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Mainstream Media Discover Ron Paul
By Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com
The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The New York Times, and other mainstream media have engaged in an obvious and silly boycott of presidential candidate Ron Paul. Report after report about the Republican primary excluded him, though occasionally they’d mention his name—to be fair and balanced. For example, the media coverage on October 11 ahead of the GOP debate that evening looked like this:
- The Wall Street Journal’s front-page article, “Debates Take Candidates for a Bumpy Ride,” didn’t mention Ron Paul.
- The New York Times’ front-page article, “Five Things to Watch for in the G.O.P. Debate,” mentioned Ron Paul's name at the bottom, in a parenthetical remark that acknowledged his presence.
- NPR's four-and-a-half minute report covered Sarah Palin's and Chris Christie's exit from the race; Herman Cain's from-the-outside strategy; Mitt Romney's 25% ceiling and his “Mormon problem”; and Rick Perry’s lousy performance during debates. But no mention of Ron Paul.
Ron Paul simply didn’t exist. Maybe the mainstream media were trying to relegate him to oblivion because his anti-Fed and anti-war viewpoints were inconvenient. But even people who weren’t supporters of Ron Paul were outraged: a democracy that wants to be vibrant needs adequate news coverage of major political players. And their outrage lit up the blogosphere, social media, and other outlets.
But a new era has dawned: The New York Times has discovered Ron Paul. Or were the editors afraid that, by sticking to their boycott, they’d have to make do with this headline: "Romney finishes second in Iowa Caucus, Perry Third, and Gingrich Fourth." Which would have been a riot.
Instead: “Paul Moves into Lead in Iowa Forecast,” was today’s headline in the NYT. The article discussed the dynamics in Iowa, where Ron Paul is now expected to beat Romney and demolish Perry and Gingrich. And then the author mused that "...all bets would be off if Mr. Paul won New Hampshire too."
I was stunned to read this in the NYT. And there was one article after another that at least mentioned Ron Paul in some significant way. So I did some counting:
- December 19: 5 articles (as of noon)
- December 18: 6 articles
- December 17: 4 articles
- December 16: 11 articles
OK, a couple of them were by Paul Krugman who was firing off ineffectual broadsides at Ron Paul. But others were outright positive.
For example, an article today on Gingrich's tax plan paid a compliment to Ron Paul—the Tax Foundation had given Gingrich’s plan a C+ and Ron Paul’s plan a B (Huntsman scored highest with a B+).
But he hasn’t won the mainstream media battle just yet. Yesterday’s article, “G.O.P. Contests Near, and the Pace Picks Up,” discussed the major Republican candidates:
- Newt Gingrich—3 paragraphs, 168 words (which ironically included "Mr. Gingrich is leading in polls in Iowa").
- Mitt Romney—3 paragraphs, 181 words.
- Ron Paul—1 paragraph, 73 words.
- Rick Perry—2 paragraphs, 127 words.
- Michele Bachman—2 paragraphs, 133 words.
- Jon Huntsman—1 paragraph, 94 words.
- Rick Santorum—1 paragraph, 41 words.
Of all the contenders, the leader in Iowa, Ron Paul, was given the second smallest piece of verbal real estate. Nevertheless, and unlike before, he was there bright and visible.
But it gets better for Ron Paul: "Paul’s Ground Game,’ in Place Since ’08, Gives Him an Edge” admired the depth, longevity, and effectiveness of his campaign organization in Iowa. And even potential issues came across as oblique praise:
His consistent positions over the years also set him apart from other candidates bedeviled by charges of flip-flopping. But they could also undermine him, as his debate performance Thursday highlighted a rigid antiwar stance out of sync with many Republicans.
After reading it, one wonders if the reporter wasn’t secretly rooting for Ron Paul. And it isn’t just The New York Times. NPR and others have followed. This kind of mainstream media coverage is a huge win for Ron Paul—and for democracy in America.
For the whole debacle of the mainstream media boycott, read.... Where the Heck is Ron Paul?
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Rubio for VP would greenlight the CIA/Mossad sniper teams. Paul needs insurance, Jesse Ventura would be tits. Judge Napo is probably more realistic.
Jesse'd be totally tits. At least make him Chief of Staff.
Napolitano for AG!
With Special Assistant Bill Black.
Fuck Huntsman
Ron Paul is great but Huntsman does suck. Romney sucks but he is better than huntsman.
