The Democratic Media

The Michigan Partisan

By Page W. H. Brousseau IV
TIMES STAFF WRITER

The prevailing wind in American politics is somewhat evasive for those who try understanding it. To complicate this matter more, I only point your attention to the one-sided liberal biased on nearly every issue on nearly every show.

As a white-heterosexual-Catholic-male who takes a conservative or libertarian view to most subjects in life, I am made to feel like a freak for my views, and a reprehensible person for my lineage. From "The West Wing" and "Roadkill Politics" to every evening news program those who believe in God, the right to bear arms, I life of the unborn or any other conservative issue are constantly ridiculed as being oafish, insensitive, and ignorant.

When it comes to guns the media, from The Flint Journal to ABC World News Tonight have, not just a tendency, but proven track record of half facts and one sided reporting. USA Today published study on March 6, 2001, showing that "School-associated violent deaths have fallen steadily in recent years, dropping almost 70% between the 1992-1993 school year and 1999-2000."

But I ask you: Do you get that impression while watching the coverage of the recent school shootings? Or do you get the impression that this is a daily experience in our country's schools? Momentarily there will be calls for ''common sense'' gun control, however I doubt the media will remind their viewers and readers that laws seldom prevent a crime from being caused by someone who is willing to break it, I point to rape, murder and pedophilia.

Better yet, let us run down the gun laws that were broken on March 5, 2001, when a 15 year old freshman went on a shooting spree near San Diego, California killing_two and wounding thirteen, as printed on National Review Online:
"[1] A ban on minors possessing handguns except under parental supervision or with written permission,
[2] a similar ban on minors under the age of 16 possessing live ammunition,
[3] a ban on transferring guns to juveniles,
[4] a ban on concealing firearms without a license,
[5] a ban on storing loaded guns where children under the age of 16 can access them outside of parental supervision,
[6] a ban on carrying guns on school grounds without the permission of school authorities,
[7] plus laws on registration, training, and waiting periods."

When mass shootings occur it is as rare of an event, as the shootings themselves, that we are told of the laws that were violated. Soon I expect to see Sarah Brady on TV saying how if we only had some other "common sense" law this would not have happened.

When it comes to guns, it is easy to get confused trying to understand if you are listening to liberal talking points or objective media coverage. I have never seen or read a single news article about someone using a gun for self-protection, yet I know people who have, and estimates range from 100,000 to 2 million such cases a year.

I have never seen or read a news article about sporting purposes of guns, just that they maim and kill people. The violent crime rate is falling faster in states with concealed-carry laws, yet the mainstream press consistently overlooks this.

Last summer when Vice President Al Gore picked Senator Joe Lieberman, a devote Jew, to be his running mate, the media all but did head stands to control themselves. Lieberman was praised in the media for speaking out against Clinton during the Lewinski scandal (though he was not mad enough to vote for Clinton's removal from office). Yet Gore got a free pass for calling Clinton, "one of the greatest presidents of this century," on the same day he was impeached. So which is it? Is it good to say you are ashamed of the president when he lies to a federal jury then conspires to cover it up, or is he the next candidate for Mount Rushmore? If you are a Democrat, it can be both.

When Lieberman regularly invoked God during his speeches he was praised by the media, but when Governor George W. Bush said Jesus Christ was his most influential political philosopher he was torn apart in the media, and labeled a puppet of the Christian Right. During the whole time there was little mention to the fact at age 40, Bush found Christ and it changed his life forever. Is being a Jew good and Christian bad? That was not what the media was saying, but what they were saying was, "When Democrats invoke God it is out of devotion, but when Republicans mention God they are pandering to the evil Christian Right."

The times are changing, my friends. Fox News now regularly beats CNN and MSNBC in ratings. Rush Limbaugh has more listeners now than he ever did. And for the first time since the Korean War ended, the Republicans control the Senate, House and Presidency with 30 state governors to boot. It seems at least a majority of the American People can see through the media smoke screen, and are intelligent enough to vote Republican (recounts and all).