Monday, June 13, 2011

Palin and a Pathological Press

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(păth'ə-lŏj'ĭ-kəl) pronunciation also path·o·log·ic (-ĭk)
adj.

Of, relating to, or manifesting behavior that is habitual, maladaptive, and compulsive: a pathological liar. pathologically path'o·log'i·cal·ly adv.
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June 8: POLITICO published the headline: "Stars Collide: Bachmann vs. Palin"

June 8: Yahoo jumped on board, along with hundreds of secondary newspapers across the country, running their version of "truth", "Bachmann vs. Palin: Does the 'Cat fight' Narrative Help Anyone?"

June 10: "POLITICO Admits Error In Attributing Bachmann Criticism To Palin." Link.

POLITICO said on, June 8, that Palin made the following disparaging statement about Michele Bachmann regarding the conservative movement: "I built the constituency, not Bachmann, not anyone else."

And their lie took off. Palin didn't say that and called them on it and they were forced to admit an "error".

I have linked the above stories. You can read the details. It's bizarre, but unfortunately, not uncommon.

There is a much bigger issue at play and over the next 18-months leading up to the next presidential election, the press will be compulsive in advancing an agenda that many do not embrace, that is often misleading and sometimes untruthful in their commitment to re-make America.

One of their own unknowingly defined the press in America in his scathing book on corporate greed. Here's why they are pathological.

In 2004, Joel Bakin wrote and Simon & Schuster published, "The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power."

The book identified the greed that had brought down Enron, Worldcom and other corporations, advancing the premise that corporations are by nature dangerous and harmful.

The press loved the book, promoting and quoting it often.

Bakin wrote that a corporation, "Any corporation, is a unique structure and set of imperatives that direct the actions of people within it."

He also wrote and was quoted in a number of op-ed columns, "The corporation's legal mandate is to pursue, relentlessly, and without exception, its own self interest, regardless of the often harmful consequences it might cause others."

Concluding he wrote, "As a result, I argue, the corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of great power it wields over people and societies."

Well now, news organizations are certainly "corporations" and while initially created to be profitable---I'm thinking of Randolph Hearst and others who made their fortunes in the news business, they have now shifted their focus.

Over time, the pathology has changed. Once profit driven organizations, guided by successfully serving their constituents with dependable news, these behemoths have become driven by ideology, not profit. They are now willing to advance their cultural agenda at the expense of the company they work for, resulting in the decline of readership, shrinkage of advertising revenue and corporate collapse for many of them. We have all read the stories of failed newspapers over the past few years. Blame it on the Internet if you like, but its ideology, not technology that in the end, is killing these folks.

And it will continue.

They are obsessive and compulsive about the re-making of America. Re-read Bakin's words with the press in mind and substitute the goal of "profit" with the goal of "ideology".

When called out, they retract or apologize, otherwise, they let their words stand and they call it "news".

Who is more corrupt? Who is administering the greater damage?--- Relentlessly, powerfully and without exception?

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning--- Very Discerning. Be Informed. Be Prayerful. Be Free.

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Gary Randall
President
Faith and Freedom

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