Liberal Media Templates Won't Fly Anymore

Our 24/7 linked world is doing wonders for the wakeup of America. Recent publicity surrounding Carl Paladino and LeBron James provides case studies for optimism in America. We’ll explain.

Carl Paladino is the Republican candidate for Governor of New York, running against New York ‘dynasty family’ Democrat Andrew Cuomo. Early in the campaign, Paladino owned up to an affair of 12 years ago which produced a daughter. Nothing uncommon about that as a political strategy—get the dirty linen out in public early, and let the voters take it into account however they wish in making their decision. But the Pravda media has apparently been badgering the daughter while keeping the affair story alive, and Paladino decided he’d had enough. He publicly accused Andrew Cuomo of having had affairs in the past, and when an otherwise responsible reporter pressed him about his evidence for such an accusation, Paladino used the occasion to issue a blast to the media for bothering his daughter (he also said he would provide evidence of Cuomo’s affairs later). Said Paladino, "You send another goon to my daughter's house and I'll take you out, buddy!"

So why is all this cause for optimism? Because Americans are completely awake to the various pieces of the left-wing template, and they aren’t buying it anymore. Here’s the template:

1. Any candidate for elective office who is not a card carrying liberal cannot have an affair; it is tawdry and evidence of poor character (liberals like Clinton can do whatever they want—including being credibly accused of rape—and it’s just about sex). And the Pravda media will put this mantra in our faces every day until we accept it and turn on the candidate.

2. A candidate for office who is not a card-carrying liberal must never accuse another candidate of having an affair; this is the unseemly behavior known as a smear, and disqualifies the candidate from serious consideration. (Unless of course your liberal candidacy is supported by the New York Times, in which case the NYT will do the smearing for you, as in its totally unsubstantiated claim that John McCain had an affair with a lobbyist—printed as a page 1 above-the-fold story in the 2008 election campaign).

3. A candidate for public office must never speak in a threatening manner toward any member of the esteemed media, no matter what the esteemed media may be doing to the candidate. This is undignified, and therefore disqualifies one for public office.

Twenty years ago, the template would prevail. Americans would be shamed into agreeing that this is just too unseemly, and they wouldn’t be as attuned to the double standard that gives Democrats a pass for the same or worse behavior that disqualifies a conservative. But today, the double standard is understood by almost any American with a pulse. And Americans are hearing from candidates like Paladino an echo of their own frustration with the relentless bias of the media. Through the power of talk radio, they know they are not alone.

Within 24 hours of Paladino’s ‘incident’, Rush Limbaugh’s staff had come up with historical records of President Harry Truman’s written letter in response to a Washington Post art critic’s negative comments about Truman’s daughter in a musical performance. Truman threatens to rearrange the guy’s face and to hit him in the groin. Limbaugh puts it on the air, and just like that, among millions of Americans, not only is the left-wing template blown out of the water, it is replaced by a perspective that says, “Damn right! It’s about time somebody got tough and fought back against liberal candidates and the liberal media establishment!”

In 2010, with the power of talk radio and the internet, Paladino’s incident is transformed almost instantaneously from presumed disabling gaffe to a boost in public support. (And it would not shock anyone if Paladino’s accusation against Cuomo turns out to be 100% true).

And now on to LeBron James. At the time of “The Decision”—James’ ESPN-aired decision to leave Cleveland for the Miami Heat, we wrote that the whole fiasco might mark a Waterloo for the culture of fame and celebrity worship. We stand by every word, and a whole lot of people felt the same way. But in an interview yesterday with James and his business partner, we are told by them that a part of the public’s negative reaction was due to—you guessed it--race! Never mind that noted racists like black Charles Barkley and black Michael Jordan and black Magic Johnson blasted James for what he did and how he did it, we must accept that racism was at work in the public’s reaction.

What a crock. What a Waterloo-level example of the race card having been overplayed and completely exhausted of all credibility. Because the 24/7 linked world assures that almost everyone that hears of James’ recent words will also have seen and heard with his or her own eyes and ears exactly what James said and did in relation to “The Decision”. There is no way for the left-wing template—every criticism of someone with black skin is racist and has no merit—to get off the ground. Sure, there are black media personalities like Jalen Rose who feel duty-bound to leap to the defense of any charge of racism, but you can listen to Rose’s defense over and over, and you’ll never get the connection to racism. Because there wasn’t and isn’t any. Sports team owners may not like superstar players who go their own way, but they don’t like it any more or less based on the skin color of the superstar.

All around this country, the hostile reaction to the spectacle of “The Decision” had to do with disgust at our out-of-control celebrity worshipping culture and its treatment of pure narcissism as an event of national historical importance. Sorry Lebron and Jalen, the disgust doesn’t have a skin color, and to claim that it was racially motivated only adds to the disgust.

Honest black Americans are cringing at this use of the race card, which is another sign of black liberation —and another cause for optimism.

Paul Gable

September 30, 2010