Beware the "Memogate"

By Frank Salvato
web posted September 20, 2004

This may come as a shock to those of you who know me but I
have to admit, I half agree with the liberal talking heads on the
issue of "memogate." Ever since Dan Rather and CBS News
came forward with their less than substantiated memos about
President Bush's Air National Guard service we have been
inundated with information about fonts and typewriters, word
processing programs and superscript. But I caution all of you
good people out there who are watching this political battle from
the sidelines, beware the "memogate."

The issue of bias in the media has been discussed, studied and
decided. Of course there are those who don't believe the results.
There is a gentleman from Alabama who repeatedly writes me to
challenge the results of the Pew study on bias in the media that
concluded the majority of journalists – if we can call them that
anymore – in this country lean decidedly to the liberal side of life.
He keeps challenging me to read between the lines. That's what
liberals do when evidence stands so obviously in their faces, they
conclude that the facts are not what they are but rather what is
"between the lines." They do it with the Constitution on issues
like the alleged "separation of church and state," they do it with
polls and they do it with reports. It's never what the words
actually say it's what the words mean when read "between the
lines." Remember, we have to define the meaning of the word
"is" for these people.

The fact that Dan Rather presented a story based on
questionable evidence is less an indictment of the mainstream
media as a whole – although it's quite the indictment – than it is a
declaration of his political agenda. Where a once proud journalist
used to go to great lengths to vet a story so he could present the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we now see a
man so blindly filled with animosity toward the political dynasty
of a particular family that he would abandon his better judgment,
his professional journalistic ethics, in an effort to break a story
that would benefit his political candidate of choice over a
member of said family. It's a sad day when we see someone who
once embraced journalistic integrity retire from the arena of
professional ethics.

But the bigger issue here, and one that no one is reporting, is that
"memogate" has completely replaced the positive issue
momentum the Bush campaign had at the end of the GOP
convention. Where we should be talking about making tax cuts
permanent and overhauling the tax system (inequitable as it is),
we are talking about IBM Selectric typewriters and listening to
interviews with 80-year old secretaries who may or may not be
able to attest to what her boss was thinking over 30 years ago.
Where we should be talking about the opportunities the Bush
campaign has proposed for the next four years, opportunities like
establishing personal retirement accounts, moving forward with
holding the educational community accountable for the products
they produce, continuing to win the War on Terror and
spreading democracy and freedom around the world, we are
listening to malcontents like Terry McAuliffe theorize that it was
Karl Rove who instigated the memos that CBS used in an
attempt to smear President Bush.

Beware the "memogate!"

Political handlers and operatives know how amazingly important
it is to "stay on message." When one is playing hardball in an
arena that includes the likes of James Carville, Paul Begala,
Mary Beth Cahill. Karl Rove and Mary Matalin, to mention but
a few from both sides, it isn't an easy thing to do. And make no
mistake, if it's hard for these political spin doctors of the highest
order to keep their candidates on message imagine how hard it is
to keep over 200 million people listening to "the message" when
the mainstream media is busy publicly feeding on itself morning,
noon and night.

Memogate is a legitimate topic and quite frankly, I think it will be
the beginning of the end for the elitist mainstream media's
chokehold on the validity of news stories. But we cannot get it
confused with anything that has to do with the most important
election we will see in our lifetime.

Go ahead and crucify Dan Rather and CBS News, Lord knows
they deserve it for the liberal claptrap they have been trying to
feed us for over a decade. But don't be so preoccupied that the
opportunity to discuss the real issues before us slips away. That's
just what the Democrats would love to see happen.
 
As the Big Green Head from the Wizard of Oz said, "Pay no
attention the that man behind the curtain."

Stay on message.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing
editor for TheRant.us. His pieces are regularly featured in
Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O'Reilly
Factor and numerous radio shows. His pieces have been
recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are
periodically featured in The Washington Times as well as other
national and international publications. He can be contacted at
oped@therant.us

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