McCain’s Death Illustrates the Honesty of Media Coverage

 

Watching the media coverage of McCain’s presidential campaign against Barack Obama, I was surprised that he didn’t personally beat up black orphans on stage during campaign stops. Watching the media coverage of McCain’s funeral, I was surprised that he didn’t rise on the third day.

Perhaps we should bear this in mind when watching media coverage of anybody else. Including, ahem, our current president. Just a thought.

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  1. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Exactly. Lately they don’t even try to disguise their biased agenda.

    • #1
  2. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    I keep hearing about how the media is not the enemy of the people.  That may be true or not.  But the way the MSM is doing it sure makes it look like it might be.

    • #2
  3. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    I keep hearing about how the media is not the enemy of the people. That may be true on not. But the way the MSM is doing sure makes it look like it might be.

    Think, Pravda’s twin brother. 

    • #3
  4. Simon Templar Member
    Simon Templar
    @

    I have yet to recover from when CNN moderator Candy Crowley jumped in to wrong foot Romney when he had Obama on the ropes over Benghazi.  Had she not inserted herself into that debate, we may have not had to endure another tragic four years of Obama the Magnificent.

    In hindsight I cannot help but believe that her defense of Obama was not premeditated.  He was vulnerable on Benghazi and she neutralized that weakness by fact checking Romney in real time.  

    • #4
  5. Theodoric of Freiberg Inactive
    Theodoric of Freiberg
    @TheodoricofFreiberg

    The MSM loves dead Republicans.

    • #5
  6. Mrs. Ink Inactive
    Mrs. Ink
    @MrsInk

    The hypocrisy of mainstream media coverage of McCain’s funeral(s) would be amusing if it wasn’t so awful. I understand that they believe that the only good Republicans are dead Republicans, but really? The very same people who accused McCain of being a racist and a warmonger are now making paeans to his life, including the newspeople, Obama, and George Bush.

    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    I don’t remember much about Ted Kennedy’s funeral, was there this much fuss about him? Or was it a more subdued affair because the Democrats had the presidency?

     

    • #6
  7. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    Said it before many times, but it bears repeating: The MSM is the enemy.

    • #7
  8. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Courtesy of Powerline:

     

     

     

    And, just because it’s Burning Man

    • #8
  9. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    The surprise here is the media’s lack of awareness of the Internet’s institutional memory and recall capacities. They simply blow through the obvious contradiction in how they were portraying McCain today and how they were portraying him 10 years ago to the day — when Maverick was being nominated at the 2008 RNC Convention and selecting Palin as his running-mate — and think  that people either can’t remember what happened a decade ago or that people don’t have the ability to call up the hostile stories written about McCain by the same people now praising him in a 180-degree turn from how they previously wrote about him.

    I suppose they’re hoping anyone under the age of 30 or simply people who don’t pay much attention to politics won’t recall the media’s version of John McCain in 2008. But their partisanship has been so out in the open in the past decade that only the willfully obtuse can’t help but have noticed it, and have reacted accordingly, based on the continued downward spiral on trust in the media polling continues to show.

    • #9
  10. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Mrs. Ink (View Comment):
    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    Oh dear lord – I just had a horrible thought.  Can you imagine if Obama dies in the next few years, what the funeral and coverage would be like?

     

    • #10
  11. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Mrs. Ink (View Comment):
    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    Oh dear lord – I just had a horrible thought. Can you imagine if Obama dies in the next few years, what the funeral and coverage would be like?

     

    What ever happen it will be whitey’s fault that his life and death was so horrible

    • #11
  12. blood thirsty neocon Inactive
    blood thirsty neocon
    @bloodthirstyneocon

    And another thing:  I agreed with McCain on the Iraq War and particularly the Iraq surge. Did the Democrat/media complex? I haven’t heard Iraq mentioned. Ten years ago to the day it was all they wanted to talk about. Two years ago they made a huge deal about hanging the Iraq War around Donald Trump’s neck (See Anderson Cooper video below). Seriously, these people seized on a Howard Stern interview in which Trump casually agreed with the Iraq invasion. How could they make such a big deal of that and then totally airbrush McCain’s infinitely larger role in that era out of history? It’s mind-boggling.

     

     

     

     

    • #12
  13. E. Kent Golding Moderator
    E. Kent Golding
    @EKentGolding

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Mrs. Ink (View Comment):
    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    Oh dear lord – I just had a horrible thought. Can you imagine if Obama dies in the next few years, what the funeral and coverage would be like?

     

    Sounds worth it to me.  I am willing to suffer

    • #13
  14. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    E. Kent Golding (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Mrs. Ink (View Comment):
    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    Oh dear lord – I just had a horrible thought. Can you imagine if Obama dies in the next few years, what the funeral and coverage would be like?

     

    Sounds worth it to me. I am willing to suffer

    You’ll have company:

    And there was George Jessel’s box-office-ish remark about a funeral which was drawing enormous crowds of people into a church door as he passed—”Well, there you are, you see,” said Jessel. “Give ’em what they want.”

    • #14
  15. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Mrs. Ink (View Comment):
    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    Oh dear lord – I just had a horrible thought. Can you imagine if Obama dies in the next few years, what the funeral and coverage would be like?

    Because it would be murderously insufferable.  I hope he outlives me.

    • #15
  16. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Courtesy of Powerline:

     

     

    And, just because it’s Burning Man

    Post of the day.

    Really, though, we all need to stop worshipping politicians as if they’re lofty, super-human-compassionate-warmongering-racist/non-racist-wonder-heroes.  They’re just people.  The quicker they turn over their seats, the better for us all, because there’s less chance for the aggrandizement of power, and the selling of votes to keep themselves in office at our $21 trillion-dollar expense.

