Obama and the Media

In May I did a quick study of political coverage in all the main news sources I follow. I had a hunch. Everything I read or heard seemed to be about Obama or Clinton. Clinton has since dropped out.

Some of the sources I tallied, for an idea, were BBC World News, CNN Politics, KSL, MSNBC, NPR, Washington Post, Yahoo, etc.

What I found was that since March 2007, Obama had cornered 30 percent of all political stories. John McCain had only 22 percent. That may not seem like much, but the difference over one year is quite large. It equates to more than 1000 stories about Obama than McCain. Counting Hillary, the Democratic party received 61 percent of the news. The Republicans, less than 39 percent.

Glenn Beck stated for CNN today, "According to the Tyndall Report, a service that monitors the three network news broadcasts, ABC, NBC, and CBS have spent a total of 114 of their national airtime minutes covering Obama since June. They've spent 48 minutes on his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain." So Obama is getting over double the airtime.

Who is the media's baby?

I find it odd, though, that the media has so happily fawned around Obama, the same media that attacks big business and complains frequently about an interfering federal government. The irony being that Obama is funded solely by big business and promises to give the federal government more control of our daily lives.

"He's [Obama] been on the cover of U.S. News and World Report, GQ, Rolling Stone, US Weekly (twice), Time and Newsweek (a combined 12 times) and will soon be on the cover of Men's Vogue for the second time. To be fair, Men's Vogue also did an in-depth story on John McCain but, strangely, a photo of McCain didn't make their cover.

"Why the disparity? According to Men's Vogue deputy editor Ned Martel, there's a simple explanation: Obama 'is what is called in the magazine world an "interest driver." ' Translation: Obama sells magazines."

Of course. It all comes down to ratings and money. The media, in general, doesn't care about Obama. He is simply their new cash cow and they are milking him for all he's worth. What bothers me is that by doing so, they are avoiding many other important issues. I know very little about McCain because what little I find in the media is a cowering shadow of the many news stories on Obama. I know when and how Obama exercises, I know his favorite drinks; all thanks to the in depth media coverage. But with McCain, I barely even know his entire platform. To find it, I have to actively search for it.

"We've become a country that continually chooses the sizzle over the steak. McCain may not get my vote, but he gets my admiration for at least offering some substance and new ideas when he speaks. Obama, meanwhile, is like the rock star who's realized that he can just scream unintelligible words into the microphone between songs, and the entire stadium will still scream. When your fans already love you, there's no reason to risk it by offering anything that might be controversial. Remember the Dixie Chicks?

"As candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain are ironically a lot like the way the media treats them: Obama is the glitzy magazine cover that screams for people to buy the issue, and McCain is the fact-filled article buried inside that makes you glad you did."

For the full article, see http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/23/beck.obama.media/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular

And did you know Ralph Nader is running for President? I didn't. I found that he received .3 percent of political news coverage. That is 36 stories in the last year to Obama's 4000. In these same news sources I found Jesus Christ in 222 stories, or 1.7 percent of the political news. So He is getting better coverage, and at this rate, I'd say has a better chance of becoming the next President than Ralph Nader.

Ralph, buddy, you've got to get your message out there better.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3827127

How I died

I moved slowly forward through the ferns. They grew dense and tall, a blanket suspended three feet above the ground. Their bright green leaves swayed alarmingly in the evening breeze. Below the leaves all light was blocked out. I knew in that eerie blackness anyone could be hiding. But where? Was I going to die?

The last of the sun’s light was falling away from the canyon mouth far behind me. Slivers of its fiery orange sliced through the canopy above me. The sudden bright light in the murk played havoc with my eyes. Unsure, I dropped down to a knee; my head at the level of the broad fern leaves. Quickly the last of the orange light faded.

To my right was a man I had never met. He was supposed to disappear and be forgotten in the dense brush while my squad made noise and attracted the attack. My squad, Craig Terry and young Alex Marcum, had elected me to be point. Craig had on sunglass ski goggles that, now without the sun, ruined his vision.

A brief explosion of gunfire rang out. It was over before I had even realized what was happening and that I should drop to the ground. The man to my right was dead. I scanned the bushes but saw nothing. Where had that come from? He had been pushing up to the field’s southern perimeter, which we needed so that no one could flank us. There was no time to hesitate, we that the high ground.

And I was point. It was my responsibility.

I swallowed slowly, and moved up the slope to the right, signaling Craig and Alex to stay parallel to me.

Where my friend had been shot there was a sort of trail. It ran along the edge of the playing zone, directly forward. There was no cover. I dropped to the ground, checked Craig and Alex, and began crawling forward. Over rocks and logs, I would go a foot and pause, looking for any movement. Finally I spotted it. Fifty feet ahead someone wearing camo shifted positions. It was a faint shadow of movement through the heavy brush and tree branches. I opened fire and nailed the guy.

I waited for a minute. Nothing else happened. Craig and Alex had not moved forward yet. Despite the lack of cover I climbed to a knee, then squatting, walked forward quickly a few feet seeking brush to hide behind. Sudden gunfire erupted right to my side. I hear several shots as they wined passed my head. Immediately I dropped to the ground. The thought, get as small and as low as possible, ran through my mind and I rolled onto my back, turned my head sideways so my nose wouldn’t stick up, and exhaled. The machine gun continued. Chink chink sounded as a few pellets hit my gun sitting on my chest. Amazingly none hit me. I realized, somehow, he could not get his line of fire low enough to hit me.

Relief washed over me. I was somehow still alive. I blindly aimed my M-4 and opened up. My gun sputtered off a few shots and then choked. What? I flipped between safety, semi, and auto frantically pulling the trigger. I got another shot or two off and then my gun went dead; of all the inconvenient times. I screamed “contact” over and over, willing Craig and Alex to save me. But I still could not see them and they had not engaged.

My enemy fired a few rounds. I saw several pass right over my head. Still he could not hit me.

I dropped my M-4 and pulled out my pistol. I fired again blindly to my side. I could see no one. I stopped. There was silence. I had no chance of hitting him and it was only a matter of time until he got the courage to move to a position where he could hit me. I was a sitting duck. I had to move.

As if in response I saw a man come running at me through the trees. He was eighty feet out and well protected. I yelled for cover fire. I lifted myself up a little and inched backwards as he shot at me. Simultaneously the enemy on my side opened fire. I dropped to the ground but my luck had run dry. In that terrible cross fire I was hit three times on my right hand and wrist, and several more across my face.

And so my life ended. Shortly thereafter our team was routed and we lost the match. Nuts.