Le Sabot Post-Moderne

I'm trying to figure out exactly how the Bush Administration is controlling the media. Has anyone who has ever made this claim given any reason for thinking it, or is it just something to say to turn people away from Bush?

His syntax seems to be disintegrating too.

Don't you think that if his administration was controlling the media that they could get a positive report slipped in every so often? What a silly claim to make!

Well, presumably the Bush administration is controlling the media because if they weren't, we would hear about how Bush contracted with the Saudis for 9/11 to happen so that he could implement the Patriot Act in order to oppress people, and start some wars and grab all the oil in the Middle East. The negative stories we're hearing now about the Kay report and whatnot are just "a little bit bad" stories so that we THINK that the media is dogging the administration, when they're really a cover for the REAL story which is, basically, that Dick Cheney is the Beast and George Bush is his imbecilic marionette.

That is after all, how these people think.

At least that's how the Deaniacs think. Clark, I think, is just unintelligent enough to swallow the illogic that if the Bush administration retains historically accepted rights to internal confidentiality, personal privacy, and the separation of powers, instead of rolling over every time someone accuses them of something, that that equates to "controlling the media."

John, Clark has a lot of support here in Lawton (being an Army town).

Does it appear to you (grunt that you used to be) that he looks "out of uniform?" It used to unsettle me a bit whenever I encountered anyone in civies whom I previously only had known in uniform. They just didn't look right. I still get that way whenever I see Clark on TV.

Clearly and paranoid or near-paranoid statement. Even stating "influence over the media," much less "control," could be roundly debated. The analogy of the Hemingway observing F. Scott Fitzgerald's demise is apt; though so is the analogy of Hemingway observing Hemingway's demise as well. Clark's demise is self-inflicted; he has a problem owning up to that.

Jeremy and Others-

The basis for the statement can be summed up thus -- FoxNews, the Washington Times and Rush Limbaugh. It's a perennial whine from the liberals, who enjoyed a near-unbroken control of the media for decades, at least at the institutional level.

As Jonah Goldberg points out, any time the liberals would like to trade these three outlets for the NYT, WaPo, Time, Newsweek, the USAToday, the network news shows and the New Yorker, we'll be happy to trade.

Plus what pentamom said, as always. :-)

John B-

It does seem strange. On the rare occasion that I saw an Army buddy it always felt weird to see them living a normal life and dressed in mufti. With Clark, though, it just gives me a sense of relief. By all accounts he was a highly political officer, and pretty unpopular.

You know what seems even stranger though? Not calling you Pastor John B. :)

Michael B-

Good point. F. Scott at least took responsibility for it and memoired it. Clark seems completely unaware how lunatic he's coming across. I guess the cheering crowds don't give one a lot of room for objective self-analysis though.