In 1975 I received a B.A. in Journalism from a very well respected private university in Texas. I cannot remember having any instructor tell me that it was my right to state anything but the truth in news stories, or that I could editorialize in news stories. Bias is supposed to be relegated to the editorial page, which now apparently includes the front page, traditionally reserved for "hard" news. There is no shame now among the fifth column for pandering, bias, blatant editorial comments in allegedly "neutral" stories, shading the truth, outright lying in print and on film and radio, and otherwise violating several principles of journalism. No shame at all. I do not understand why journalists believe they have to be liberals. Even in my small, very conservative town in Texas the local newspaper is owned and run by liberals. As might be expected it is not held in high regard, but it is the only print media in town, and makes money for its owners. I must conclude that journalists, including those who violate every tenet of journalism, view themselves as being quite informed, therefore elite, and therefore qualified to tell the public only what the journalists deem is important, correct, stated properly, or beneficial. The determinor of all that is....the journalist. I can sadly tell you that roughly 50% of what you hear on the news or read in a newspaper is not the truth. The problem comes in trying to separate the truth from the trash. I suppose it is enough to know that half of what you read and hear is garbage, therefore it is prudent to not trust any of it.

Bo: You have hit on one of the great mysteries of our times. Namely, how is it that nearly every newspaper in America is owned and staffed by liberals? In the old days, reporters tended to be liberal, but the publishers were generally rightwing and more interested in making money than in transforming the country. Reporters today are not interested in reporting the news, but in making news. I blame Woodward and Bernstein. They showed that you could help bring down administrations with which you disagreed, and wind up famous, wealthy and with a Pulitzer Prize, to boot.

Burt

BoFromTexas,

I agree!

For those of us with journalism degrees that no longer work in the field - there is a very good reason...ethics. We like to sleep well at night.

I have not forgotten my professors' daily emphasis on the importance of truth based on verifiable facts. Yet, as I read articles from such liberal websites as the Huffington Post, MediaMatters, TIMES or Washington Post, I still feel shock at the amount of false information given as if it were fact. How do these writers sleep at night? How do they face themselves in the mirror each morning?

(Not to mention the poor writing skills! I actually emailed a Houston Chronicle writer the other after reading several extremely poor pieces. Tacky, but they were so bad!)

Elitism is a disease composed of narcissism and demagoguery. It certainly does not include truth, facts or even a semblance of intelligence.

BoFromTexas,

I agree!

For those of us with journalism degrees that no longer work in the field - there is a very good reason...ethics. We like to sleep well at night.

I have not forgotten my professors' daily emphasis on the importance of truth based on verifiable facts. Yet, as I read articles from such liberal websites as the Huffington Post, MediaMatters, TIMES or Washington Post, I still feel shock at the amount of false information given as if it were fact. How do these writers sleep at night? How do they face themselves in the mirror each morning?

(Not to mention the poor writing skills! I actually emailed a Houston Chronicle writer the other after reading several extremely poor pieces. Tacky, but they were so bad!)

Elitism is a disease composed of narcissism and demagoguery. It certainly does not include truth, facts or even a semblance of intelligence.

Great article, Burt!

It inspires me to share a great Charlton Heston quote:

“So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobedience of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men.” - Charlton Heston

Who knows? The "aroused rabble" might end up being the Tea Party.

For the benefit of younger readers, an excerpt from one of the definitions available online. I believe this was from Ask.Yahoo.com.

Fifth Column: "Emilio Mola Vidal, a Nationalist general during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), originally coined the term. As four of his army columns moved on Madrid, the general referred to his militant supporters within the capital as his "fifth column," intent on undermining the loyalist government from within.

So the fifth column is a group of secret sympathizers or supporters of an enemy that engage in espionage or sabotage within defense lines or national borders."

I don't remember who it was, but somebody years ago wrote a book describing the American mainstream media as the Fifth Column. It's far more true today than it was then.

There's a growing and extremely vocal movement on the Left -- proudly endorsed by the MSM, especially the NY Times -- that wishes to strip citizenship from Conservatives and give it instead to illegal aliens. Why? Conservatives stubbornly refuse to vote Democrat, and we have this annoying habit of being right, which leads us to defeat Leftist candidates in elections too often for the comfort of Liberals.

MichaelSSec: That writer may have been me. Although I didn't devote an entire book to the fifth columnists lurking in newsrooms, I did mention them in Both "Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From San Francisco" and "Liberals: America's Termites." (What does SSEC stand for?)

Rosa: Today's journalists, for the most part, wouldn't even know how to spell ethics.

Tex Horn: One can find so much to despise about Hollywood, but one of its worst sins is that the town treated Mr. Heston like a pariah. A small price to pay, though, for a man who was smarter, more decent and far more courageous, than any of them.

Burt

Burt - I am one of those people who do not go to movies. I have much more important things to do, like rearrange my sock draw. Alfred Hitchcock said it best actors are props that speak. What would happen if the great unwashed decided to read Shakespeare instead of going to a movie? Macbeth is better than any movie ever made. The Ten Commandments (or as kommandant klinton calls them the ten suggestions) still gets record TV audiences some 50 years after it was made. And didn't Charlton Heston play in the movie?

MichaelSSEC is a nickname bestowed upon me many years ago by a good friend, when I went by the moniker "Kessec" on AOL. She apparently didn't like the name Kessec all that well, and would have simply called me Michael instead, except there were a dozen or so Michaels in our circle of friends, so we each needed a differentiating nickname. She combined Michael with Kessec and I've been MichaelSSEC online ever since. Coming up on 20 years with that moniker now ;)

Burt

Excellent play on words...

It is truly amazing to me to encounter so very many citizens who are not merely dishonest, but truly hate and loath this nation...and that, with lathered, wild eyed vehemence.

