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August 12, 2010
The "Neutral Story Line" and How The Media Uses It To Justify Its Perpetual Game of "Guess That Party!"Several months ago I wrote one of my better-received pieces. If you've read that you can skim and get to the new stuff; if not, I think (IMHO) it's worth reading. Excerpts below: First of all, one of the media's go-to Neutral Story Lines is that incumbents have too much of advantage in elections and there's not enough turn-over and fresh blood (read: drama which makes the news more fun to write) each election. Mickey Kaus often notes the media likes Neutral Story Lines, as they're easy to write, but are supposedly nonpartisan, as they usually criticize some procedural defect in both parties. Now, here is how these "neutral storylines" are used to justify Guess That Party! Scandals involving politicians tend to fall, as with any bad behavior, into two large categories: 1. Sex. 2. Money. Here's how it works: When a Republican is caught in a sex scandal, his party affiliation is extremely relevant because the Republican Party stands broadly for family values and sexual restraint, so party affiliation is very relevant, as it shows hypocrisy, that is, it tends to undermine the public image of the party. Is that true? Actually, standing alone, that is basically true! Standing alone, I could see that rule as defensible. Now, what happens when a Republican is caught in a money scandal? Well, that's not really hypocrisy, really, as Republicans have the reputation of being into dirty filthy money. But in that case -- in the case of a money scandal -- the media says noting the Republican's affiliation is relevant because it reinforces widely-held public opinion about the party. Do you see the brilliance of that? Of those two rules together? Republicans get hammered -- not just personally, but the sins are attributed to the party as a whole -- on sex scandals because sex scandals undermine the party's public image, so noting the party is relevant; and money scandals also get attributed to the party as a whole, and party affiliation is very relevant there, too, because such scandals reinforce the party's public image. Heads the MFM wins, tails, the GOP loses. So these two rules, taken together, mean that in 99.9% of all scandals, the party affiliation of the Republican is very relevant to the story, in the MFM's eyes. That this is a scandal not just of a fallen man, but of a fallen party, which is tainted along with that man. Now: Does the media use the same rules with Democrats? If the Republican Party is supposedly money-grubbing and only cares about big business and corporate interest, then the Democratic party is, supposedly, the party that cares about the little guy, that stands stubbornly against monied interests in favor of Joe Six Pack. Is it not the case, therefore, that if hypocrisy dictates that party affiliation is intensely relevant as regards a sex scandal involving a Republican, then hypocrisy should dictate that in a scandal involving a Democrat taking money from big business that the Democrat's party affiliation should be similarly intensely relevant? Yes, indeed it should-- and yet the MFM doesn't see it that way. Money scandals (as in Bell, CA) involving Democrats are reported without any mention of the party affiliation of the malefactors. But wait -- the media says this is a rule. Why isn't it then applying that rule to the Democrats? Because the rule is fake. It's a post-hoc justification for their decisions, not a rule that actually guides their decisions. But it sounds like a neutral rule when they mention it in a single sentence. They just never explain why it suddenly stops operating when it comes to a Democrat. Similarly, if Republicans are shellacked as a party when one member turns out to be corrupt, because such corruption reinforces public beliefs about the party -- well, then, if it's a sex scandal, shouldn't that mean that the Democratic Party should be broadly tainted if one if its members is caught diddling the secretary? After all, if the Republican Party has a wide reputation of being somewhat prudish and scolding on sexual matters, doesn't the Democratic Party have a reputation as being in favor of sexual licentiousness and a lack of fidelity to old-timey sexual morality? In other words: Doesn't a sex scandal involving a Democrat reinforce widely held public opinions about the party, and, therefore, according to the "rule" the media imposes against Republicans, shouldn't the party affiliation of the sexual malefactor be just as intensely relevant as a Republican's affiliation would be in the case of a money scandal? Yes, indeed, it should. But it isn't. Because which rule the media will claim is controlling depends upon which party we're talking about. And they never, ever examine the corollaries to these "rules." If the Republican Party should be tainted as a whole over a sexual scandal due to the hypocrisy "neutral story line," then the Democratic Party should be tainted as a whole over a money scandal, because that is their version of hypocrisy on key moral issues. If the Republican Party should be tainted as a whole over a money scandal due to the idea that that scandal "reinforces public concerns over the party," then a sexual scandal should likewise taint the Democratic Party as a whole, because an easy-breezy regard for sexual morality is in fact a widely-held public concern about that party. But the MFM, of course, does not see it that way. Heads the MFM wins, tails the GOP loses. They continue to advance dishonest "rules" that appear, superficially, neutral to justify their biased decisions, but never explain when these rules apply and when they suddenly do not. That's where bias comes in. It's bias, pure and simple, that dictates these decisions. The "rule" is selected as a post-hoc rationalization/justification for the bias. And that is why I contend that there should be a stylebook dictate demanding that party affiliation involving a politician or politico (that is, a political actor not holding office, like a fundraiser or pundit) mention the party affiliation of the subject in the first or second paragraph. Always. So that media liberals do not have the license to apply one rule, and then the other, and then none at all, depending on whether they wish to see the Republican Party punished or the Democratic Party protected. But because that rule takes away their ability to be biased, they refuse to include it, and in fact won't even explain why they won't add such a common-sense, bright-line, easily followed, no-arguments rule. Because they want to be biased. And they want to keep being biased. And they will resist any attempts to reduce their bias the same as a wild bronco resists a saddle. Oh, I Forgot Racism: Obviously a Democrat racist, such as former Kleagle Robert Byrd, who started his own KKK chapter (he didn't "merely" join), should be a highly relevant datum due to the hypocrisy rule. But of course it never is. A Democrat racist isn't a Democrat. He's just a man with bad thoughts. His bad thoughts are in no way relevant to the party as a whole.
A rationalization is just something you say after you've made a decision with full freedom -- no restraint or dictate by a rule -- and want to offer a justification for that decision. The MFM calls these "rules." They are not. They are rationalizations only. The actual rule is that party affiliation of someone caught in corruption is always relevant in the case of a Republican and never relevant in the case of a Democrat. That is the actual rule. But they won't say that, of course. That is clearly biased. So instead it's this three-card-monte spot-the-queen hucksterism about this supposed "rule" or that alleged "rule," with the MFM not actually acting according to "rule" (which would dictate they note the partisanship of corrupt Democrats prominently), but according to partisan impulse, with a made-up after-the-fact rationalization to hide their bias. This has been a running joke on the the internet for years now -- the media has not even acknowledged it. They refuse to even write a single word about this. You see: It's so indefensible they refuse to even attempt defending it. They simply refuse to acknowledge it at all. If what you're doing is so indefensible that you truly have absolutely no defense and your only defense is arrogant silence -- you've got a problem on your hands. Don't you? | Recent Comments
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