Phony Scandals and Fatal Delays

How fitting that Professor Skip's last name is Gates. Thanks to Gates-gate and Birthers, we've taken our eyes off the prize of health care reform, just as lobbyists, their "centrist" shills and desperate GOP pols get into position to administer the fatal poison. Just as it was in 1993-1994, when phony scandals played a significant role in killing Clinton's health care reform. Welcome back to the 1990s, brought to you by our sponsor, the GOP. Now, as it was then, we gawk while health care reform slips away.

Bill Clinton rolled out health care reform on September 22, 1993. His approval rating moved above 50 percent for the first time since his inauguration, and reform was hugely popular. Over the next month, things unfolded not too differently from this year's battle. As the Congressional deal-making proceeded and industry saturated the airwaves with negative ads, support for reform and the president slipped, but remained in positive territory. Congress adjourned, committed to passing legislation after the recess.

While Congress was on break, in December, the conservative American Spectator published David Brock's article on "Troopergate," made possible by funding from Richard Mellon Scaife's "Arkansas Project." The New York Times and the Washington Post resurrected the Whitewater affair, having been gulled by an indicted felon backed by the anti-Clinton group Citizens United. Meanwhile, on the Right, many people insisted that the Clintons had arranged for the murder of their friend, White House counsel Vince Foster. (Joe Conason and Gene Lyons' The Hunting of the President is the best account of the sordid right wing conspiracies and bogus scandals.)

David Brock -- who later disavowed the Troopergate article and bravely apologized for his years as a "right wing hit man" -- described the impact of Troopergate:

The right-wing construct of 'Bill' and 'Hillary' now had 'facts' to back it up ... The piece left such an indelible image in the minds of the media and the public as it led network newscasts and became a staple of Jay Leno monologues and Saturday Night Live skits that it would be possible in the future to say and write and broadcast any crazy thing about the first couple and get away with it.

When Congress returned in January, the Clintons were distracted by their legal fights and damaged personally by the multiple attacks. Health care reform started to die its slow death.

As Brock's comment suggests, a pliable media was the unwitting accomplice to the politically motivated scandal peddlers. As the late, great journalist Lars-Erik Nelson wrote in 1999:

In the current ethics of the press, there need be no actual misdeed to set the bloodhounds baying; there need be only an appearance, perhaps a slowness or clumsiness in responding to a false charge, and we are off and running.

Nelson's rebuke is even more relevant today than it was then. Yesterday on Google news: 4,189 related news stories on the Gates-gate, 1,018 for health care reform. This morning, 4,286 on polls showing support for reform going down. (I think these polls are being misinterpreted, but that's another blog.)

Here's a modest proposal to all reputable journalists and bloggers. After Thursday's beer fest, stop. Enough of the postmodern story about a story about a story. The weird conspiracy theory of the Birthers and the phony populist outrage of Gates-gate both deserve the silent treatment.

Comments

[DTOM1]

Geez. The "birthers," the GOP, the "corporate media," and the guys who staged the moon landing. You guys have issues. Here is what happened. Your saviour, the Dali Bama, tried to shove this massive legislation through on a Friday night in the hopes that it would be passed through by Monday morning. God (Sorry. Can I say the G word?) Ummm... The "Universe" forbid that people actually take a little time to read, debate and point out the pros and cons about the bill. We should have shoved it through as fast as possible consequences be damned, right? Then we would all wake up in fairly land where everyone on earth has health insurance at low costs. We could just place all of the hospital equipment into the Wal-Marts of our nation. Sorry. People started to read the legislation and began to find things that needed to be discussed. Then they started to wonder "how will we pay for this?" Then, they contacted their elected officials to express their opinions. THEN, some people actually started to protest a bit because they did not like the legislation. Are we still allowed to do that in this country? THEN, some fruitcake wrote an article blaming the "birthers" while some other fruitcakes commented and blamed the "corporate media." THEN, I wrote a comment setting all of the fruitcakes straight. So...that about sums it up.

