The Dark Knight Rises, But the Dark Horse Gets Censored
Tim Bean
7/19/2012
So, I was going to write about Batman today, seeing as how it premieres at midnight, and the ludicrous comments Rush Limbaugh said about how the movie will make people think negatively about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Umm, Rush, I don’t need anything to help me think more negatively about Romney, or the yin to his yang, President Obama. A simple Google search will find you Mr. Limbaugh’s rant, but to spare you some time the gist is this. Rush thinks that because the villain in the latest Batman movie is named Bane and he is a pretty bad dude, then people will leave theaters and unduly associate that character to Romney and his affiliation with Bain Capital. In the rant Rush alludes that this is intentional and yet another of Hollywood’s sneaky attempts to undermine Mr. Limbaugh’s one and only love, the Republican Party. Never mind the fact that the character of Bane was created in the early 1990’s in the Batman comic book, long before the Presidency was a twinkle in Mitt’s eye, and that Mr. Limbaugh himself was critical of his beloved Mitt (as well as other Republican candidates) during the primaries. This is not to say that there is not politics in the new Batman movie, which you can read about here, and once you read that article (which I encourage you to do) you will find that those politics run a whole hell of a lot deeper than Rush Limbaugh’s elementary rant; maybe Al Franken was right about Rush after all? Please don’t take that as an endorsement for Al Franken and his politics, because it isn’t. Yeah, so that is what I was going to write about, and in about 250 words I think I summed it up – I could go on, but there is something else that has had me thinking for some time now and that is the news media.
One of the freedoms we enjoy in this country is the freedom of the press, which is tied to freedom of speech; the press has often been called the “fourth house of government” because of its reporting to the people on the actions of government, thus serving as another check in our system of checks and balances. Now, we hear all of the time from the Republicans that the media (the press) is unfairly biased against them, and in many instances they have a point. Here’s the thing about personal bias though, it comes out in everything that we see, hear, and do, so there is no wonder that Rush Limbaugh sees a bias against his cherished Mitt, because he himself is biased to think that way. That being said then it is virtually impossible for a reporter to not have some of their bias seep into their articles or news casts, so bias is inescapable. However, I would counter their argument with this; the Republicans have the most watched 24 hour news network in Fox News; so I think that their message is getting out, unlike some.
Like I said, the press is supposed to be where We the People get our information, it is the place that is supposed to report on things, politics and government being just a few. The press is the place that is supposed to break stories and shine a light on things that need to be exposed, or at least it used to. Take for example that a vast majority of people, when polled, respond that they are not satisfied with the direction of our country, or that they don’t trust the government, or that many respond that they would vote for a viable third party candidate, if they were given the choice. With poll results like that you would think that there would be news editors everywhere looking to capitalize on this growing public angst by actually reporting on the who’s, what’s, why’s and how’s behind this public dissatisfaction, but they don’t. Nor do they wish to report on the fact that there is an actual, real, live, honest to God, VIABLE third party candidate this go around. I am referring to Libertarian Presidential Nominee, former two term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, and his running mate, former California Superior Court Judge, Jim Gray. You would think that this would be a gold mine for news outlets, because by reporting on this they would sell copy to this large swathe of disaffected individuals, but they don’t. In fact one of those illustrious, and least watched of the 24 hour news networks, has gone to great lengths to outright censor even the mention of his name. That glorious pillar of journalistic integrity (sarcasm) is none other than CNN. They edited out the endorsement former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura gave for Gary Johnson in one interview, and in another where Mr. Ventura was wearing a Gary Johnson t-shirt, CNN framed the video so that the shirt couldn’t be seen; and those are just the recent attempts. When Gary Johnson initially announced his candidacy, as a Republican, he was not invited to participate in the CNN Republican Primary debates, despite the fact that he (Gary Johnson) was polling higher than many of the other Republicans who were invited. When Gov. Johnson’s campaign pointed the polling data out, what was CNN’s response? They simply removed Gary Johnson’s name from the polling questionnaire. To echo yesterday’s article, it begs the question “Why?”
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. ~ Andre Gide
