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Respectable conservatives used to make a lot of
noise about how they wanted a conservative network
on television. Now that Fox News is providing exactly
that, I can't find mention of it in those same respectable
conservative media.
Since I am one of those who used to make my living
speaking for the American right, I think I can explain
this silence.
People who make their living as respectable conservatives
have found a cushy niche in our society. They can
ignore touchy issues like immigration or the insane
Republican pursuit of the liberal minority vote.
They never have to do anything hard, like asking
a liberal to define the word "Racist,"
which they use as a club against us.
Respectable conservatism has become a formula. Those
who make their living as respectable conservatives
have found that if they get in the right groove,
and avoid saying anything that would hurt the left,
they get lots of exposure on the liberal media as
the "opposition."
This formula requires no courage and very little
intelligence. In fact, any sign of intelligence
or courage on the right threatens liberals. As a
result, today's conservative spokesmen are lightweights
who ignore the big, dangerous issues and make liberals
feel comfortable. So the liberal media monopoly
lets them in.
I often had to follow those rules myself, and I
am ashamed of it and refuse to do it any more.
But this happy little world of respectable conservatism
can only last as long as there are no big and professional
conservative media. All we have speaking for us
today are the selected lightweights that liberals
allow to speak for conservatism.
Now that the real thing is here, respectable conservatives
have found out an unpleasant truth:
If the big-time professionals like Fox News are
now going to take over safe, respectable conservatism,
there will be no place for the liberals' pet conservatives.
Right now, on any debate on a liberal network, all
the respectable conservative has to do is look at
the Internet and talk about the stories the solid
liberal media simply don't mention. But if the big
leaguers like Fox News take over reporting, what
are the little lightweight respectable conservatives
going to talk about?
Suddenly, lightweight conservatives are finding
that the idea of a real, professional conservative
network is a threat to them. If the pros take over
respectable conservatism, those who want to make
a living in this business may have to start talking
seriously about serious issues.
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Recently Fox News had a special feature on the coming
publication of Reagan's radio commentaries. It shows
a knowledgeable, highly intelligent man, the opposite
of the regular news stereotype of a dumb and bumbling
old man. Fox directly attacked this stereotype,
and ended by pointing out that the media has used
his Alzheimer's to clinch its stereotype of Reagan
as dumb.
You can't get much lower than being cruel to a man
with Alzheimer's, but no one else in the media has
dared attack this stereotype.
Bill O'Reilley, of the Fox News regular program
"The O'Reilley Factor," is hot after Attorney
General Reno. He is pointing to the total blocking
of all investigations during Clinton's second term.
O'Reilly has the kind of guts you don't see in regular
respectable conservatives.
O'Reilly brought in Clinton's own former chief advisor
Morris to testify that Clinton had hated Reno in
his first term, saying she was the worst appointment
he had ever made. Clinton was going to get rid of
her, said Morris. But after meeting with Reno at
the beginning of his second term, Clinton gave her
a year to shape up. After that, he kept her on as
Attorney General.
By an odd coincidence, it was after that meeting
with Clinton that Reno threw a bodyblock against
all serious investigations. She brought the appointment
of special counsels to a screeching and complete
halt. I defy you to find any other media that would
report that little coincidence.
There have been a number of office shootings lately.
The regular media just point to a lack of gun control
and leave it at that. Fox reported that one of the
reasons for these shootings is a law that will not
allow employers to look into the mental health of
employees. It is the first criticism of an anti-discrimination
law I have seen in the media in a long, long time,
if ever.
When I heard that Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch
was conservative, I had expected a somewhat larger
token conservative pretense on Fox than on the other
cable channels. But Fox News is coming out swinging.
Fox's move to get the conservative viewers seems
to be paying off. They took a huge step forward
during the big election 2000 story, in the same
way that the Gulf War originally established CNN.
At long, long last, the absolute two-generation-long
monopoly of liberals over all television is broken,
at least for now.
That absolute liberal media lockup was no accident.
The Big Media knew that they could only suppress
inconvenient stories if there was not a single competitive
network to break them. The Internet and Talk Radio
began breaking that monopoly, but Fox News is different:
It's right there in their back yard.
Talk Radio was largely responsible for the 1994
victory that won the Republicans majorities in both
Houses of Congress.
That 1994 defeat was also attributed to the growing
ability of people with suppressed information to
reach the public on the Internet. The Internet is
bigger now -- MUCH bigger -- and it has been a major
factor in making the network news the public's LEAST
TRUSTED information source.
But now Fox News has broken the liberal monopoly
on TELEVISION itself!
It is up to us to help make sure the Fox News appeal
to the non-liberal audience pays off. We must spread
the word to make sure that conservatives start watching
CNN's new competition.
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