Ken Berwitz
As anyone who reads this blog certainly knows, I am no fan of Ted Cruz – primarily because of his hard-right stands on social issues.
But when he\’s right, he\’s right.
And, in this case, not only is he right, but his fund-raising letter, based on the disgraceful performance of CNBC\’s debate moderators last week, has smoked out at least one media genius who seems intent on proving as much.
Let me show you what I\’m talking about.
First, here is the beginning of Mr. Cruz\’s fund-raising email, sent after the debate had taken place:
I am declaring war on the liberal media, and I needto ask a personal favor from you.
Here are the a few of the \’choice\’ questionsthey asked last night — they illustrate why the American people don\’t trustthe media and why we have to take back the debate if we want to win:
\’Are you a comic-bookvillain?\’
\’Will you insult two people over here?\’
\’Why don\’t you resign?\’
\’Why have your numbers fallen?\’
XXXXXX, join me in declaring war on theliberal media agenda and taking back our country to deal with thesubstantive issues the people care about.
As you can see, Mr. Cruz listed out five of what he (and, I suspect, most people) would characterize as questions which have nothing to do with the issues facing our country but everything about putting Republican candidates in a negative light. *(Ironically, Cruz left out the first question, addressed to every candidate, which I considered the single most offensive of all: “tell us what your major weaknesses are”).
As you can also see, Mr. Cruz asked email recipients to “join me in declaring war on the liberal media agenda”. Not any one person in particular, but an agenda which conservatives have, for years and years, been railing about.
Well, here is the reaction of one practitioner of that media agenda: Rex Huppke, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune:
OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF WAR:
Whereas Ted Cruz has formally declared war against thepeople of the mainstream (or lamestream or liberal) media of the United Statesof America:
Therefore, be it Resolved by the Secret Cabal of LiberalMedia Overlords that the state of war between the media and Ted Cruz, which hasthus been thrust upon the media by Ted Cruz being a total jerk, is herebyformally declared. Rex Huppke, as a representative of the media, is herebyauthorized and directed to employ the entire forces available to the media, includingbut not limited to: pens that can be waved in a menacing manner; paper-cutinducing notepads; barrels of ink; and limitless Internet space, to carry onwar against Ted Cruz and to bring the conflict to a successful termination.
Strap on your boots, Teddy boy. We\’re comin\’ for ya now. Andwe\’ve got the weapon you fear the most: the truth.
As you can see, Huppke\’s response – remember, he is supposedly an intelligent, insightful journalist – is to claim Ted Cruz has declared war on the media in general (his reference was the the liberal media agenda), call him a schoolyard name, and assure Cruz – along with his readers (what a proud lot they must be after reading this) that, more than anything, Cruz fears the truth…thus suggesting that the claim there is a liberal agenda/liberal bias is a lie.
Do you think mainstream media are completely neutral/no bias? If so, you may be very happy with Rex Huppke\’s screed.
Do you think there just might be a scintilla of bias? If so, you probably think that the total jerk is not Ted Cruz, it\’s Rex Huppke.
Your call.
