The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘The New School of Journalism’

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 40 Comments

“While I was at Newsweek (1950-1980), the mainstream media began recruiting talented leftist writers from the so-called underground press in the 60s, in the somewhat naïve belief that they could be co-opted. Instead, they went on doing their thing, which was to twist the news to cast the U.S. in the role of villain on the world stage. Many of these writers climbed the ladder of journalistic success and moved into key positions at home and abroad. There was never a media conspiracy. It was worse — a mind-set, a consensus that at times bordered on thought control. Contrary views became harmful to one’s career.
“This was the new school of journalism spawned by the Vietnam War and Watergate that bred reporters who believed they were armed with a mandate from the people and were accountable to no one save themselves. It was for many of these reasons that I decided to return to the rigors of round-the-clock journalism.”
— Arnaud de Borchgrave, former editor, The Washington Times

De Borchgrave’s essay (the date of publication I do not know) is quoted in the manuscript of a memoir my friend Ken Hanner, former national editor of The Washington Times, is currently finishing. It’s a fascinating story, told by a guy who was a member of the newsroom staff at the Times on its first day of publication in 1982, and continued there for more than quarter-century.

Publishers are currently considering the manuscript, and I can’t wait for the book to be published. Ken sent me some draft chapters of the book, and I’m sure many readers will be intrigued by the backstory of how The Washington Times became one of the world’s most important newspapers. If you want to know how a news organization is built from the ground up, and want to understand what it takes to fight the good fight against liberal media bias, this is going to be a must-read.

The rise of the “new school of journalism” described by Arnaud de Borchgrave, is a phenomenon that has never been adequately examined in any depth, as the the same people who took over the news media also took over the journalism schools. So there is no graduate student at Columbia University who can be expected to write a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation taking a critical look at the built-in biases of the “new school.”

Liberal bias is rooted in a worldview, a conception of history in which there are both evolutionary and revolutionary influences that chart a clear path known as Progress. The forces that represent opposition to Progress — traditional religion, the military, the wealthy, etc. — are automatically classified as evil and reactionary.

Above all, those who internalize the liberal worldview believe, Progress is an unquestionable goal. The possibility that Progress might lead us astray —  that society might actually be experiencing a process of degeneration, declining toward decadence — is categorically impossible. One must have a dogmatic certainty about the truth of the liberal worldview and the need for Progress, because doubt and skepticism will lead to questions, and once an intelligent person starts questioning liberalism, he probably won’t be a liberal much longer.

Many of us have gone through some sort of experience like the one described by De Borchgrave, in which we awakened to the reality of what liberalism is, and why liberalism is wrong and harmful. Each of us has a story to tell, and experiences to relate, about how it was we woke up to the danger and decided to start fighting back.

A scattered collection of individuals acting alone can do little to combat the powerful, organized, well-funded and prestigious insitutions of liberalism. The opponents of liberalism must have their own organizations and institutions, and must collaborate in opposing liberalism in the same way that liberals collaborate to advance their own cause.

The Washington Times was conceived as an institution devoted to that kind of mission, and the story of how that mission was pursued is worth telling. I’m glad Ken Hanner is telling it, and I hope he’ll have the opportunity to share that story with the world soon.

Category: Journalism

Radiance Foundation On ‘Zo Nation: NAACP And ACLU Hardest Hit

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Meet the man Planned Parenthood fears. Ryan Bomberger wants more black parents to choose life over abortion, and believes that abortion is hitting epidemic levels in black communities. Is Planned Parenthood racist? Find out.

Click the image to view:

Abortion is possibly the oldest Lefty evil. Thank St. Albert of Gore for the internet, where we can spread the positive news of men like Bomberger. Two cases of abortion of which I have some passing familiarity were not without effect. God have mercy on the abortion industry and lead all those involved to repentance.

As Americans like Bomberger and Rachel stray from the Progressive reservation, tools like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton appear increasingly cheesy.

Category: Abortion, PJTV

HERMAN CAIN PRESS CONFERENCE UPDATE: Video, Headlines, Reaction

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 105 Comments

UPDATE 6:05 p.m. ET: The Lonely Conservative has video:

UPDATE 6:51 p.m.: A quick sample of major media headlines:

Herman Cain: I’d take lie detector test
to rebut Sharon Bialek claims
— CBS News

Cain on dropping out of presidential
race: ‘Ain’t going to happen’
— Daily Caller

Cain denies harassment claims
— USA Today

Cain Says Alleged Groping
‘Simply Did Not Happen’
— Wall Street Journal

It is too early to analyze or evaluate the long-term impact. The immediate reaction toward Cain’s press conference has been generally positive. If he didn’t “hit a home run,” as they say, he at least got a solid stand-up double. And his vow that he will continue the campaign, without regard to his accusers or their accusations, is perhaps the most important thing he said during the press conference.