[roger3815]

What's truly disgusting to me is that Americans keep falling for this stupidity. We truly have the government we deserve.

[elbzee]

Sadly, our MSM is NOT an unwitting accomplice. They are fully knowledgable accessories. Co-conspirators, if you may.

[Mecheng]

Blaming Republicans? Here is a simple FACT--the majority of Americans, having learned more about Obama's plan, DO NOT support it. They are tired of being lied to by Obama, Frank, Pelosi (who has a favorable rating 10 points BELOW Palin's), Dodd, Waxman and Reid (who has a favorable rating 27 points BELOW Palin's). PERIOD.

[darker]

Most people are FED UP WITH BEING LIED TO BY REPUBLICANS
who are out to SWIFTBOAT and destroy everything they can EXCEPT
benefits to PROFITEERING HEALTH INDUSTRY, INSURANCE CORPORATIONS
and their "corporate welfare queens" that vacuum trillions of $$$$$$$$$$­$$$$$$$$$$­$
out of pockets of working and middle class Americans.

[Mecheng]

Take a closer look at how many Dems have lined their pockets with contributions form corporations.

[FrankinSac]

As the saying goes... If you're a Republican and aren't rich... then you're a gullible fool. The current Republicans are only for the rich. And the election of President Obama showed this country is fed up them.

[JazzSax UT]

Actually, if you look at the polls, when people learn about what's actually in the bill, their support goes up. It's all the negative propaganda that drives the polls down.

Also, when have polls ever really been right?

[coco51]

Hear, hear!!!

[j mcdouglas]

I'd also like to point out a few facts in the Gates case which as usual journalists are ignoring in favor of the debate about the debate.

I think if journalists are operating on the assumption that Gates and Obama aren't aware of the reality that Crowley falsified his police report, then they're woefully underestimating the pair.

I'm sure that as soon as it happened, Obama was on the phone with Gates and the local officials and I'm sure he quickly became aware of the discrepancies. And I'm also sure it was Obama and Gates (along with the mayor) who pushed to have the 911 call released, which backs up that understanding.

Now there's going to be a police commission hearing where Crowley is going to have to explain his case. There's also likely to be a lawsuit, although evidently Gates hasn't made up his mind yet.

I think the bottom line is going to be that Crowley will be asked to publicly apologize for the arrest and say it was a mistake.

If he refuses, then the ugly truth about his police report is going to come out and he'll probably be fired.

Either way, my bet is that both Obama and Gates knew their hand before they played it. Sure, Obama's going to protest and say he wants the media to be talking about healthcare...

but honestly I wonder if any liberals really do, given the corporate media's agenda to derail reform.

[-0013]

Wow. Police falsify police reports. Who didn't know this?

Police also lie in court to secure convictions. The hell you say!

[j mcdouglas]

Do we really want the corporate media spending their time on healthcare as opposed to sensationalist nonsense?

Assuming correctly that all the corporate media has done is to poison the debate on healthcare with misinformation and GOP propaganda while hiding the real facts about the legislation being moved forward...

remind me again exactly why it's bad that the corporate media is diverted to other topics?

Ever since Obama spoke the truth on Crowley's false arrest, the Dems have actually gotten a lot closer to moving the legislation through their committees before the recess. Before he spoke out, my understanding was that wouldn't happen even in the House.

Before Obama's comment, the media were doing a great job of holding up the bills in committee, where they died last time.

Now it's clear we're going to get a bill out of committee in the House.

So remind me again why it's bad that the media's attention is diverted as Obama makes his sales pitch directly to the American public.

[juskidding]

why would the corporate media stop?

just because you tell them to?

if people are so stupid as to take their eyes off the ball,

they deserve nothing.

[eciaccio]

How many "reputable journalists" are there in the FCM (Fawning Corporate Media)?