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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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by Gordon Francis Corbett
A Commentary To learn why Clinton is a "Teflon President," one must examine Clinton's connections with the Establishment. Clinton's connections with them are strong. He belongs to the Council on Foreign Relations and to The Trilateral Commission. They protect him from the legal cutting torches wielded by people like Larry Klayman, the head of Judicial Watch. Larry Klayman discovered evidence that the President of the United States may have committed treason, bribery, perjury, and "other high crimes and misdemeanors." He delivered it to C.F.R. member and Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde. Will anyone notice that, if Hyde never announces the fact? Will anyone notice that if, when asked on a national television program whether he has received evidence from "outside sources," Hyde never mentions Klayman's gift-wrapped information? No major news companies have lent Larry Klayman their microphones. Why? Look at the membership lists of the C.F.R. and of The Trilateral Commission. You will find many news companies' owners, executives, and news-readers. They supply Clinton's "Teflon" by not reporting legitimate news stories, or by reporting them dishonestly. A reporter is an employee. To stay employed, he must satisfy his bosses. If his boss is dishonest, he must further his boss's dishonesty. He will likely not emulate his black-and-white cinematic counterparts. Remember them? An old-movie reporter steps into a telephone booth, shoves his hat back on his head, picks up the telephone's earpiece, and dials a number. He leans toward the microphone and says, "Give me the city desk. I've got a story that will crack this town wide open." He is an honest lady's dream. He meets an attractive woman and woos her. She helps him gather information on the bad guys, and surrenders to him in the movie's last scenes. He is an honest editor's dream. His charm makes people spill their guts; his acumen tells him whom to charm and what archives to peruse. His courage and drive enable him to work long hours, and with that time he unearths pure gold. His editor is an honest reporter's dream. Except for bad research and writing, he never spikes a story. He never fires a reporter for writing a story that offends a politician. He fears the political machine, but he backs his reporter because he wants justice, greater circulation, and a Pulitzer Prize. Together, they expose the machine; and we viewers know that when the citizens see proof on their front pages that their city government is corrupt, their rage will flense City Hall to its bones. Thus spake Hollywood. Those films' makers knew that they no more told the truth about reporting than cowboy movies told the truth about punching cattle. But, because they painted reporters romantically, and because nice people believe in romance, their audiences gave real reporters a lot of undeserved credit. We need to expose today's journalism. People need to know how today's Establishment shapes print and broadcast news to further political agendas. They need to know that journalism professors teach "models" that define what makes stories "good." They need to know that, even when some reporters expose evil, they write in "politically correct" terms that further a different evil. To be a bad reporter, you did not have to be an idiot like Janet Cooke. You only need to ignore the truth. The worst are those who, like the guards at Auschwitz, "merely follow orders." Those old films did us one important service. They told us that a good reporter "tells the truth and shames the Devil." Our real world needs more real reporters to do that, so that more real people can read and hear their work. Only if we know the truth, can the truth make us free; and those who tell the truth are reporters.
Douglas MacArthur on Liberalism: Douglas MacArthur
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