UPDATE 5:58 p.m. ET: Bob Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints is profoundly skeptical of Sharon Bialek. Allahpundit is poll-watching:

Finally, here’s the latest from Gallup showing some movement in Cain’s “positive intensity” score since the allegations first started flying.

What counts, really, is the results of the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, now just eight weeks away. All the polling in the world at this point is just a wild shot at a moving target. It’s been nine days since these accusations first surfaced, and we have many more news cycles to go through before we’ll know how the voters in Iowa view this.

UPDATE 5:40 p.m. ET: The press conference is over, and I think anyone who watched it will agree that it went well for Herman Cain. His lawyer’s opening statement might have helped put the press on notice to treat the candidate respectfully. The post-press conference panel discussion now on Fox News seems favorable toward Cain. I’ll be aggregating reaction and adding commentary in a moment.

UPDATE 5:27 p.m. ET: ABC News asks about former employee Karen Kraushaar, now a spokeswoman for the IRS, and Cain says her accusations were determined to be “baseless.”

UPDATE 5:23 p.m. ET: “In no way am I trying to minimize sexual harassment in the workplace. . . . It’s very serious.”

UPDATE 5:20 p.m. ET: The floor is opened to question, CBS reporter asks him if he would take a lie-detector test. He says yes.

UPDATE 5:16 p.m. ET: “We will get through this.” Makes frequent references to “the American people,” talks about his wife, Gloria.

UPDATE 5:14 p.m. ET: Any suggestion that he will withdraw from the campaign “ain’t gonna happen. . . . I will not be deterred.”

UPDATE 5:12 p.m. ET: Herman Cain says he wants to “take my message directly to the people. . . . I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.” He says, in essence, he doesn’t know Sharon Bialek from Adam’s housecat.

UPDATE 5:08 p.m. ET: We’re live! Cain’s lawyer talks about his own experience in representing victims of harassment and sexual assault. They didn’t act like Sharon Bialek, he says. Herman Cain is now being tried “in the court of public opinion.” Lawyer, he seems pretty pissed.

* * * PREVIOUSLY 4:49 p.m. ET * * *

Scheduled to begin in Phoenix at 3 p.m. local time, 5 p.m. ET. It will be liveblogged, summarized, aggregated, et cetera. A sample of headlines:

Cain accuser has history of
financial troubles, legal squabbles
— Chicago Tribune

Jobless & shameless gal going for gold
— NY Post

Cain Camp Questions Bialek’s Background
— National Review

GOP senator says Cain should
quit if allegations are true
— CNN

The GOP Senator? Lisa Murkowski. Yeah, right.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Scandal

He Used to Be Somebody

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 28 Comments

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …

It was a little less than two years ago that he “parted ways.” Can anyone remember the last time he wrote anything important? While I was writing this, Ali Akbar called to talk about his success with NotMittRomney.com. Ali is now vastly more influential than Mr. Ponytail Bikeshorts, which is kind of ironic.

Or maybe miraculous. Like I said: Pray real hard.

Addendum: “Mommy says everytime somebody hits my tip jar for $10, an angel gets his wings.” Are you calling Mommy a liar?

P.S.: I never called Cain’s accusers “rent seekers,” of course.

Category: Charles Johnson, Herman Cain

Occupy ‘Frisco Is Quite The Movement

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

via Vodka Pundit, we have this NSFW bit:

Related, there is this bit of scatalogical Heh:

Category: #Occupy, humor, Progressivism

‘Unwanted Advances’

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 70 Comments

On Fox News this morning, Martha MacCallum interviewed The Accuser, who characterized Herman Cain’s behavior toward her as “unwanted advances,” rather than “sexual harassment.”

Professor Jacobson has said that Cain is accused of “attempted adultery” and, without regard for whether we believe The Accuser or not, it is important to stipulate that we are talking about an accusation which has not been proved in any legal sense. Rather than discuss the specifics of Herman Cain’s situation, let us seize this teachable moment to consider “unwanted advances” as a phenomenon.

Any sexual “advance” a man makes toward anyone other than his wife is a moral wrong — a sin, to use an old-fashioned word that doesn’t get used often enough these days.

In common parlance, to “hit on” a woman is wrong, without regard to whether the hitter succeeds or fails in his sinful effort. We are judging by a corrupt standard if we think a man, whether single or married, has committed no wrong when his “advance” toward a woman can be summarized in the hockey announcer’s phrase: “He shoots — he scores!”

