Got a Facebook post today from an old friend who doesn't understand how journalism works. He's a pretty smart guy, generally reasonable. But he didn't go to college. And it shows. He was taught WHAT to think, instead of HOW to think.
He posted a New York Times article about, Mitt Romney's campaign stop in Michigan the other day, where he held a meeting for about, being generous here, 1200 people, in Ford Field. The stadium used by the NFL's Detroit Lions. It holds more than 60K people. So it looked pretty empty.
Now, if you read the whole article, it makes it perfectly clear that the original meeting, rally, speech, whatever was supposed to be for about 700 supporters. When it grew too big for that? Well, the group holding the wing ding, some Detroit business group, decided to move it to a bigger venue. As well they should.
High School gym? Fox Theater? The basketball arena at Wayne State University? Nope. Ford Field. All 60K+ seats of it. Great idea. Go big or go home, right? Except you invited the media. And folks in the media have to have college degrees to work in the media. And they notice shit. Because they have an obligation to report the who, what, when, where, why and how of a story.
This is where my old friend loses his mind, and claims the, "Liberal Media" is dogging, Mitt by showing an empty stadium, and trying to minimize his campaign.
Lets break this down by the criteria I outlined above. Who: Mitt Romney, regardless of WHO set up the venue, gave a speech in front of 1200 people.
What: He talked again about how his wife drives two Cadillac's. Luxury cars most Americans can never afford, and she keeps one at the house in New England, and one at the beach house in California.
When: No one disputes the date or time. Just the facts reported there. This is the only thing that the Right Wing does NOT dispute.
Where: Ford, FREAKING Field. No one can argue that. The, "Liberal Media" did NOT set THAT up. The,"Liberal Media" did not underestimate, by 50K+ seats who would show up for this thing. And even the,"Liberal Media", if they were paying attention at all, had to notice how wildly inappropriate this venue was, for what was planned. And only a complete moron, or a journalist who was born after 2008, would not be making the comparison between the last presidential candidate who held an event of any kind, in an NFL stadium (Obama's sell out of Mile High Stadium in Denver) and THIS debacle.
Why: Romney didn't rally the troops, or even win over Michigan. He talked some smack, and again mentioned the right height of the trees in Michigan. Well, he was TRYING to rally the troops to his side in Michigan. I'm pretty sure that if not him, someone in his team THOUGHT that if they held this deal in Ford Field, they could fill it up. Good luck with that.
The average price of a home in Detroit, the last time I looked, was $18K. He said it was a bad idea for Obama to have bailed out the auto industry. He hates Unions. He now opposes national health care, when he pretty much invented the US model of it in Massachusetts (he's a, "Mass Hole").
How: In front of what, someone thought was a good idea, an EMPTY stadium! Not a local auditorium, gymnasium, or theater.
Now, if you report the whole story on this. ALL the facts, it makes, Mitt Romney look like a totally out of touch, totally rich guy, who does not have any idea how the rest of the country lives. Who is fascinated with the height of trees. Who has luxury cars on both coasts. And who thinks that a speech he expected to give to 700 people will all of a sudden, draw sixty thousand!
And all THOSE things taken into consideration? The media who reported it is the problem? WTF?! Really? The problem with this story is the MEDIA? NOT the candidate and his inept team? The problem is the MEDIA reported his incompetent bullshit? Not his staff who ALLOWED the incompetent bullshit?
That is how Republicans think. The problem is not that they do dumb shit. The problem is that NPR REPORTS IT! So take away their funding.
The problem is the New York Times. NOT Mitt Romney.
At times like this, I wish I still believed in, God. I'd ask him to smite the dumb.
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I engaged in a conversation earlier in the week with the same friend. He claimed his anecdotal evidence supported Bill Wrights sex education bill. Unfortunately the anecdotal evidence was not supported by the facts.
ReplyDeleteYou are 100% correct here Jeff. It is this same type of confirmation bias that allows these folks to support Ron Paul regardless of how off the rails he is. I think that was the point of posting the link to the NY Times article. They are trying make it look like Ron Paul is getting ignored with real support so.... Romney is getting the attention with no support. Either candidate will be a disaster for he middle class. The same middle class they all live in.
The problem with that, Kevin is that they don't think they live in the middle class. They think they are only there temporarily, until THEY strike it rich too, because in America, we all can. And that's just bullshit. If you weren't born into money, chances are pretty good you're not going to end up with a lot of it. No matter what you do. But the R's keep selling it, and the poor keep buying it.
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