Facing a tough question? Caught off guard or unprepared? Stuck in a venue where the truth would be embarrassing? No problem! Just bash the media. Bask in the applause of persecutory delusionals. Relax and enjoy the respite from rational argument. Bashing the media: it’s the smarter way to campaign.Last night, Ted Cruz made a big splash in the cesspool of obfuscation, deception, and misdirection that was the Republican debate by attacking the liberal media (meaning everyone to the left of Fox). His act has been compared to Newt Gingrich and to Richard Nixon, neither a flattering juxtaposition, but scapegoating the media goes back at least to Goldwater. In a sense, the American version of modern conservatism is built on whining about the media.
Now, the questions in the debate were atrocious, but they’ve been atrocious in all the debates, including the Democratic debate. That’s not bias. That’s a dumbed down, game like, frivolous quest for ratings and for personal appeal. It is sad. It is embarrassing. It is not bias. If the press really were left leaning, every twisted fact, every deceptively edited video, every outright lie from Fox or any Republican candidate would be met with a hailstorm of fact checking. Instead, the media is a fact-check free zone. If anything, the media rolls over too easily from fear of a few loudmouthed opportunists such as those we saw in evidence last night. So, the media won’t call them out, but Democratic candidates can and should. It’s time to tell Republicans to suck it up, man up, and accept responsibility for their own paranoia, insecurity, and insufficiency.