Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Andrew Sullivan proves the Nietzsche quote that:  “Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.” His behavior in promoting those lies about the birth of Gov. Palin’s youngest child Trig without any evidence at all was disgraceful and dishonorable. 

The behavior of these so called professional journalists, bloggers and pundits has been pathetic.  Vetting Governor Palin, by all means.  Do so.  That will certainly continue to happen through the campaign, hopefully as we go forward ub a professional and fair manner.  Vilifying her and her children as went on this weekend?  The over the top assault by many in the MSM was obscene. 

Call it karma or justice or providence, but I believe McCain and Palin will actually end up benefiting from it and it will detract from Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  But that does not excuse it.

This is goofy. The whole “liberal media” is a canard.  The problem is an incompetent media. When I hear conservatives complain about the liberal bias of the media, I know I am listening to folks with an agenda.

First off, as long as McCain keeps letting Palin pimp her family in telling her story, then it is him who makes this fair game ("She’s a spunky hockey mom! But don’t you dare talk about her family you darn biased media!") To expect the American people blindly to accept her own gratuitous use of her family (her speech devoted more time to her family than any other single topic) without examination by the press is, well, evidence of bias.

Second, the fact that Palin is pro abstinence only “sex” ed makes Bristol Palin somewhat relevant, though not in the way the MSM has presented the story. Every bit of research we have shows that abstinence only does not decrease teenage sexual behavior, and that once such behavior begins, tends to decrease contraceptive use. Bristol Palin’s situation (sans the supportive family and marriageable father, in many cases) is exactly what I would expect to see more of if her mom were able to get abstinence only “sex” ed to be the norm. Maybe (once she is allowed to be interviewed) some reporter could ask her, if her ideas about sex ed are good, why did they not work in her own family, and why we should all adopt those methods? (though I am sure that such a question would be interpreted as yet more evidence of the media’s liberal bias.)

A competent media would long ago have begun discussing these issues, providing information about the research, alternatives to abstinence only, and the research regarding those alternatives. Then we could make informed choices about how best to educate our youngsters about sex.

Finally, when a conservative argues that the media has a liberal bias, the conservative is biased. Consider the media’s role in the run up to the war in Iraq. Hardly biased against Bush’s blunder. What about their failure to cover in any meaningful way many of the very issues Bainbridge has discussed (institutionalization of torture, the betrayal of traditional conservative values, the explosion of federal bureaucracy and spending, etc.)? Is this non-coverage in the MSM due to liberal bias?

As I have said to many conservatives concerning this issue, read Bob Somerby’s ongoing analysis of anti-liberal bias in the press. He’s been discussing this for TEN YEARS (OK, he’s a little bit obsessive) and makes a pretty damning case against the press for its treatment of Democratic presidential candidates. Sure, he’s partisan as all get out, but he makes a case that requires consideration.

Liberal bias or incompetent journalism?

Oh yeah, Good morning!

According to Steve Schmidt of the McCain campaign, mainstream media organizations are demanding to see medical reports on Gov. Palin’s amniotic fluid and a DNA test on little Trig.

These aren’t the actions of bad journalists. These are the actions of bad people.

However, assuming the truth of anything a political campaign says without doing any fact-checking first *is* the action of a bad journalist.  (By the way, journalists have no power to demand anything.  They ask.)

It will be really interesting to see how this plays out.  Newspapers and network news have been steadily losing their audiences… but CNN is currently the default station in most hospitals, airports, and other areas with captive, waiting audiences.

I’d love to know how many people are now complaining about having CNN on in such places.

Snart-

I only hope someone in the media does keep promoting the question about how Bristol’s abstinence-only education clearly failed her.

The problem with that line, you see, is that Bristol received the standard, comprehensive sex ed that is given to all students in Alaska’s public schools.  (Did you know that Governor Palin and many years of previous GOP-majority legislatures and GOP governors have NOT instituted abstinence-only education for Alaskan school children?)

So, if her pregnancy is supposed to somehow be an indictment of the sexual education she received in schools… it’s not abstinence-only education that failed.  And, of course, “anecdote is not the singular form of data”.

Re: Media Bias…

“What about their failure to cover in any meaningful way many of the very issues Bainbridge has discussed (institutionalization of torture, the betrayal of traditional conservative values, the explosion of federal bureaucracy and spending, etc.)? Is this non-coverage in the MSM due to liberal bias?”

Yes.

The liberal media failed to attack Republicans for betraying their conservative values.  This shouldn’t be too surprising when you remember that they think betraying conservative values is a *GOOD* thing.

As to torture… not sure where you’ve been.  I’ve heard quite a bit about it in the mainstream press over the last four years or so.  I’d guess there have been more stories about waterboarding than there have about, say, the bankruptcy reform bill, certainly.