Tiger’s Errant Drive

I’m not much of a golfer or much of a golf fan.  I know some of the names.  I know the names of the some of the tournaments, although I can count on one hand the number of tournaments I have watched in my lifetime.  With that said, however, even I know Tiger Woods.  For all intensive purposes, he is golf.  Ratings sky when he is in contention to win on Sundays.  Experts say it’s only a matter of time before he passes Jack Nicklaus’ record and becomes the greatest golfer ever.

Despite his fame and celebrity, Woods has usually managed to stay on the sports pages and out of the news headlines.  That all changed a few days ago when he had an early morning car accident.  Now, the news is camped out  at his home.  The media can’t wait for the latest development in the Tiger Woods’ saga.  Speculations and accusations are flying left and right.  The truth is that I don’t have any idea what happened before, during, or after Mr. Woods’ accident.  What I do know is that if it were you or me, it would not be getting this much attention or speculation (from the media, police, or anyone else).  It’s become tragic just how much we are dependent on the details of every celebrity occurence to get us through our day.

Faith and Media

Flipping channels tonight and happened passed a “news” network I won’t stoop to give credence to.  I sat stunned as the anchor ridiculed Sarah Palin for her…wait for it…religious views.  Not her politics.  Not her career past, present, or future.  Not her book or her future ambitions.  Her religious beliefs.  She was ridiculed for having the audacity to believe in the literal restoration of Israel and a future apocalypse.  And for good measure, she shares this view with the most radical of today’s religious figures…wait for it…Billy Graham!  Wow.  Sarah Palin is a nut job for holding a religious opinion that millions of believers hold, including Billy Graham.  Man, contemporary media is certainly a thing to be proud of.

Why the Concern?

Conservatives should really appreciate the media.  I mean after all, they are only watching out for their best interests.  It’s being reported today that conservatives have the Republican party tied in knots (you can read more here).  The GOP has to listen to its base, but apparently the views of their base turn everyone else off.  It’s interesting that the media never seems concerned with the base of the Democratic party is cranky and vocal.  The Democrats are never counseled to move towards the “mainstream” the way the Republicans are.  Could that be because the views of the Democratic base are in sync with the views of most of the media?  Or, could it be that the media is afraid that the views of the conservative base are more mainstream than theirs?  Regardless, the conservatives should really thank the media for its concerns.  After all, where would conservatives be without them?

Math and Majorities

In the media’s incessant villianization of the Republican party, they are ignoring simple math.  The Republican party cannot kill the health care bill.  They do not have enough votes in the House or the Senate.  The GOP doesn’t even have enough votes to filibusterthe bill in the Senate.  The only thing keeping the government from taking over the health care industry is the president’s own party.  Despite the media’s desperate attempts to pin blame elsewhere, it is the Democrats preventing “health care reform” from getting done.  The Dems can finger point all they want, but they have more than enough votes to pass anything they want.  Why won’t they?  The most basic of all political instincts…self-preservation.  The media needs to quit crying about the Republicans, and begin to explore the real reason their political agenda is faltering.

Celebrity-in-Chief

Does the president have to be on every station all the time.  Obviously, he dominates the news channels and the various C-Spans.  I have already commented to how frequently he’s on ESPN (you can read my thoughts here).  Tonight, he’s throwing out the first pitch at the All-Star game, and is even taking a turn in the booth.  What’s next, a Food Network special?  A rocking MTV countdown?  A special episode of ”White House Gadgets” on G4?  Enough already.  Is anyone really this narcissistic?  At times, the president seems more concerned with being a celebrity, and gaining all the perks that come with that status, than with leading the nation.  One would think that being the leader of the free world is enough.  Apparently, it’s not.  In addition to being the Commander-in-Chief, one must also strive to be the Captain of Cool and the Celebrity-in-Chief.  And, along the way, be on television twenty-four hours a day.

Let The Circus Begin

Confirmation hearings begin today for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.  In all probability, she will be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  While I do not agree with the positions held by her honor, the real tragedy this week will be the characterization of her opponents.  Anyone who dares to question her rulings or statements will be dubbed a anti-woman, anti-Hispanic racist.  Thus, I’m sure that serious debate regarding this nominee will once again be muted, both by like-minded politicians and the mainstream media.  And, as usual, the media will show its glaring double standard.  It will do its part to victimize the nominee and villianize her opponents.

The Politics of Plagiarism

I find it absolutely hilarious that there are those in the media wagging a finger of shame at Sarah Palin for allegedly plagiarizing phrases from Newt Gingrich (a claim Gingrich calls “silly” by the way).  After all, the media just crowned a vice-president who ended a 1988 presidential run due to a plagiarism scandal, and has been accused of plagiarism on other occasions.  I am not going to pretend to know who plagiarized whom.  But once again, the media’s hypocrisy is incredible.  If it’s wrong for one, it’s wrong for the other.  Time after time, the media’s double standard comes through.  Tax evasion, perjury, inexperience, racist/sexist statements, shopping sprees, faux-pas, and even plagiarism are excused if you are on their end of the political spectrum.  At least no one is plagiarizing the mainstream media.  Their biased reporting is so transparent, no one would dare copy it (except of course the like-minded political talking points of the day).

ESPN ‘n Chief

I’m already on record that ESPN has become vastly overrated.  Sometime in the future, I might go into more detail as to why, but for now I’m content to just air this one gripe.  Enough with the president already.  They ought to change the name of the network to BSPN.  It’s a sports network for goodness sakes.  It’s not a hard news network (unless steroids are involved).  Nonetheless, President Obama is on every other day.  We get to hear him gripe about the BCS.  We get to follow his March Madness bracket with breathless anticipation.  We get to see him shoot hoops with the UCONN women’s team.  If they bust out a game of croquet on the White House lawn, it’s a breaking story.  Give it a break.  He gets more airtime on ESPN than on MSNBC (and that’s saying something).  If they keep slurping him this bad, Olbermann will probably come back and work for them again.  And if that happens, where would we turn for unbiased news reporting?

The Media Misses Again

Today, Donald Trump announced that Miss California can keep her crown.  The media will now have to move onto some other aspect of her life in their unending effort to tear her down.  Like Wile E. Coyote (no offense Wile E.), the media continues to have their destructive plans continually backfire on them.  With that said, here’s just a quick thought on Carrie Prejean and this whole debacle.  Last I checked, she didn’t even win the Miss USA pageant.  Does anyone know the name of who did?  I didn’t think so.

The Media’s Take on the Republican Party

The media’s story du jour is that the Republican Party is dead.  According to some analysts, we are in for thirty years of one party domination.  Granted, the Republicans are doing little to help themselves.  They have failed to articulate clear and consistent answers on a number of issues, even when their core philosophy may have been the right one.  With that said, however, this media attempt to bury them is so bogus.  It was not even five years ago that the same media was lamenting the decline of the Democratic Party.  Once again, the media creates the agenda, and then beats it into the minds of whoever is willing to embrace their constant haranguing.  I don’t pretend to know the future for any of our political parties.  I do know, however, that the cure for what ails the Republicans is not going to be found in the media.