What I Learned From The Media…

Here are some post-election polls that DO matter… if only because they bring light to the ignorance surrounding this election.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm1KOBMg1Y8]

Clearly, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are non-factors to people. And Palin was the fall back for any stupid comment that was made – including Obama’s 57 states comment, Biden’s plagiarism, etc.

These weren’t fools that Howard Stern grabbed off the street, who may or may not have been voting (although, the results were pretty similar). Had the media done it’s job, this race would have been much more interesting to watch. Here’s the Stern audio, and a segment from Anna’s fabulous entry in response to it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyvqhdllXgU]

I’m uncomfortable with voters choosing a “brand” instead of choosing policy that actually lines up with what they think. In the following clip, reporters with the Howard Stern show ask Obama supporters why they choose him over McCain, substituting McCain’s policies (pro-life, staying in Iraq until “victory” is reached) for Obama’s. The supporters agree specifically with McCain policy when it’s presented as belonging to Obama. This is NOT OK.

Now, yes, the election is over. At this point, how he got there is irrelevant. However, if the media continues to bury truth, which we have every reason to believe it will, Obama has eliminated any accountability with the people of the United States. Not only does he have a near-filibuster proof (filibuster proof if you count his new friend McCain, as well as a few other RINOs…) Senate, the House, and 3 supreme court appointments to make, he has the entire US media cleaning up after him and spinning until the people reporting the truth don’t even know what it is anymore.

The job of the media is supposed to be unbiased reporting of the news – the good, the bad and the ugly. However, during the epic media breakdown that was this election, few would argue that they were “fair and balanced”. These videos show us that the average American gets their news from mainstream media and doesn’t do the research. Is it possible to make the best decision based on false or partial knowledge? No. Let’s check out the Zogby polls, just to illustrate:

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points

97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions

57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)

81.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)

82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)

88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)

56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).

And yet…..

Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes

Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter

And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her “house,” even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!

Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.

Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we “gave” one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)

97% high school grads, and more than half had completed college. These were not Stern’s streets of Harlem examples. Can we blame them? Naturally I want to say yes! Yes! Read! Learn! But, is it really a horrible thing to believe that the media is doing their job? I mean, most people don’t have the time to spend hours a day researching and analyzing things people say and watch speeches. Media, do your job. Meanwhile, bloggers, speak truth. Hopefully our voices will be heard.