- The Sunset Of 20th Century Journalism

By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video of the ACORN staffers advising a supposed hooker and her pimp on how to set up a brothel full of under-age Salvadoran prostitutes. It’s quite a story. The wagons have already been circled at ACORN and the two participants in the video fired. But that’s no surprise. And it’s not a surprise that the left wing media has apparently no intention of repeating this big story. It’s tragic, but it’s not shocking.





The global birth of the modern conservative movement is said to be traced back to when Margaret Thatcher faced off against the (largely Marxist) British Coal Board and the union that controlled it hand in glove. Like Reagan would later do with the air traffic controllers, she backed the union off and set Britain on a course to great prosperity. In the UK, that Coal Board was seen as the last gasp of the 60’s radical movement in Britain.

Why do I bring this up? Because the only person I know who still takes the NYTimes seriously as a source of news is my step-father, and he was a member of that coal board. He’s an old lefty who has abandoned any idea of original thought, and prefers repeat what he’s told by others. He likes his news filtered by someone with an agenda and if that agenda happens to change so too does his opinion on the subject. He sees no contradiction or hypocrisy in that. It’s his process for understanding things. At this point in his life he’s content to be a follower, and if the lemmings are leading him off a cliff he can still content himself with that. He’s had a long full life, and is simply not interested in changing now.

Before you make too many assumptions about our relationship, you should know that for the most part we get along exceedingly well. He married my mother when I was in my 30’s so it’s not like I brought a lot of adolescent resentment into the relationship. He’s a former engineer, is very well read, and was a designer of some of the first ever modern computers. Logic and empiricism aren’t outside his capabilities; he just chooses not to apply those disciplines to politics. Most of all he treats my mother as if she was a queen, and that’s all I really need from him. He’s just trying his best to peacefully enjoy the sunset of his life, and I have no point to make that’s so pressing that it involves disturbing that peace.

The thing though is that I can’t read the NYTimes without thinking of him. Every once in a while when one of their editorial pieces is particularly silly, someone might send me a link. And when that happens I can’t help thinking of this nice, pleasantly deluded old man. He’s wrong about how the world works. But he’s unwilling to abandon yesterday’s incorrect ideas because he’s too tired to learn new ones. He no longer has the energy to lead so he’s contented himself with following. He embraces the worldview of the Times not because he thinks it more insightful, or closer to the truth, but because it’s the one that’s most familiar to him. The world is still changing, but he’s decided that he has already changed enough.

The young may read the times because they don’t know any better. But the young will all grow up one day, and these days that happens sooner rather than later. The NYTimes only has to miss the mark with a few stories the web doesn’t’ miss, and the Times has forever lost another reader. As they continue to ignore stories like this ACORN business their role will diminish. Already their credibility with the young may be beyond saving, and to keep any sort of market share they’ll have to descend further and further into the fever swamp of the left.

It’s already happened to NBC, who seems to be content to let the two dimensional cartoon like caricatures of Keith Olberman be the public face of their journalism effort. Eventually, the only people who will read the NYTimes are journalists, and CBS, ABC, CNN and the rest of the left side of TV journalism will seem more and more comical to mainstream Americans. There was once a time when I got upset at the portrayals of the evening news… but these days I just laugh at them. Now that the web has arrived, they simply cant’ get away with that nonsense. But regrettably, they don’t know that yet.

The army of the left is already elderly, and is tiring fast. They aren’t replacing their number; not even close. So we’re looking at the sunset of 20th century journalism. Thomas Friedman’s love letter to a new fascist era for America wasn’t a threat, it was a cry for help. In his heart he knows that the consolidation of power under someone who favors him will be the only thing to save his position in society. And the tragic thing is that because he writes for the Times, he probably lacks the ability to discern his own motives, let alone the motives of others.




%%%%%UPDATE%%%%%%

Holy Crap! It turns out that Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart, and biggovernment.com were baiting the Mainstream media. They held back another set of tapes from the DC ACORN office and let them publish the ACORN rebuttal in the Times first. The ACORN sponsored piece, written by the AP, included the ACORN claim that the Hooker and her pimp had tried this at other offices... as if those attempts failed. They didn't.

Here is the tape from the DC office. On Beck's radio show he says that they also have tape from LA, Philly and other cities as well.





Personally I think Glenn Beck is the most important voice in America right now.