A Call for an Honest Media

As I surf the channels on TV, going from news outlet to news outlet, I am troubled by what I see. It seems as though the political influences over the media are becoming more and more powerful, and at the same time more and more phony. The national media is beginning to show signs of why the majority of people are turning to internet outlets to get their news and insight. Now I am a registered Independent voter, partly because my beliefs fall on both sides of party lines and partly because I do not feel like supporting either group financially as one is just as corrupt as the other. But what I have started to see more and more recently is that the liberals in this country, especially the media, are seeing, if not only speaking, with blinders on.

As more and more people in this country are starting to get uneasy over the amounts of money being thrown away with issues they do not believe in and fears of a more costly health care system, I see a dangerous theme being played through the media. Yes they are reporting the unrest, but the stories are lined with innuendo that this is all orchestrated by the Republican party and that it is all a scare tactic. You also hear a loud sentiment that those causing this stir are only doing so because they want to see the Obama administration fail. These thoughts are totally preposterous! The fact is people are beginning to get worried because they see their jobs being lost and their income shrinking yet their expenditures increase. Taxes are going up and up with no end in sight, and every "improvement" and "bailout" the White House approves means more taxpayer money. Yet instead of reporting just the facts, the liberal media and hardcore Democrats try to mask these issues with ideas of racism and party bias.

I am not going to say that some of this is not true, because I will admit there are plenty of extreme right wingers who are racist and who will never support this President. But those people are few and far between anymore. For the most part, people in this country regardless of their political beliefs want what is best for this country and for themselves. We want job opportunities, money in our pockets and a government that is going to protect us and our interests. Regardless of who is in power in the White House, they are going to make good decisions and they are going to make bad decisions. Every President is going to have times where a large group might not agree with one or several of their policies. This is politics, this is democracy. God knows that people criticized George W. Bush for many things, most of them rightfully so. Yet when their is criticism towards Barack Obama the media and Democrats alike get on the defensive and cry foul and racism. This is not only unhealthy, but it is so plainly transparent. When people stand up and say they are tired of banks and car manufacturers getting handouts while the rest of us are squeezed even tighter, I don't feel like that is a racist or even a partisan complaint. The people of this country have legitimate reasons to be worried about their own financial situation, and the media needs to report that fairly and accurately.

The bottom line is all who serve our country need to be held to the same standards. Because George Bush was considered such a terrible leader does not give this President a free pass. When your policies and goals have our estimated national debt four years from now to be double what you inherited, that says something and it needs to be reported fairly and accurately. When you signed a "stimulus package" that totalled almost $800 billion, and it's main focus besides special interests is funding road and infrastructure projects, there are a lot of questions that need to be raised. The vast majority of people have seen and will see no financial benefits from this package. Yet it has come and gone and the mainstream media did little to question how this got passed knowing it is not going towards the everyday person's fight for a better life. In addition, you did not hear an outcry from the media outlets about how so many billions of dollars were paid out to GM with next to no guidelines, and in turn they ended up filing for bankruptcy and now the government has ownership in the company with US the taxpayers as the ones at risk to lose money from it. And again, it does not matter what side of party lines you fall on, the fact is the story needs to be explored from both sides, not just one while the other is left blank.

So next time you watch CNN or MSNBC make sure you then log on to your computer, type in the topics you saw and read some of the articles that pop up on the web. You will be surprised what you find might be different from what the TV told you, or it might be the same only with a more in depth detail. And whichever side you fall on, no matter your beliefs, do yourself and this country a favor and be a well informed voter. Just because you voted for Barack Obama does not mean that every choice he makes is the right one for the country, just ask all the people who voted for George W. Bush...