GRIDLOCKSTOP!
In the finest traditions of “fair and balanced,” when can viewers of the Fox News Channel expect to see and hear as much passion and expressions of concern about Karl Rove’s e-mail account as we’re seeing and hearing about Clinton’s? He also used a personal account while serving as a key Bush adviser and has apparently acknowledged that some are “missing”
“Fair and balanced” requires Fox to be as curious about what he may be hiding about Iraq as they imply she is be hiding about Benghazi! For example, did going to war in Iraq have anything to do with the Bush re-election strategy for which Rove was largely responsible? For while it is true that four brave Americans died in Benghazi, over 4400 no less brave Americans died in Iraq. We should know all there is to know about both!
Not a day goes by when we don’t hear something from Fox about “mainstream media bias.” And some of that has merit…especially regarding MSNBC. But to have any legitimate credibility to express indignation about the bias of others, Fox must first be free from it themselves. And that certainly isn’t the case. No national source for news and commentary is more biased!
The decision by Fox to vigorously promote a political point of view is part of a much larger mission. Like all media, whether electronic or print, they seek to do what is necessary to create a successful business model…to be #1 in ratings or readership and make lots of money. Nothing wrong with that!
Roger Ailes, who was a Republican political operative before being hired to run Fox, decided, it now seems clear, that the quickest and best way to achieve that goal would be to “do politics” and rely upon traditional Republican Party passion and discipline to succeed. So he created a place where Republicans can reliably go to see and hear the news and views they want to hear.
A daily bowl of “Ailes Bias Soup” at Fox has been doing the trick for some time now. For Republicans, it is both satisfying and nourishing. And it gives them the confidence and policy substance required to argue a point of view. And for Ailes, it’s like running an election campaign…this one even more satisfying than most. That’s because it never ends and his “candidate” is winning! Nearly 40% of voters are registered, disciplined Republicans. Most watch Fox.
So to those folks who believe the “fair and balanced” mantra and rush to the defense of Fox when it is challenged, please know that Fox really doesn’t mind the “bias” charge. They relish it. They successfully use it. That’s why almost every story they cover includes rhetoric about the flawed, biased coverage of the same story by mainstream media. And it’s even better when competition actually does lean democratic. The quickest way to explain why is to defer to Will Rogers who, long ago, explained that “he was a member of no organized political party…that he was a Democrat!” And MSNBC ratings are certainly consistent with that profound observation.
Party discipline among democrats is an oxymoron! It generally doesn’t exist! But folks concerned about growing government dysfunction know that’s a good thing. It makes necessary compromise more likely.
Conversely, say a growing number of others, it’s the philosophical litmus test applied by Fox and the Tea Party to currently elected Republicans, especially among those from already conservative and gerrymandered districts, that has so damaged the ability of our Republic to function.
Either they yield to the “don’t compromise’ pressure or know they will face a primary election challenge next time. They also know it will be an even more conservative opponent who will have both rhetorical support from Fox and “feet on the street” assistance from the Tea Party. And while it is certainly appropriate for Fox and their friends to support whomever they wish, what isn’t okay is to hold our Republic, including the Speaker and his Republican majority, hostage until (and unless?) they elect the necessary number of like-minded Republicans to achieve a majority.
So while the governing process gets decimated by this strategy, Fox gets top ratings, huge profits and political power….proving that success with their mission isn’t necessarily compatible with the mission to successfully govern. Given Fox rhetoric about their love for America, growing numbers of folks find it shocking that Fox is choosing ratings, profits and power over country!
“Not so,” say Fox and Tea Party Republicans. Our “imperial president” is causing the problem. He’s the one who needs to be held accountable...as they cite a laundry list of examples. But think about it, in the absence of Executive Orders and legislation passed to keep the government open, what significant policy decisions would have been made?
Political posturing between the House and White House now trumps governing. And that’s unacceptable! Lincoln had it correct. A House divided against itself cannot stand.” How profound is that 100+ years later?
Powerful media, political party leadership, and registered voters from the entire political spectrum must now promptly help save the nation we say we love. We need to start conducting ourselves in ways that, while acknowledging the reality of political rhetoric, makes possible a governing environment within which it becomes essential to embrace collaborative remedies.
And while not the domain within which to detail process specifics, such cutting-edge, constitutionally compatible techniques are available for use by Congress and White House. Experienced dispute resolution staff from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a federal agency created by Congress to help folks solve problems like they now have themselves, would facilitate their work.
And while the “outside the box” nature of this proposal is acknowledged, the parties should not be permitted to ignore it just because they’ve never tried it. That’s because this process, better than any other, will either get the parties to “yes” or expose, absent all the political rhetoric, what and/or who is responsible for their failure to do so. To this we are entitled!
And finally, regardless of whom you now blame, never have our challenges been more critical. Many even embrace the notion that they are Biblical in nature. Your personal views on that subject notwithstanding, the time has clearly arrived to take them seriously and understand that this could well be one of our final opportunities to get our domestic and foreign “homes” in order. Let’s do this!
Chuck Richards
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Richards was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor during the eight years of the Clinton Administration. It was in that capacity that he, along with other DOL staff, worked closely on an initiative created by Secretary Reich called The Taskforce on Excellence in State and Local Government. The information acquired and conclusions reached by this Taskforce were documented in a DOL publication titled “Working Together for Public Service.” He says that it, and collaborative process techniques later developed by DOL and Federal Mediation Service staff to assist those seeking to implement Taskforce recommendations, would well serve a Congress and White House truly interested in ending political gridlock.
