Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Two Sides to a Story? Hub Politics was WRONG (Again, I'm sick of the Media)

I just read this blog on Blue Mass Group and I'm thoroughly disgusted. Anyone getting sick of baseless, confused attacks? Well, Right-wing Hub Politics had this to say about Deval Patrick:

Patrick will get a pass for his corporate ties because the liberals will be too afraid to treat him like your average corporate Republican because they don't want to appear racist. As we have seen already, they are trying to spin his corporate past into a positive, and when has a liberal (or liberal media, for that matter) ever done that for a Republican? Usually, that's their first line of attack. I guess Affirmative Action is not just about quotas.
There's so much wrong with that statement, I don't know where to begin. However, I guess I should start with the fact that it's just downright dispicable in Daffey Duck, Looney-Tunes proportions. Charley at BMG is right to write,

I'm trying hard to disentangle the weird knot of projection, attempted mind-reading, and ad hominem in that post, but it's just too crazy. I suppose maybe we should be glad that someone's not afraid to be racist, and is willing to bring up the "affirmative action" canard when a black person runs for office. Feels like the '80's again, doesn't it?
It seemingly made Charley sick to his stomach. Yet, it extends beyond that.

It isn't just offensive. It's also very, very wrong. For starters, Patrick isn't just another Corporate Republican. He's not a Republican at all. In fact, in the very same offensive Hub Politics blog, they criticize Deval Patrick for being the most liberal of the Democratic candidates for Governor. So, Hub Politics, what exactly is he? I'm confused. Is Deval a Corporatist Stooge or a Liberal Whacko? Surely, one can't be both.

Furthermore, Hub Politics ignores why Deval left Coke. In an amazing peice of guilt-by-association, apparently Deval should be destroyed by the left-wing of the Democratic party because Deval worked for a big, bad corporation. Well, it doesn't work like that. Not only is the article Hub Politics uses the worst peice of journalism seen since the days of Judy Miller at the New York Times, but it's also seems to be part of a greater Swift-Boating smear campaign against Deval. Indeed, neither the Boston Globe article nor the Hub Politics blog mentions just why Deval Patrick left Coke.

But we're a bunch of liberal whackos! We don't question our leaders. According to Hub Politics, it shouldn't matter that Deval has ran the first very successful people-powered state-wide movement, he was a corporate stooge. It shouldn't matter that Deval hasn't spent a dime on TV ads, he worked for Big, Bad Coca-Cola! It shouldn't matter that Deval was behind getting Texaco to admit that Global Warming exists (and they're to my knowledge the only American Oil Company to do so)... he worked for Texaco!

However, unfortunately for Hub Politics, Deval Patrick supporters aren't foaming-at-the-mouth, fuming, mindless liberal whackos. In fact, just read Susan's piece on the reason why Deval Patrick left Coke. Unlike Hub Politics, we know Deval left because he wanted to open an investigation about what happened in Columbia, but higher ups didn't. So Deval left.

What's almost as pathetic as the entire rant itself is the fact that media outlets like NECN and the Boston Globe have propped up Hub Politics with the likes of Blue Mass Group. Earth to the media: Hub Politics isn't anywhere near a BMG. BMG broke the story about how Killer Coke wasn't really a group at all, BMG went with it to attack Deval and liberals in general. Heck, Hub Politics isn't even a Beyond 495, .08 and a Donkey, Marry in Massachusetts or Left in Lowell. At least they use facts and research and have the tenacity to question the evil liberal media.

But it goes right along with the media's MO. The media doesn't report news, they have pundits. The media doesn't do investigative journalism, they write giant stories based on White House PR. In fact, there's always two sides to a media story, even if there should be one or ten. Sometimes things are either right or wrong, but the media only sees red and blue. While Hub Politics attacks Deval based on some wierd accusation of Affirmative Action, isn't it ironic that the they've been lifted by the media as a right-winger in a left-wing blogosphere?

It doesn't matter. It's time that the media start reporting the news, not the pundits. There shouldn't be two republican pundits and Al Sharpton on TV to talk about why we've been having lots of heatwaves over the past few years. The fact that the media - and even BMG on occasion - feels the necessity to prop up Hub Politics when clearly talent would suggest they don't deserve it is rather pathetic, especially when there probably are deserving conservatives out there who truly are voices of reason.

4 comments:

Ryan said...

It was a no-brainer. I like that a minority is still likely going to be holding the seat though.

I kinda feel bad about how bad the media beat her up though.

massmarrier said...

I see a totally different race issue in this campaign. I fear that some lefties hesitate to vote for Deval because they fear that others won't vote for him. This can be a self-reinforcing fear.

I support him because his platform and policies are the clearest, headed to the right places, and have the steps to get there. Of the Dems, to me, he his the most workable program.

It's tough to disregard race in a state with such a skimpy record of electing anyone of color to statewide office. Yet, race should not factor in this looming contests.

Do you think Deval has the best platform or not?

Anonymous said...

Joe, I'd disagree wholeheartedly.

I see evidence every day of how many minorities we have in some of our cities...Lowell is a very diverse community. However, we have (just gotten) one Columbian City Councilor, just two women, everyone else white (the only other minority councilor, a Cambodian, stupidly got himself dismissed due to a conflict of interest problem). We have candidates that try for seats around here, but never make it.

Boston is also very diverse (just travel around the city and you see it). No, I KNOW white-bred (New Hampster), and Massachusetts is no longer it. Even NH is becoming less white every year.

Fact is, white males still dominate in politics, state and local, despite the demographics.

Ryan said...

I understand where your coming from Joe and I think there are a confluence of factors that have kept African Americans and minorities out of office, but certainly a large part of it does have to do with race. For one thing, historically African Americans have been politically kept down - and it's hard to get over that. Even today voter disenfranchisement still exists to some extent, though nothing like pre-Southern Freedom Movement.

When there's voter disenfranchisement, people feel like the system is rigged against them. When that happens, a lot of people will react as if their vote didn't count.

Furthermore, socioeconomics certainly has something to do with it - but that doesn't change the fact that race is still a part of it. Minorities are much less likely to have a higher socioeconomic level which would make it easier for them to get elected.

In any event, Deval Patrick is certainly qualified to be the Governor of Massachusetts; his campaign has proven that thus far. He's had public experience, private experience and a life that's taught him a lot of important lessons he's taken with him. I don't have to tell you this; you've already personally told me you like the guy and think he'd make a decent governor.

So Hub Politics shouldn't have played the game they played.

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