Huntsman's a very odd case. Most of the repubs play the DC game but pretend to be real conservatives. Huntsman actually has a pretty conservative record but runs as a guy who plays the game. Wny, I don't know.
Fuck Romney, he is a mormon version of the muslim
;)
LOL! As bad as Romney is - he is better than Gingrinch. Newt always wanted to be a CFR/NWO sellout since he was a little tike.
They let Newt feed at the Fannie and Freddie slush fund trough with Rahm. Gorelnick, Raines, et al. Newt has to buy his weird looking gold digger mummy her diamons at Tiffany's on credit. I remember seeing somewhere - the books on Newt's Pac or foundation. It was a slush fund and suckers donated thinking Newt was a conservative and Constitutionalist.
Good post, freddie. A refreshing change of pace. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Or, happy whatever you muslims celebrate this time of year.
Fuck Romney and Huntsman!!!
Now we're getting somewhere.
Ron Paul / Judge Napolitano 2012
THAT is a ticket to win.
I would absolutely relish the opportunity to watch the Judge destroy Biden on stage. It would give SNL sketches for years.
Two guys that understand and respect the constitution....that's not fair. Its tradition to have at least one retard on the ticket.
there are still 400+ retards in CONgress... lets not appoint any retards into the Paul administration.
Anyone on Faux Noise who even mentions "He who cannot be named" is forced to go back and wash out the mouth with soap and water. Common link to MSM, of course, is Murdick.
You are a moron if you think any of the networks are different. Only morons who support the oligarchs and enjoy being serfs watch TV. You must be one. Dumb fkkk.
I believe you misread the intent of his post, Freddie.
"I believe you misread the intent of his post, Freddie."
Thanks Al, I think Freddie is on the Scottish Koolaid?
Who cares about MSM anyway? Lyin sacks-a-shit.
Cue the mainstream media's claims he's a racist in 3... 2... 1...
Too late, Sean Hannity already drug that dead dog out of the closet before the FOX debate. Spent about twenty minutes on his radio show talking about the newsletters from the 80's. Something about riots ending when welfare checks needed to be picked up? Wasn't written by Ron Paul, but was in a newsletter with his name on it.
Rush said because the RNC is too soft by backing cream puffs like Romney and Gingrich in the race, it allows wackos like Ron Paul to take the lead. RP's foreign policy is crazy, his conspiracy theories, etc... make him unelectable. Rush went on and on about Paul being "left" of Obama on Iran.
With "conservative" talk show hosts like these, who needs MSNBC?
Hannity is just entertainment. Same for Rush and so many others. The worst sort as well. Not worth listenting too. Those who do deserve to be mislead. Sad. These shrills just feed on the fear, frustration and anger for the sake of thier own fame and fortune. If they gave a damn, there would be intelligent discourse and debate. Rather it is just a exercise in bully tactics and confirmation.
NPR losts it place on my radio presets as well. Ever since the economy tanked it is clear they got thier purse strings yanked by someone with an aggenda.
All TV is sh*t. It is for morons who want to keep our overlords in power. TV HD for serf morons. This includes CNBC, Bloomberg and FBN. Russia Today is closer to the truth.
The only thing worse for even bigger retards is sports talk radio.
Radio is just as bad except - Beck has been a supporter of Ron Paul. Savage and Rush have been attacking Paul. F Em.! F em all and Hollywood.
Glenn Beck supports Bachmann first and Santorum second. He is so into Israel now, that he doesn't give a fuck about the United States. I don't know why he doesn't convert from LDS to Jew for Jesus? Fuck Beck. He is a goofball NEO CON asshat.
I'll give Beckerhead props for helping me discover truth. The problem with his controlled dissent, once you realize the 9/11 lie, and notice how much he demonizes truthers... you realize he is full of shit.
On second thought, no props for Beckedict Arnold. He is a Zionist whore, disingenuous alcoholic that joined a religion so he could bang a cute blonde.
No! They are not entertainment, they are propagandists. It amazes me to listen to their talking point regurgitated by so many. They shape perception and therefore our reality. About 10 years ago I lost my mother to those whack jobs. My mother was primarily apolitical her entire life. When she voted, it was mostly to cancel out my father's vote. She believes Sean Hannity.
hard to believe a drug addict like Rush would have a problem with reality. Sean, I think, needs more drugs
I don't know about Hannity, but Rush has gone on record, in print and on his radio show, stating that he is first and foremost "an entertainer." He does what he does for the money, AND he's honest about it. I don't agree with any of Rush's positions but at least he's honest about his desire for money. Unlike, say, politicians, who talk disingenuously about things like "public service" and "patriotism."
