outrage; said another way, this type of compartmentalized thinking constitutes
bias. And what's wrong with that?
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- What's wrong here is that it supports the horrendous
damage to individual freedom the GOP is perpetrating in the name of party
loyalty. Where now are the quotes from the Constitution and Bill
of Rights? Where now are the Limbaugh and Paul Harvey stories of
the horrible fates of the signers of the Declaration of Independence?
Destruction of our human freedoms and the carpet-bombing mass murders of
innocent Iraqi civilians and their children are now political party-justified
supplanting morality and justice!
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- Responding to Bush's own admission of spying on innocent
American civilians as supported by the GOP, Matt Drudge advances this fascism
by offering examples of his bias with these headlines: "CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS WITHOUT A COURT ORDER" and, "CARTER
EXECUTIVE ORDER: 'ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE' WITHOUT COURT ORDER."
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- Now if this sophomoric attempt at "journalism"
doesn't reveal precisely what this commentary is about, I'm totally clueless
as to what will. And in that same Drudge Report of December 21st
- , the cat in the hat hits on Democratic Minority Leader
Harry Reid at the time of the original signing at the White House of the
Bill of Rights-destroying PATRIOT Act. Drudge blew up the facial
image of Reid in a group shot of politicians standing around Bush and smiling
during the signing into law of the bill that legalized fascism in America.
See, the Democrats want the PATRIOT Act too! And if Clinton and Carter
did it, what's wrong with Bush doing it now?
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- I recall once hearing that newspapers were written to
address the general public at the eighth grade level. The intellectual
level displayed by GOP gadfly Drudge might possibly exceed kindergarten
mentality; but I doubt it.
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- Just as Matt Drudge launched Internet credibility in
exposing the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky peccadilloes on the peoples'
property, during the peoples' time, and on the people's dime, so now too
is Drudge laboring hard for the GOP to bring down the credibility of the
Internet's former elevated status as a believable, reliable and independent
news source. Regrettably, the AM is now populated by GOP-supporting
news and opinion websites, the most successful of which support their party
unequivocally, right and wrong. Competition is not much of a threat
as their fans read what they want to see and believe what they wish to
believe about both their party and their president.
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- It is easy to observe that really nothing much has changed
since the MSM beginnings attributable to such as William Randolph Hearst:
"You supply the pictures I'll supply the war!" Power
does indeed induce corruption and arrogance among those "fortunate"
to wield it. Controlling fire, or holding a well-crafted and powerful
handgun, does indeed make one feel luckier than those that could be on
the receiving end of their unrestrained power to maim and kill. But
at times, directed sources of power can back draft, cause ricochets, and
trap an arsonist in his own house fire. Too bad new and promising
sources of media power have degenerated backwards in time, where one individual,
or a group of individuals, can supply a war that wasn't ever needed.
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- © THEODORE E. LANG 12/28/05 All rights reserved
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- Ted Lang is a political analyst and freelance writer.
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