“The Press Just Doesn’t Know How to Handle Flat-Out Untruths”
That’s what Paul Krugman said today on ABC’s “This Week.” That pretty well sums it up.
Over sixty million people saw Mitt Romney portraying himself as a big warm fuzzy bear who loves everybody. And this warm fuzzy Mitt was just dumbfounded by all these vicious rumors about him.
“A five trillion dollar tax cut for the highest income earners? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Getting a tax deduction for moving jobs overseas? Hmmm, I should’ve hired a better accountant, heh heh.”
“We NEED regulations.”
And WTF is up with Romney’s imaginary “woman who came up and grabbed my arm and said ‘please help me.’” Riiight. If that had actually happened, this person would have been body-slammed and tased by Romney’s bodyguards.
Sixty million people heard these blatant lies; saw the fraudulent “New” touchy-feely Mitt Romney who wants to help everybody and promises to keep the regulations that ensure safe working conditions, breathable air and drinkable water.
A tiny fraction of that number will see follow-up news reports saying Yes, Mitt Romney HAS been pushing for a five trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthiest Americans; Yes, Romney IS planning to eliminate the regulations that protect workers’ safety and public health.
Paul Krugman said:
“The press just doesn’t know how to handle flat-out untruths…I don’t know whether to blame [the debate moderator Jim] Lehrer or the president, but it was kind of amazing because Romney was not only saying things that are not true, he was saying things that his own campaign had previously said weren’t true.”
He also said Romney “showed contempt for us by thinking the news media will not cover on me as long as they say forcefully I won.”
And that’s the predicament we’re all facing. I can’t think of a solution to this, but Paul Krugman has clearly defined the problem.
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:13 PM
6 Comments:
As usual, Krugman nails it.
Our nation is saddled with what I see as a highly irresponsible mainstream media. As I commented on S.W.'s blog:
"The media will focus on Romney’s zingers and on Obama’s flat demeanor and declare Romney the “winner”, but people who pay attention know better. I believe that in general the media is irresponsible and just looks for whatever it can find to sensationalize. The more sensational the story, the more people will tune in, and since media outlets are businesses, they have to focus on what improves their bottom lines. Those who own the presses control what we get to see and hear, and we are fed what they want fed to us in order to mold our opinions.
"The president on the ropes? New energy for Romney? Those things are sensational enough to suck in the people with short attention spans who have been conditioned to tune in to those kinds of things for the last two or three decades. Does a president running away with things make for an exciting story, or is it more exciting to think of it as a tight boxing match that won’t be decided until the last punch at the final bell?"
The media won't call out Romney for his lies now that they have declared him the "winner". They'll leave that burden of proof to Obama, because it makes for more exciting news copy to make the election look like more of a dogfight than it may actually be.
Funny thing is, Mitt had to ditch conservatism to "win" his debate. Wonder if the wingnuts care or it will be win at any cost. I know which way I lean on that answer. the only people that thought Robme won this, are idiots and republicans who will vote for him anyway. We have one of them here that no matter what would vote for repugs even when they are called out on blatant lies. I forget which show it was on but Noot was being interviewed and he was going on and on about Robme being a liar but he would still vote for him. Bob Sheiffer was almost face palming, asking him to explain that to him and the woman doing the interview. Gingrinch says, well yeah he lies, but basically he's our liar, so it's all good.
Maybe that woman that grabbed him is the same woman that told Crazy eyes her daughter was now retarded because she got some vaccination, HPV I think it was.
The media is now no different than the banks.... all of them owned by an hand full of billionaires. What do expect them to do?
Snave: I certainly hope the race is less of a dogfight than it's being portrayed by the media. Right now Romney actually has a 4-point lead over Obama, according to a Pew poll. But almost everybody else seems to think it's just a temporary bounce from the debate, and that the jobs report from Friday hasn't affected the polls yet.
Jess: I don't know how anyone can possibly trust Romney with all the positions he's taken on every issue. Maybe a lot of people are too dumb to remember what Romney said yesterday or last week, or they just hate Obama so much they'll vote for anyone instead.
Mr. C: And yet the "liberal media" myth lives on.
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When the debate is lost,slander becomes the tool of the loser-Socrates
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