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Friday, December 13, 2024 - 08:37 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Barack Obama has been President of the United States (POTUS) for seven years this month (1/16)…the most unsettling epoch in the history of the American presidency. What is even more bracing is the knowledge that the earthquake is not done yet. And the aftershocks will continue to alter American history long after Obama no longer lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Having Obama as POTUS would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, save for the fact that he didn’t just appear out of the mist. Obama was created out of whole cloth but mystery or not, he was elected twice. And if nothing else, Obama’s legacy will always serve as a reminder that “we get the government we deserve.” If Americans remain asleep at the switch and unwilling to fulfill their duty as citizens, we will continue to decline as a nation .

The critical role of the once proud profession of journalism in aiding and abetting the travesty of Obamanation cannot be stressed too much. It is simply inconceivable that Barack Obama would ever have been elected much less been able to inflict his heinous agenda on our country if the press had accomplished its traditional function. That includes: 1) the vetting of a candidate and 2) the reporting of the information obtained from the research. It also means the media must be staffed by professionals who take their duty seriously and have a capacity to separate personal bias from their presentation of news. But the reality is that the Mainstream Media (MSM) is an unindicted co-conspirator of  “Team Obama.”

A basic notion of democracy starts with the belief in the first amendment (1A), especially the right of free speech. What has fallen by the wayside, however, is appreciation for the duty that comes with the right. We have a duty to speak out against wrongs: Planned Parenthood, for example.

What we have today in America relative to journalism is both a wonder and a dereliction of duty. It’s a marvel because of advances in technology like the invention of computers and the internet that have expanded traditional roles and sources of information. This column in a weekly newspaper is decidedly “old school,” right up there with “snail mail.” Blogs, web sites, twitter and Facebook all attest to the new normal and fit into the hectic impatience that characterizes our culture in the 21st century. That, by the way, is not a compliment, nor does it speak to an improvement in the quality of our lives.

Journalism has developed an inept sloppiness that should embarrass the once proud craft of the “fourth estate.” My expectations are also old school…I still believe journalism should have an element of professionalism in gathering, defining and disseminating the news.

Perhaps the best example of the dereliction of duty is the New York Times (NYT). No publication has won more prizes or had more accolades heaped on its staff than the “Grey Lady.” Yet today, that august publication is a mere shadow of its former self. It is not uncommon to have the NYT function as a shill for the progressive movement and the Democrat National Committee (DNC). The news pages have lost the separation between them and the opinion sections and the editorial bias bleeds into the news.

Think of the contamination of journalism as not unlike that which occurs when salt water infiltrates fresh water, it becomes brackish and undrinkable. Like water which we must have to live, so too must the citizens of the republic have fresh, clean information to fulfill our destiny as Americans. Water and information are basic elements of life in America…the last best hope for mankind relies on both.

That millions of otherwise good people can be said to have drunk the Kool-Aide is undeniable. How else to explain Barack Obama? We construct our lives and establish an understanding with the universe that satisfies enough of our needs that we can breathe. And we wake each day to the extenuating circumstances of the agreement. And frankly, too many people have lost the zest for life that includes taking responsibility for their lives. That is the insidiously corrosive effect of progressivism. Turning your life over to government is not going to solve problems.

But as 2016 dawns, as critical a year to the future of the nation as has ever existed, we have identified the careless and low information members of “Team Obama.” We know that enemy because he is us.

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David W. Thompson worked in government, education and the non-profit sector for more than forty years. A graduate of Westminster College and Harvard University, he resides in Easley, SC. You can follow him on his blog, “Smokealarms

2015.com.”