Orson Scott Card on Journalistic Failure

If you want an excellent article on the real culprits behind the financial meltdown, look no further than Orson Scott Card. He has written some of my favorite books (Ender's Game, Lost Boys, among others). In this piece he also holds the media accountable for abandoning journalistic standards of truth for ideological pursuit. From the article:

If you had any principles, then surely right now, when the American people are set to blame President Bush and John McCain for a crisis they tried to prevent, and are actually shifting to approve of Barack Obama because of a crisis he helped cause, you would be laboring at least as hard to correct that false impression.

Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper.

But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie — that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain, and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad — even bad weather — on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.

If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth — even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.

Give it a read. You'll be glad you did.

'Tis the Season of Hyperbole

Don't you love how during election season the opponent suddenly becomes the most [something something] in the history of the world? For example, Politico reports:

Sen. Barack Obama's national press secretary, Bill Burton, accused Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) of "cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history."

Other examples:

"The Bush administration is one of the most corrupt administrations in history."

"McCain, the so-called straight-talker, has run one of the dirtiest and meanest presidential campaigns in history."

"Isn't this the most marvelous running mate in the history of this nation?" asked McCain, when he finally got a turn at the microphone."

"It is clear that Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run for president in history."

This rampant overuse of hyperbole devalues the effectiveness of the words. Just like drug dependency, it results in a supposed need to increase the rhetoric and hyperbole over time to have a comparable effect. For a copywriter like myself, where space is at a premium, and saying the most with the fewest words is critical, this trend is particularly annoying. Thankfully, this sort of thing peaks only once every four years.

Obama Elicits the First Race-Baiting Comment

Of course Barack Obama is the first to fire a racially-charged shot at the McCain camp.

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name, you know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"Bush and McCain" haven't said anything of the sort. Obama is saying that's what they will do. So he's preemptively condemning them for using race to scare off Obama votes, something they haven't come close to doing. So much for the high road, Obama.

Mitt Romney is Back in the News

Drudge is positing the possibility of a McCain-Romney ticket, citing the fact that the two former foes are now teaming up to promote McCain's run in the general election. Of course, it's all just speculation, but it would certainly put Romney in a prime spot to run again in 2012 (assuming the future 76-year-old McCain doesn't cares to be in office at age 80!) Either way, Romney as vice president would certainly bolster the Republican ticket, especially in the fact of an imploding economy. This could be very interesting.

Romney Bows Out

For the good of the party - and the nation as a whole - Mitt Romney is bowing out.

This is according to his pre-released speech he's slated to give at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) today. From the speech:

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

I suppose it's time to take the Mitt Romney sign down from my yard. It was a good run, especially for a virtual no-name pseudo-politician from the Northeast. It's also time to start saving up for the long, cold economic winter straight ahead, and today's politics will do little more than make it worse.

At least now I can get back to writing about more interesting things that cross my mind rather than Mitt Romney, all day, every day. As much as I like the guy, it will be nice to focus on something a little more trite.

McCain/Huckabee Backroom Deal!

It's too odd to be a coincidence. In West Virginia, Mike Huckabee somehow surged from a distant second behind Mitt Romney to win the primary, along with the state's delegates. How did this happen?

It all has to do with W. Virginia's primary process. After the first round of balloting, the weakest performers drop out (in this case, John McCain and Ron Paul). Their supporters then vote again among the remaining contestants (Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney).

If you look at the numbers in the article, virtually 100% of McCain's supporters backed Huckabee in the end. Far to many for it to be a coincidence.

Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic reported Tuesday that, after the first ballot, McCain’s campaign called his supporters there and urged them to vote in favor of Huckabee.

“Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney’s campaign of conservative change,” Beth Myers, Romney’s campaign manager, said in a statement.

If antics like this are what cause McCain to win the primaries, then the Republican Party truly will have destroyed itself.

Thomas Sowell on Hillary, McCain

Thomas Sowell has long been my favorite columnist (see his link to the right.) Today's piece assesses the level of "experience" being touted by both Hillary Clinton and John McCain. What is most interesting is that these obvious observations are so easily overlooked by the media and the voting public.

Sowell on Hillary:

For those people whose memories are short, go on the Internet and look up Whitewater, the confidential raw FBI files on hundreds of Republican politicians that somehow -- nobody apparently knows how -- ended up in the Clinton White House illegally.

Look up the sale of technology to China that can enable them to more accurately hit American cities with nuclear missiles. Then look up the money that found its way to the Clintons through devious channels.

Look up Bill Clinton's firing of every single U.S. Attorney in the country, which of course included those who were investigating him for corruption as governor of Arkansas.

Sowell on McCain:

While you are on the Internet looking up the record of the Clintons, look up John McCain's record, including the Keating Five, the McCain-Feingold bill, and the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill.

Senator McCain's trump card is his military experience. Some say his military experience is especially valuable when we are under threat from terrorists. But is it?