That people somehow take Rush's "entertaining" commentary and twist it into their political raison d'etre says more about his audience than it does about Rush.
He is become more of a verbal ipatac, he makes me puke. Fuck Rush.
Here is Rush bashing Ron Paul back in August:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ah1Jzd9H_Q&feature=related
I'm not sure why someone would down vote your post. What you've written is spot on factual. I'm in my car a decent bit... listen to the conservative talk shows so I know the meme. What you say is exactly what happened. Add a couple of screened callers to parrot back the talking points and it's a wrap.
Time to break out of the carefully constructed box, stupid electorate (both sides).
I used to watch Hannity daily in my neocon days. Now I'd like to waterboard him with buckets of diarrhea.
All of TV is shit and it is for serfs who support the regime by watching. I am done with Limbaugh. Hannity's radio show is a joke and he always has Newt on and Democrats plus Dick Morris who hates Ron Paul. F em. Turn it off. Turn the lies and brainwashing crap off.
Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives is pretty good food porn (mmmmm....that's a mighty fine burger there boy!)
Other than that...tv is shit
Dick "book plugger" Morris is a whore, and a perfect guest on chicken hawk Hannitys propaganda hour. I still have a couple of Hannitys books layin
g around, need to burn them in effigy, or maybe i'll take em to the range and post the finished product here...
At first glance I thought you said "Dick 'butt plugger' Morris".
If it sells books he's in
Yes Hannity, the Ron Paul assassin... hated in my house since 2007...Morris, the book pusher lets not forget Rove the biggest ahole of them all.. Yes, I am an equal opportunity hater folks...
Conservatives beat up on Santorum for backing that horrible piece of s*it Arlen Specter. The truth is Bush and Rove twisted Santorum's arm. Rove pushed Bush to go for amnesty. Rove is a vile piece of crap.
The GOP needs zillions more like Ron and Rand Paul. Filled with RINo sh*t like McCain, Graham-nesty, open-borders Rubio, Kyl, and the list goes on. The Senate is filled with the worst crap in the entire country. Reid, Boxer, Feinstein, Patty Murray - the list is endless.
Not trolling Fred, but you're on a positive roll tonight. If you want to do some biting commentary on republican politics, look at the Illinois republican party. We elected some dipshit with a questionable background named Mark Steven Kirk. His background is well known in the party, but unspoken . Our party is heavily influenced by the log cabin republicans. Big Jim Thompson, Dennis Hastert, etc. In my county, a former party chair was busted for kiddie porn. This shit just wears me out. Ron Paul 2012
Already saw a couple of articles just today dragging up the old controversy about the newsletters. In fact, one is posted over in the opinion section of Bloomberg right now.
It's bad enough to beat a dead horse, but vastly more pathetic to mercilessly and mindlessly pound that dead horse into atoms.
When asked again about this red herring of those stupid fucking newsletters, RP should just give the stock answer "I have already fully addressed this issue on dozens of occasions --- NOW, can we talk about some REAL issues?"
An alien has landed on the White House Lawn!
Semi-factual reporting! What's the world coming to?
The anti-Ron-Paul bubble is bursting.
I think by not mentioning him the MSM peaked America's curiosity.
I agree with Mr. Lennon and wrote about this here in an article titled "Ron Paul Starts Mainstream Media Tsunami" :-) http://thereaganwing.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/ron-paul-starts-mainstream...
What is most odd is the parade of idiots. I mean Newt of all people? Come on now. My dog even finds that one funny.
Just like Perry and Cain and Romney. They were all failures from the beginning.
The whole freakshow has been staged so far. So, what's up with that?
All totally insane except for one guy. The media obviously ignores him forever. After the others are all totally shown to be flakes, the spotlight shifts to the credible sane wise older gentleman. Anyone else feel like its just another staged production, regardless of whether PR knows it? If so, you have to wonder, what are we being sold?
Precisely. Sold. Or distracted, split. Who knows. But it is staged. The media blackout on RP so clearly demonstrated the centralized control of the MSM, there isn't any question in my mind.
I have a very real and growing fear that Jeb Bush is going to ride in at the last moment to rescue the grand old partay from going a direction that could actually save this system before they milk all of our wealth.
Man, we are so screwed unless RP can pull this off.