Katrina, A Year Later, or Where the Main Stream Media Went Wrong

Michelle Malkin, on her site HotAir.com had the best summary of how the (out of) the Main Stream Media (msm) miscovered the Katrina disater of a yr ago. She also gives credit to a lot of unsung heroes whose internet fundraising was mostly ignored. Why? Because these websites are conservative in their outlook. Without really saying it, she raises some good questions about the bias of the MSM. Showing how well the private sector handled things, including Wal-Mart & Home Depot & how horrible the local government of New Orleans & Louisiana mishandled things would go against the idea that conservitives/private sector evil, public sector good because only the public sector, esp the federal government can truly handle things.

http://hotair.com/archives/2006/08/30/katrina-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

The truth is that while the Federal government does have a role in huge disasters, they are not the cure all for every problem. The private sector can & when allowed, will be able to do most of what needs to be done. The reason I say "when allowed" is because of some reports I've heard about the real hinderances to rebuilding New Orleans. A lot of it has to do with what I consider wacko environmentalists who have gone to court to shoot down/hinder every rebuilding plan. The MSM media won't report that because then they won't be able to blame President Bush. Nor did they give coverage to the failure of Mayor Nagan & Governor Kathleen Blanco. They esp ignored the disaster plans that the city & state had in place but failed to impliment. But, the did report on the failures of FEMA. They did the right thing there only because they wanted to be able to bash President Bush. I can guarentee you that if a Democrat were president they would have downplayed FEMA's horrible screw ups. Fortunately Michelle Malkin doesn't. She has links to show the truth of what went wrong.

A free press is the sign of a functioning democracy or republic. A free press doesn't mean free from bias. The truth is that most of the time the press has had some bias. But there was a balance because there was a variety of sources with their own viewpoint. 1 of the best examples of this is the press at the time of John Adams. Ben Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Bache, virulantly attacked President Adams. But there were plenty of papers who reported Adams side. But, somewhere in the 20th Century most of the media took a sharp turn to the left. For a while they still reported much of the news with fairness. But in the later half of the 20th Century they started to let their bias affect their reporting. But they maintained the facade of fair & balanced. Then Fox News came along. While clearly & honestly coming from a conservative viewpoint they also had plenty of liberals on their staff so that they would be sure both sides were reported. Fair & balanced was more than a motto. But, the MSM, instead of admitting their bias threw off all pretense of neutrality & began to let their bias lead them into a number of missteps. Witness Dan Rather & the so-called evaluation of Bush when in the National Guard that was proved a forgery. This is where the on line bloggers came into their own. The truth got out there quickly. & Dan Rather was brought down.

Sadly, the radical left, rather than welcoming the other side, is unhappy that they have some competition. & that they are losing ground to it. They attack Fox News & the bloggers. (I will admit that not all bloggers are accurate. But somewhere along the way the honest ones get the truth out.) The left is trying to silence those from the right. I pray that they fail. The web, bloggers & the such is the 1 place where the free exchance of ideas envisioned by our Founding Fathers is truly taking place. The guarentee of free speech found in the 1st amendment is there for that very purpose. The internet has become the marketplace of ideas for the 21st Century. I am proud to be a part of it. I try to be accurate by providing as best I can the back up links to support what I say. If I am wrong, I will admit it.

Meanwhile, I thank God for the blessings of liberty we have in this country. There are those abusing it by using the web to spread lies & gossip. But, that is the price we pay for free speech. May we never see the day when the web is silenced because some group is upset with what is on it.

PS 1 addendum. Pornography, despite what some claim is not free speech. Free speech is there for the exchange of political ideas. It doesn't allow for things that could cause harm, like slander or libel, yelling fire in a crowded theater or porn the worst source of harm there is.