John McCain's military service was both honorable and heroic. But let's not confuse that with experience relevant to being President of the United States.

The most charitable interpretation of Senator McCain's constant touting of his military service is that he is simply milking it for political advantage.

It would be truly dangerous if McCain really considers himself a military expert, who can therefore ignore the advice of real military experts as President of the United States.

A man like McCain, with a history of being headstrong and shooting from the hip, is the last thing we need as President, in an age of complex global threats, including terrorists who may get nuclear weapons within the next few years.

I don't think Thomas Sowell has come out and endorsed anyone, but from articles like these, I think it's safe to say he's voting for Mitt Romney.

Romney's Super-Tuesday Surge

It looks like Mitt Romney is finding some traction leading up to all-important Super Tuesday tomorrow. In the last week in many areas of the country he has eliminated most or all of John McCain's lead in the polls; especially significant is delegate-rich California, where Romney leads by eight points. This is complemented by his non-binding landslide win in Maine. I'm sure this is due in no small part to the support of the conservative ideologues in the media - the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, Laura Ingrahams, et. al. He may have been helped by comments from Mike Huckabee, who is believed to be siphoning votes from Romney in the South. Huckabee has turned negative toward the talking heads who oppose him, even going so far as to say that Sean Hannity was speaking from his pocketbook because he was on the Bain Capital payroll.

Romney is known to be the most hated candidate among his competition thanks to his Washington outsider status, his money and his evolution on key issues. If he can pull this off, it will be quite the upset. At the very least, I believe Mitt will win enough delegates on Tuesday to continue his run.

Hugh Hewitt on the State of the Race

Hugh Hewitt insightfully comments on the state of the Romney vs. McCain race.

John McCain saved Romney the trouble of going negative in the debate by putting on open display the temperament that has earned John McCain a measure of infamy in the Senate and beyond, and McCain's refusal to back away from the obvious-to-all low-blow distortion of Romney's Iraq positions left a queasy feeling among even McCain supporters. This was not a display of anything like the skills that would be necessary to defeat Senator Obama in the fall. In fact, just the opposite.

Many heads in the spin room at the debate from which I was broadcasting were shaking after the Giuliani press conference as McCain looked bleached and worn out. They were still shaking after McCain’s shaky debate. On many Republican lips was a familiar name: Bob Dole.

Bob Dole, without the conservative principles, perhaps, or the energy.

Hewitt also reinforces the notion that conservatives media figures are coalescing behind Romney as they realize that a vote for McCain is not a vote for conservatism. In fact, Ann Coulter goes so far as to say that Hillary is right on more issues!

Coulter
by krs601

From Deep Right Field - Coulter Endorses Romney

Characteristically caustic and coherent, Anne Coulter has thrown her support behind Mitt Romney. Her latest column highlights her specific reasoning. My favorite part:

One clue that Romney is our strongest candidate is the fact that Democrats keep viciously attacking him while expressing their deep respect for Mike Huckabee and John McCain.

This point was already extensively covered in Chapter 1 of "How To Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)": Never take advice from your political enemies.

Turn on any cable news show right now, and you will see Democratic pundits attacking Romney, calling him a "flip-flopper," and heaping praise on McCain and Huckleberry -- almost as if they were reading some sort of "talking points."

Who knows? Maybe other media influentials (i.e. Rush, Hannity, etc.) will come to the same conclusion. Because at this point, "Anybody but Hillary" just doesn't cut it.

Romney Leads in Michigan

I spend a couple hours at the Mitt Romney phone bank yesterday, urging people to "get out the vote" (I've always hated the grammar of that statement). It was a new experience for me, and it was completely boring. The outbound telephone research I did while in college was more fascinating. Nevertheless, I must have made an impact, because the latest polls show Romney ahead of McCain in Michigan by five points.

The polling on the Republican side has been very accurate over the course of the primaries. Let's hope it holds!

It Ain't Over Yet

Yes, yesterday's Iowa caucuses were disappointing to Romney supporters around the country. But he's not dead yet – not by a long shot. As Romney heads into his next battle, the CNN article points out that "Iowa is no New Hampshire."

In Iowa, entrance polls of caucus-goers showed that 3 out of every 5 Republicans were self-described born again or evangelical Christians. Huckabee beat Romney by better than 2-to-1 in this voting bloc. Among the rest of Iowa's Republican electorate, however, Huckabee finished a distant fourth behind Romney, McCain and Fred Thompson.

In New Hampshire, social conservatives are not as influential. This potentially opens the door for Romney to regain the upper hand or for McCain to repeat his 2000 victory.

It's comforting to remember that even with all the media hype surrounding the Iowa event, many victories there are merely flashes in the pan. To win nationally, Huckabee will have to do a lot more than win over the "self-described born again or evangelical Christians."

Meanwhile, I bet Mitt's more worried about McCain, who won the New Hampshire primaries last time around.

Regardless of how it turns out, it's strange to think that in about a month, in all likelihood we'll know who the nominees will be. Then the fun will really begin.