    Not counting unfunded liabilities.

    • #16
  17. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Is it too early to put forward nominations for the all important post of the New York Times‘ Favorite Living Republican™? I hereby nominate Ben Sasse.

    • #17
  18. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Percival (View Comment):

    Is it too early to put forward nominations for the all important post of the New York Times‘ Favorite Living Republican™? I hereby nominate Ben Sasse.

    Ha.  You are so obviously wrong. 

    Bob Mueller.

    Any disagreements?  Didn’t think so…

    • #18
  19. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Dr. Bastiat Post author

    Percival (View Comment):

    Is it too early to put forward nominations for the all important post of the New York Times‘ Favorite Living Republican™? I hereby nominate Ben Sasse.

    Ha. You are so obviously wrong.  Bob Mueller.  Any disagreements? Didn’t think so…

    I don’t know. For the moment, Meghan McCain is a contender.

    (Love the OP.)

    • #19
  20. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    I did not read your post or the comments.  You are a day early.  Please wait until the flags are back to full staff and post to tomorrow.

    • #20
  21. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    I did not read your comment, Gary.  And I will not until Thursday afternoon at 2:30 in the afternoon.  As you might imagine.

    However, if I did read your comment, I would point out that John McCain, and his daughter, and his supporters, and the media, are all discussing Mr. McCain’s death and its implications to our country.

    John McCain wanted his death to be one last opportunity to hurt his political opponents.  He wanted his death to be an important political event, worthy of discussion.

    Your refusal to grant his last wish would disappoint him.

    • #21
  22. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Dr. Bastiat: Watching the media coverage of McCain’s funeral, I was surprised that he didn’t rise on the third day.

    You made me spray my beer . . . too darned funny!

    I didn’t watch the service, but from the news reports, it sounds as if the McCain funeral was another Wellstone memorial – political theater.  Am I right?

    • #22
  23. She Member
    She
    @She

    Simon Templar (View Comment):

    I have yet to recover from when CNN moderator Candy Crowley jumped in to wrong foot Romney when he had Obama on the ropes over Benghazi. Had she not inserted herself into that debate, we may have not had to endure another tragic four years of Obama the Magnificent.

    In hindsight I cannot help but believe that her defense of Obama was not premeditated. He was vulnerable on Benghazi and she neutralized that weakness by fact checking Romney in real time.

    My recollection of this series of debates is that there was one (the second?) where Romney was quite aggressive, and (in an elitist, New England, Yankee, prep school sort of way) actually kicked butt and took names.  For some reason, by the time the next debate rolled around, he’d retreated to his usual rather ineffective self.  

    As for Candy Crowley, he could have taken her out.  And he should have.  Particularly since her “fact checking” of Obama was fallacious.

    • #23
  24. TGPlett Inactive
    TGPlett
    @TGPlett

    I don’t know but it seems to me the funerals of elected officials should in general and on principal be humble affairs. This is a citizen being buried, not royalty. The ostentatiousness of it all makes me uncomfortable.

    • #24
  25. Mrs. Ink Inactive
    Mrs. Ink
    @MrsInk

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Mrs. Ink (View Comment):
    What I don’t understand is the family or McCain himself playing into it. This seems the antithesis of military funerals. Are these elaborate funeral rites a demonstration of what we missed by electing Obama instead of McCain? A grand slap at Trump and the wacko birds? An attempt to show the Republicans that populism isn’t the way? Are other senators and losing presidential candidates going to expect and get the same elaborate ritual?

    Oh dear lord – I just had a horrible thought. Can you imagine if Obama dies in the next few years, what the funeral and coverage would be like?

     

    God save us.

    How about Mr. or Mrs. Clinton?

    • #25
  26. Mrs. Ink Inactive
    Mrs. Ink
    @MrsInk

    Eustace C. Scrubb (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat Post author

    Percival (View Comment):

    Is it too early to put forward nominations for the all important post of the New York Times‘ Favorite Living Republican™? I hereby nominate Ben Sasse.

    Ha. You are so obviously wrong. Bob Mueller. Any disagreements? Didn’t think so…

    I don’t know. For the moment, Meghan McCain is a contender.

    (Love the OP.)

    You are assuming that Meghan McCain is a Republican.

    • #26
  27. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    TGPlett (View Comment):

    I don’t know but it seems to me the funerals of elected officials should in general and on principal be humble affairs. This is a citizen being buried, not royalty. The ostentatiousness of it all makes me uncomfortable.

    Well, and funerals should, ideally, be mostly about what a swell person the deceased was, not what a terrible person the president is. It’s just weird. They did it for Aretha’s death too—what are they thinking? That’s the funeral his great-grandchildren will find on YouTube. “Granny, was great-grampy murdered by this guy Trump or what?”

    • #27
  28. Brian Wyneken Member
    Brian Wyneken
    @BrianWyneken

    TGPlett (View Comment):

    I don’t know but it seems to me the funerals of elected officials should in general and on principal be humble affairs. This is a citizen being buried, not royalty. The ostentatiousness of it all makes me uncomfortable.

    I’d been refraining from comment for the usual reasons when Ma chimed in with how nice it all was. Not wanting to fully engage I replied “Well, I just hope they don’t do all that at my funeral.”

    • #28
  29. blood thirsty neocon Inactive
    blood thirsty neocon
    @bloodthirstyneocon

    The McCains and the pampered ruling class they represent are now just Resistance crybabies. They lost, and they just need to get over it.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • #29
  30. Simon Templar Member
    Simon Templar
    @

    blood thirsty neocon (View Comment):

    The McCains and the pampered ruling class they represent are now just Resistance crybabies. They lost, and they just need to get over it.

    Probably wouldn’t want to watch that clip from your office cubicle.

    • #30
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