The corrupt standard which finds no wrong in that score-keeping attitude toward sexual sin is often termed “consenting adults,” a legalism dating back a half-century, particularly the controversies surrounding Britain’s Sexual Offences Act of 1967, which legalized homosexual acts historically condemned under common law.

Law influences culture, and vice-versa, and the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s brought about a legal revolution that has in turn embedded itself in popular notions of right and wrong. Many people nowadays proclaim that we cannot pass moral judgment on sexual acts other than those that violate the law — except, of course, that the moral sense is intrinsic to human nature and people make judgments anyway, although folks in political life (including journalists) are generally careful not to express their moral sense in ways disapproved by the Arbiters of Acceptable Discourse.

The “consenting adults” standard having ensconced itself both in law and culture, the manner by which people obtain consent for sex (other than by standing in front of a minister and pledging “I do”) has become a cottage industry of sorts. There are many Web sites — including one that recently began advertising here — that specialize in arranging hook-ups. But I also consider the modern fitness industry an epiphenomenon of the Hook-Up Culture, as many people spend hours in the gym each week primarily to optimize their sexual attractiveness.

So, as The Accuser said on Fox News today, she wishes Herman Cain to admit that at times he has been “inappropriate with women.” The Accuser has described a particular incident and Cain has denied that any such incident occurred.

But what are we to make of that judgmental word “inappropriate”? We can all agree that if Cain did what The Accuser alleges he did, it was not merely inappropriate, but profoundly wrong and the Christians among us would say that such behavior would fall under the heading of sin.

That old-fashioned moral judgment, however, is very different than sayng that it is “inappropriate” for a married businessman to make an “unwanted advance” toward a woman seeking career assistance. And how does The Accuser describe her response to an unwanted advance?

“What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend. This isn’t what I came here for.” She was offended, we might say, by Cain’s (alleged) advance because he (allegedly) assumed that her interest in him was of a sexual nature. The Accuser wants it to be known that she had no such interest. What was “inappropriate,” in this view, was Cain’s (alleged) misreading of her intentions.

The Accuser is an attractive woman and we may assume that she has been the object of many “unwanted advances” over the years, all but one of which she considered unworthy of a Manhattan press conference.

A New York Times headline characterizes the accusation against Cain as “lewd behavior,” but such behavior goes on all the time — yea, verily, even in New York! — without meriting a headline in the Times.

Saturday evening in the lobby bar of the Rennaisance Hotel after the “OccupyDC” riot, several of us were having refreshments when the subject of “sexual harassment” was discussed in jocular manner. Was one of the females at our table making “unwanted advances” with her “inappropriate” jokes? No, it certainly never crossed that line, because none of the men at the table were offended, and sexual harassment is an accusation that requires an accuser. Headline in the Chicago Sun Times:

Witness: Cain accuser hugged him
during Tea Party meeting a month ago

Lord, we are all doomed, if eyewitness testimony about a hug during a meeting is sufficient to condemn us. At least Judas gave Jesus a kiss.


Category: Culture, Election 2012, Herman Cain, Scandal, Sex

Herman Cain Will Hold Press Conference Today in Arizona to Address Charges

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 29 Comments

Press release from the campaign:

Herman Cain to Conduct
Press Conference in Phoenix

In response to the allegations made [Monday] by Gloria Allred, Mr. Cain will conduct a press conference on Tuesday, November 8th at the Scottsdale Plaza in Phoenix, Arizona at 3:00 pm local time [5 p.m. ET].
It is noteworthy that Gloria Allred is a celebrity lawyer who specializes in generating publicity for herself and her clients.
Ms. Allred is a high-profile Democrat Party donor and activist who has given over ten thousand dollars to liberal Democrats like Barack Obama, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.
The questions the media should be asking are who’s paying for Gloria Allred’s fee, how did Ms. Bialek get introduced to Ms. Allred, and was she paid to come forward with these false accusations or was she promised employment?
After attacking Herman Cain through anonymous accusers for a week, his opponents have now convinced a woman with a long history of severe financial difficulties, including personal bankruptcy, to falsely accuse the Republican frontrunner of events occurring over a decade ago for which there is no record, nor even a complaint filed.
We will release more information as it becomes available.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain

“Watch Out! You Might Get What You’re After. Cool, babies.”

Posted on | November 8, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

This #OccupySF fellow wants to burn down the house:As shown in this graph, actually burning currency will have more than an emotional impact. . .never.

But, hey: let’s not try to cast this silliness as unimportant. It gets at some serious education requirements.

via ypngdotcom on Twitter

And there’s more: Steven Crowder #OccupiesCrowd:

Category: #Occupy, Zeitgeist
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