Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: j_b who wrote (4993)	9/23/1998 1:24:00 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

J, >>Apparently the easiest way to piss off the media is to lie to them.<< That was good, that one made me laugh. But honestly I think the media is more pissed because they now look stupid for giving short shrift to Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, and yes even Paula Jones. Probably a lot of them are kicking themselves for not pursuing stories that could've put them in Pulitzer Prize territory.....bp

To: j_b who wrote (4993)	9/23/1998 1:38:00 PM
From: dougjn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

<<The ends don't justify the means.>> I've always thought that, as stated, is a ridiculous aphorism. Of course they sometimes do. It depends Rather it should be: Noble ends don't justify horrific means. (Less catchy, I guess.) Stealing a loaf of bread also doesn't justify life imprisonment, or even 10 years or so. Les Miserables comes to mind when I contemplate the Grand Inquisitor, Kenneth Starr. And his Priggish Republican grand jury, which is the Republican House Judiciary majority. <<the media is angry at Clinton for lying to them and abusing their trust.>> Some, like Sam Donaldson (who is generally quite liberal) are on an absolute mission, probably in no small part because their judgments have proven so wrong about the course of this scandal. Donaldson predicted, on the first Sunday AM after the Lewinsky scandal broke and Clinton denied it (after being absolutely forced by the media to say one way or the other), that his term in office would be numbered in days if it was found out he was lying. So much for being in touch with the judgment of the American people about the gravity of lying when forced to answer such a question. Donaldson is now determined to do all he can to prove himself ultimately right. (My guess is that if he had said no such thing at the beginning, he would be much more balanced concerning the gravity of Clinton's transgressions. Of course that is unproveable by its very nature.) Also, the media has adopted the posture of itself being a sort of prosecutor. Its a development, and I think, perversion, of their "investigative journalism" role, with bright roots in the exploits of Woodward and Bernstein. (And going way back before that as well, of course, to the muckrackers, et. al.) That role has brought nothing but riches, ratings and personal fame to members of the media. So arguments for balance and perspective push uphill against every conceivable professional reward pressing in the other direction each and every day on every journalist involved in this story. No wonder there is a media frenzy. There's no percentage whatsoever in anything else for them. The result is something very close to propaganda. Any view that Clinton's transgressions are not, after all, all that horrific, faces an incredible onslaught to the contrary every single day. Even when those who argue that view make their point on TV or in the papers, the very exposure the arguments pro and con get, relentlessly, day after day after week after week, argues subliminally to the contrary. As Rich brilliant points out in the column I excepted, there must be some very powerful concerns and forces which sustains the American public in resisting this incredible onslaught. More like propaganda than anything since the McCarthy communist witchhunts. And he is absolutely right, its the fear of a solid majority of Americans that the likes of Pat Robinson are going to be calling the political and cultural shots in this country for all of us. NOT THANKS. They say and I say. And when most or all the people they know are swept up in the same obsession and find the same points of view productive and rewarding, it's no wonder the hysteria builds on itself. That's what hysteria are all about. If most everyone you know thinks the same thing, it becomes very hard to remember a time when your judgments were a bit different, and it doesn't all seem so compellingly important, and dangerous. This is true whether the hysteria is whether a bit of sex lying to a rabid press and in court in a trumped up lawsuit threatens the rule of law in this country, or whether it concerns guarding against the spread of devil worship and witchcraft. I tend to think its a good thing to search for perspective. By going back in time. And outside in geography, to other countries. (Just as perspective in times of market euphoria, or despair is also useful to strive to retain. Though the pressures of widely held views by droves of very smart people, are very, very compelling. And often wrong. When part of an emotional mania.) Doug