Another Reason to Love the Internet
In 1984, George Orwell's Ministry of Truth employed a memory hole to dispose of inconvenient historical threats to the latest government line. Fortunately, even in the Age of Obama, we have the Internet to keep the record straight. Timothy Birdnow at The American Thinker provides a public service:
At one point Mr. Obama made a major gaffe; he identified Abraham Lincoln as the founder of the Republican Party.
Lincoln did not join the Republicans until 1856, over two years after the party was founded. The first Republican convention was held in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854.
Such a gaffe would have brought huge amounts of ridicule and derision on George W. Bush, but in the case of Obama the media yawned.
Actually, they did more than yawn; government-funded PBS has altered the transcript of the President's speech, removing the offending comment.
Imagine the treatment if Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann had made a similar gaffe.
Coincidentally or not, the real transcript now appears on the PBS web-site.
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Dec '10
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
George, it gets even better. Mike Huckabee made a similar gaffe back in 2008. Guess who wrote this about it back then?
"He gives a good speech, but he’s loose with the facts. He called Abraham Lincoln the 'founder' of the Republican Party. Nope. Lincoln was not the founder of the party; he wasn’t even the first Republican nominee (John Fremont was, in 1856). Lincoln was, of course, the first Republican to be elected president."
That's right: Jay Carney. Guess he doesn't talk to his boss much. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)
Mar '11
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
It is more than disturbing how this is becoming common practice. I have long since lost count of the number of stories I have come across of news organizations and others retroactively editing press releases, articles and speeches on the internet, of course with no indication of the selective edit noted.
Now that online sources have become a primary venue for citizens to inform themselves the potential for deception is massive and growing. These days I feel a chill every time I notice someone casually link to a site such as Wikipedia as an authoritative source for an argument. Such centralized and trusted sources invite abuse, the temptation for the unscrupulous to take advantage must be overwhelming.
Aug '11
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
I agree with George. Prior to the internet age, we'd have a hard time catching these guys in their duplicity. But every time they try to flush something down the memory hole -- they seem to get caught in the 'net.
Mar '11
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
Some are indeed getting caught, how many are not?
Aug '11
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
Roberto
Some are indeed getting caught, how many are not? · Sep 10 at 12:29p
Though I don't want to think about how many slip past, that we're able to catch any at all is a Good Thing™ I'd say.
Apr '11
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
The media corruption is growing more disturbing every day. I have been incensed that the longshorman riot in Washington received so little coverage. Can you imagine the media response if law enforcement agents were held hostage at a Tea Party rally or if Tea Party rally attendees damaged property on the scale committed by the longshormen? What if a Republican administration was involved in the ATF or Solydra scandals? How would the media respond if large groups of white teenagers attacked black families leaving a state fair. Sarah Palin was blamed for a shooting carried out by a lunatic when she has never called for violence on any level. Jimmy Hoffa instructs his union members to "take the son-of-a- bitches out", and there's no harm, no foul. No one even bothers to comment on his incorrect grammar. I find this very discouraging, and while the internet mitigates some of the damage inflicted by the main stream media, it doesn't go nearly far enough.
Dec '10
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
George, the word, "love'" is not too strong. I have given my mom and uncle (81 and 83) a list of links to add to their favorites bars, after synching all of our computers (kids, do this for your parents; give them computers, set them up, and spend a whole week living with them to get them used to living with their new computers).
Mom and Uncle Ben are much more empowered, now. They now longer even watch network newscasts, because they are aghast at the blatant bias.
Sunlight is a wonderful curative for corruption.
It doesn't work in my profession, as nobody in my profession would ever consider reading somebody like James Delingpole or Anthony Watts, but for mainstream information, the internet is wonderful for adding sunlight to more open topics.
Oct '10
Re: Another Reason to Love the Internet
I read the mistake may not NPR's, they might've posted the transcript given them by the White House, which means that Obama flubbed it by departing from the script. Without that teleprompter, the poor guy is lost.