Honest Reporting

[Celvantes]

Ordinarily, this would have gone in the "THE Election 2008 Megathread."

However, the election is over, and I didn't want it to get buried, because this is an excellent piece of non-fiction from my favorite author of fiction, Orson Scott Card.

While reading this, I would like you to consider the fact that Card is a life-long Democrat, though he would probably be more likely to call himself a "Zell Miller" Democrat.

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html

I'm putting the article in a link, rather than a quote, because otherwise I'm going to see a lot of tl;dr. If you have an interest in the workings of this country, the media, and how we got into the current economic crunch, please take the time to read this. If you don't care enough to spend a few minutes... no big deal. Just please don't post here if you're just going to skim a few lines.

 

[Dejavu]

I actually did read the entire article but I have to say that anyone who thinks that the news is actually news and not propaganda (both ways) they are sorely mistaken. That is why it is important to get your news from many sources including those that are not mainstream and then make your own opinion about the situations that affect your life.

 

[Eilistrae]

hmm all I see is one man's opinion, thats not news at all...

 

[Lukas]

I would take political analysis from Orson Scott Card with a grain of salt. This is the man who thinks homosexuals are deviants and that their behaviour be criminalised. For him to describe himself as a Democrat is a joke, and for him to resent being identified as a homophobe is laughable.

I read the article. It was interesting that in calling for journalistic integrity he only targets the liberal media and their treatment of the Democratic party. Not a single mention or example of when Republican actions were obscured or swept from public view. Fow News anyone? The greatest perpetrator of media bias anywhere - a verifiable propaganda machine which perplexingly grants its staff the moniker of "journalists". But Card is totally impartial - how dare you.

He should stick to writing latently homosexual fiction and working for the disgusting LDS political lobbying machine.

 

[smalls]

what?!?!? liberal new sources just as biased as fox news?!?!? obama bad?!?! republicans good?!?! no, this doesnt make any sense at all.

 

[Halifirien]

Ah, yes... the conservatives' "blame the poor minorities" defense. Relaxing the rules to encourage homeownership was not meant to turn into a fire sale of banks handing out mortgages to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who could solemnly pledge to pay their mortgage no matter how outrageous the terms may be, much less meant to encourage banks to give bad loans to people who could afford the good ones.

I know it surprised Alan Greenspan to learn financial institutions don't always operate in their self-interest while pursuing the almighty dollar, but plenty of other people would've been happy to explain it to him. Then again, it's what I'd expect from someone who spent his youth jerking off to Ayn Rand. Bush and his cronies recoil from the thought of government oversight like a vampire confronted with a cross. I also notice Card fails to point out Republicans were in firm control of Congress the majority of Bush's term.

I'd choose the moment McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate as the exact moment he lost his bid for the presidency, but a close second would be when the Republicans turned into mewling tittybabies and voted against the bailout and said they were hurt because Pelosi said mean things about them. That said everything you needed to know about their idea of governing: politics first.

And of course there's this:

There are precedents. Even though President Bush and his administration never said that Iraq sponsored or was linked to 9/11, you could not stand the fact that Americans had that misapprehension -- so you pounded us with the fact that there was no such link. (Along the way, you created the false impression that Bush had lied to them and said that there was a connection.)

Right there is what you'd call an example of "Epic Fail." Blaming the media because people think Bush and his administration did everything they possibly could to link Iraq and Sept. 11th together to bolster the case for the invasion. It's not bad reporting that people think that's what they were doing. That's just solid reality. They hinted, they implied, they did everything short of producing an "Saddam <3's Osama" friendship bracelet.

Card thinks the media has nothing but hearts and flowers for Obama, which makes me laugh my ass off. If that were true, people would have to ask "Wright who?" or "Ayers what?" when those names come up.

You can take my criticism of Card with a grain of salt. I like Ender's Game as much as the next video game geek, but his appeal dropped down to absolute zero when I found out what a psychotic homophobe he is.