November 28, 2011
This country, along with the world in general, is getting crazier by the minute. Here are just a few thoughts about the current political and cultural scene.
- What is it about Republican presidential candidates that give them an almost universal blind spot when it comes to the “mainstream” and entertainment media, 95 percent or more of which are decidedly left-of-center? Why do so many of these candidates still show up on late night shows with hosts who at the least disrespect them and often despise them? Who are the apparently clueless advisers convincing them that getting on Letterman is somehow going to help their campaigns? You’d think that after watching what happened to Sarah Palin in 2008 and beyond, that they would get a clue about these people’s real intentions—and still they don’t.
- In a similar vein, how can it be that conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute sponsor a Republican presidential debate and allow it to be “moderated” by Wolf Blitzer, a CNN liberal mainstay? More to the point, why do the candidates continue allowing themselves to be herded like cattle to these interminable proddings from the liberal networks’ “journalists” whose only objective is to play “gotcha?” Seems like there are others out there besides the Blitzers and Coopers of the world who could actually ask some fair-minded, intelligent and challenging questions without always baiting a trap.
- How is it that the campaigns of credible candidates like Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain and Rick Perry have all but died on the vine even before the first primary? Did the lamestream media really have that much of a destructive impact on each one, or did they do themselves in with verbal stumbles (especially Cain and Perry)? Fifty years from now, if anyone is still around to analyze what happened during this time, they will no doubt be astounded with the treatment accorded common sense conservatism by most media outlets. Just a recent example—Bachmann was introduced on the late-night Jimmy Fallon show with a raucous rock song from the 1980’s entitled “Lyin’-A** B****.” Although NBC later apologized to Bachmann—notably after she had issued some justifiably scathing criticism and demanded an apology—it was clear that there was nothing unplanned or coincidental about this incident. At least Bachmann, unlike many of her colleagues, saw the travesty for what it was and called the network on their antics, even though she also made the ill-advised decision to appear on the Fallon show in the first place.
- If candidates continue to believe it’s somehow going to help them by appearing with Letterman et al, then they had better go to these shows with a different mind-set than that of a lamb going to the slaughter, as Perry recently did with his woefully self-flagellating appearance on Letterman. You can bet that after Perry good-naturedly played along with a “Top 10 Reasons” as to why he couldn’t remember the three federal agencies he would close, that Big Dave and his audience were laughing at him far more than with him.
- Seeing the way this presidential campaign is going, it’s enough to make you wonder if there are some sinister shenanigans going on behind the curtains to ensure that Obama is somehow re-elected despite his massive failures and apparent corruption. Some powers-that-be (Soros and his ilk perhaps?) seem to be shaping 2012 so that their guy (be it Romney as the “acceptable alternative” or Obama again) will be the next president. And based on what’s happening with the presidential race, don’t think that the Senate is going to change hands without a real street fight, including some of the dirtiest tricks ever used (but of course only reported, if at all, by the alternative media).
All of the above point to the continuing disintegration of the political process in this country, which along with the moral and economic decline should be sounding alarm bells for Americans who still care about the future of this once-great nation.
Copyright ©2011 Phil Perkins