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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Why aren't we hearing this in the media?

...because there is no such thing as "unbiased" media anymore.

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By Orson Scott Card a Democrat and a newspaper columnist

Found in the World Tribune via The Rhinoceros Times of Greensboro North Carolina
link-> http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/.../2008/....asp

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:

...I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

...This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

...It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people.

...The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups.

...But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.


...They end up worse off than before.

...This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

...I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

...Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

...These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

...Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

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When it comes to reliable sources, let's ask for facts and form opinions with B.S. detectors set on maximum stun.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prodigenous! (means-way cool!!)
Let the media begin!

Law and Order Teacher said...

I read this and I knew that the media just doesn't care. The agenda is what matters, not the truth. My hometown paper is as biased as can be and nothing can change it. Sad.

The Vegas Art Guy said...

As an English teacher that is a great essay. I saved it from the local paper.