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‘This was once a serious country’ – amended

‘This was once a serious country’ – amended

From an op-ed in The Washington Times by Wesley Pruden, Herman Cain and innuendos:

This was once a serious country with serious newspapers, back in the day when they were edited by serious editors and a man had the right to confront an accuser before she was allowed to destroy his reputation, career and even his life.

Herman Cain doesn’t look like Jack the Ripper, but Scotland Yard never pursued Mr. Ripper with the passion of the newspapers and television networks so hot after Mr. Cain. He may be guilty of whatever it is that he is accused of – so far little more than a wink, a predatory smile or even a suggestive smirk. Or he may not be guilty. But in the wonderland of Washington journalism, we demand the verdict first and only then the evidence (if any).

Let me amend this argument, ‘There was once a serious conservative movement’:

This There was once a serious country conservative movement with serious newspapers, back in the day when they were edited by serious editors and a man had the right to confront an accuser before she was allowed to destroy his reputation, career and even his life.

Herman Cain doesn’t look like Jack the Ripper, but Scotland Yard never pursued Mr. Ripper with the passion of the newspapers and television networks conservative Twitterers and bloggers so hot after Mr. Cain because they support another candidate. He may be guilty of whatever it is that he is accused of – so far little more than a wink, a predatory smile or even a suggestive smirk. Or he may not be guilty. But in the wonderland of Washington journalism the conservative blogosphere, we now demand the verdict first and only then the evidence (if any).

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Comments

[…] Jacobson revises a Wes Pruden editorial to make it more accurate: This There was once a serious country conservative […]

MaggotAtBroadAndWall | November 4, 2011 at 10:34 am

It’s mindboggling how inept the Republican Party is.

We should be ramping up the heat on Jon Corzine. He’s a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, a former Democratic governor, and a former Democratic U.S. Senator who is a high profile Obama supporter and bundler of money for Obama’s campaign. In only 20 months, he ran a financial services company into bankruptcy because of lousy risk management just three years after the biggest financial meltdown in history because of poor risk management.

There’s even allegations of misappropriation of client money.

Republicans should be making hay out of the Corzine fiasco. Instead, they’ve spent an entire week in a circular firing squad shooting at each other because a political trade rag floats a weak story using anonymous sources to allege Herman Cain engaged in unspecified sexual harassment.

The Stupid Party never ceases to amaze.

    Perhaps, it is the ineptness of the Conservative Movement. The Conservative Movement is about ideas and the ideals of American exceptionalism. It is much bigger than any one man. The Conservative Movement has/had standards. Now, petulance is the order of the day. We have gone from wait and see to attacking shadows.
    It is up to the candidate to carry his own water. It is incumbent upon us to demand the truth, not only from the Politico and their ilk but from the candidate. When the candidate resorts to blaming opponents and being a victim instead of demanding all the facts to come out, it says a lot more about the candidate than it does the story.

    The one thing that has bothered me about the Conservative Movement for several years is the lack of leadership. Leadership is a commodity that is very rare in American politics. Reagan had it, the Bushes did not. I like to think Palin had it but most of the current crop do not. Cain does not have leadership qualities and it is becoming increasingly apparent with this issue. What is vexing is the demagoguery from Team Cain.

    I guess I can only tell the Cain supporters to take more Vitajex and support your guy down that lonesome road.

Very well said, Professor.

Cassandra Lite | November 4, 2011 at 10:56 am

For most of American history, being a “newspaperman” was often a last resort for those who hailed from everywhere, with all kinds of views. They shared in common a distrust of authority–left, right, center. Few had had a college education.

That began changing fast after Watergate and the proliferation of j-schools catering to wannabe Woodward-Bernsteins. It’s not surprising that MSM editors now hire (to the degree that they do) from those schools, where this already self-select group has been subject to further groupthink.

Turning journalism into a semi-credentialed profession has been ironically disastrous for the profession’s health–and, as we’re seeing, for the republic.

[…] was once a serious country, and conservatism was once a serious movement. Posted by Jeff G. @ 10:08 am Comments (0) | Trackback […]

Thank you, Professor.

i’d be happy if the journalists were wannabe Woodward-Bernsteins. There’d be some real investigative reporting going on.

What we have now is not journalism – but defacto warring PR firms and operatives. It is disgusting.

And for all for us with our Post-Watergate mentality, who had faith in the press as a watchdog, a protector, almost an extension of law enforcement – we have to realize they are anything but.

It will change – because they are supporting the causes that are destroying their own (and everyone else’s) business. Killing industry brings declining ad revenue, and their publications will cease to exist. Maybe then, something great will rise from the ashes.

    I agree with Rose, except they dream to become the famous “talking heads” without actually going through the drudgery of imitating Woodward-Bernsteins. They imagine themselves a younger, more loquacious Dan or Danielle Rather. And in fact they are similar to Rather, but don’t know it. Empty heads, empty hears, and empty character but tons of assumptions.

Cassandra Lite | November 4, 2011 at 1:26 pm

Rose,

The wannabe Woodward-Bersteins believe that the lesson of Watergate was to bring down Republicans. They believe that Democrats’ hearts are in the right place, so any wrongdoing is excusable. J-school students are a self-select group with a bias that’s only sharpened by professors who believe the same.

This is mostly right. The real lesson of Watergate — the lasting damage it did — was that it turned the ethic of journalism from reporting history to making history.

The fact that the press have become increasingly left-leaning since then is a somewhat separate issue.

But Watergate was one the most seminal events in the on-going destruction of our society.

The problem is that conservatives are too nice. Members of the “Combine”, the establishment Republicans, are about as nice as their Democratic-Progressive-Socialist counterparts. Which means their not. Barbara Bush was willing to trash Sarah Palin. I’m suspicious of how seriously conservative Perry is, and there isn’t a major Democratic policy position that Romney hasn’t at some time endorsed. At some point in time the difference between conservative and Republican will need to be sorted out. The best hope for conservatives might be to get 0bama out and get as many true conservatives as possible into the House and Senate.

TeaPartyPatriot4ever | November 5, 2011 at 12:47 am

Yep, I agree with Mr Jacobson.. I see the problem as 2 fold..

On one side, you have the Anti-American, Anti-US Constitution, liberal Socialist-Marxist radicals and extremists, in not only the Democratic Party, but in every aspect of politics and the media, aggressively trying to destroy and bring down America as a Free Market Capitalist Constitutional Republic.. and on the other hand, you have a bunch of different factions in the Republican Party and Conservative movements, divided and all trying to be the major power player and broker.. under cutting each other, becoming a Party in disarray, with bickering and back stabbing, as the only game in town..

It’s easier for the haters and extremists in the Democratic Party to unify, as they all have the same goal, destruction of America, Religion, the US Constitution, and Conservatives.. but the same cannot be said for the Constitutional Tea Party Conservatives, moderate Independents and Libertarians, and the Republican Party establishment RINO elites- in the Republican Party, which is why I believe that their will a Major Political Party split, and another political party will emerge, depending on what happens after 6 Nov. 2012..