God bless

Howard--Most movies are mediocre at best, but some of the best hours of my life have been spent watching movies, so I do not understand a blanket indictment of the art form.

Michael: Thanks for explaining the moniker. It has plagued me for a while now, but no more.

Sapient: Thanks, but which play on words were you referring to?

Regards, Burt

Burt

Good morning

"The Fifth Columnist"...

Not only are those you referred to Fifth Columnists in the original "Spanish Civil War / Cicero" sense--ie those who undermine a nation from within, in this case, the NYT, they could well be ACTUAL columnists--ie writers for that paper.

Ie a Columnists in two senses....a column of soldiers and a newspaper column.

Couldn't agree with you more.

Question---how to deal with such sedition on such a wide spread scale.

Sapient: Thanks for specifying. As far as dealing with sedition on such a grand scale, I suggest firing squads. The Second Amendment couldn't have just been a whim.

Burt

THAT is going to be an issue at some point, for both the long and short term.

The liberals among us have made no bones about how they see America--some making it frighteningly clear. Some, have openly expressed a desire to destroy the nation, and, if we are really lucky, they have only attempted.

We are now, in a position somewhat analogous to the father who's teen has obtained a handgun, and has taken a shot at him, hopefully missing, or at least not inflicting a significant or fatal injury.

The teen has his adolescent reasons of course, and he is without regret.

The question for us as a nation is, now what?

A really important point is that we are not the only ones who live in that home.

God bless

"Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that 'if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.' It is a very serious consideration that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event." --Samuel Adams speech, 1771

Burt;

Just reading the title made me show my teeth, i.e., smile. Every § is an arrow bursting the inflated egos & swooshing through the vacuous airheads of the MSM & Holly-wonks. You've done it again, Burt.

You might get a bodyguard yourself, just in case these vitriolic loons put a contract on you. If you leave the Left Coast for the Rockies, I'd do it for room & board.

Re: Chuck Heston, he was also a much better actor than those who revile him; my fave flick is 'Ben Hur.'

You bet, I am proudly & happily clinging to my guns & religion!

Are you kidding me re: the tiny-Wiener creep? He is NOT resigning after all? I thought we got rid of him. Again, where's the GOP screaming bloody murder re: the three hedonistic stooges you've mentioned?!

His wife's family has ties to Muslim Brotherhood; that's rich!

Re: the difference btw the GOP & Dems, think of the 'frontrunner' Romney who believes in global warming & in Romneycare & the johnny-come-lately Huntsman who likewise believes that crap, supported the Obamination bailout & Reid's reelection in NV! The only thing these two mega-RINO clowns have on the Dems is they're pro-life.

Of course, should one of these two win the nomination, I hold my nose & vote for them. However, way too many GOP ol' boys are way too close to the Dems on way too many issues, or they look the other way.

Robert

Charlton Heston Was My President.

On national television, President Clinton urged him to "call your people to the promise land of sensible gun control" after the Columbine Massacre.

Heston simple said, "Let those who are on the Lord's side, come to me."

I rolled.

God bless

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palatium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a

strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them." - Joseph Story, Father of America’s Jurisprudence.

[Boston, 1833].

Robert & Sapient: I admired Mr. Heston on a number of levels--and was proud that he and I exchanged a few nice notes--but I was never a fan of his acting. He was too stiff and humorless for my taste, although I thought he was quite effective as Charles Bickford's loyal foreman in "The Big Country" and I found it quite moving when he rode up behind Bickford to follow him into the canyon to what appeared to be a certain death. Not many actors could have conveyed the appropriate courage and character to make the sacrifice believable.

Burt

Burt

Interesting choice of words, "Appropriate courage and character." For Heston, it was there, unscripted and in real time when it counted.

Makes up for a lot of acting ability in my book (and I agree with your assessment in that regard).

The great thing, to me, is that we are seeing these two incredible traits emerging in so many in these days...the stuff hope is built on.

God bless

”These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman."

— Abigail Adams

Bo - Good stuff. Why have so many liberals infiltrated the media? Because knowledge is power. I believe liberals are just smart enough to understand that by infiltrating the media they could eventually control everything. Well, maybe not smart enough, they could have just fell into it by accident. Regarding truth, a half truth is no truth. It takes only one false prophesy to make a false prophet and it takes one deliberate lie to make a liar. May God save this sacred union - America!

AJ

Good points Sir.

Are you familiar with syncretism?

That is simply the ATTEMPTED blending of two inherently non blend-able things...and it is as devious a philosophical truth distorting device as can be had.

For example...if you have 100% pure water and add 1% cyanide...you now have what--VERY diluted cyanide not 99$ pure water....a very different thing. Guess how its reported in the MSM.

Likewise, what happens when good compromises with evil...do you get 99% good or diluted evil?

You betcha!

What happens when you have a pure Constitution as we have, focused on the inalienable rights of individuals, and then add to that, even a tiny bit of socialism...what do you get...weak socialism.

That is the nature of things.

There are words for those who push this compromise....at minimum,as Jefferson put it--Immoral.

God bless

"Where the principle of difference [between political parties] is as substantial and as strongly pronounced as between the republicans and the monocrats of our country, I hold it as honorable to take a firm and decided part and as immoral to pursue a middle line, as between the parties of honest men and rogues, into which every country is divided." --Thomas Jefferson to William Branch Giles, 1795. ME 9:317

Sapient quoted Sam Adams --- "Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter."

I take issue with his claim as to where our rights came from. Otherwise, the quotes you have used are so appropriate to the subject. Very well done indeed.

And many thanks for the lesson on syncretism. I learned something new today so it's bound to be a great one!

Burt--- sure did love the "columnists" play on words!

Burt, I love your columns and this "Fifth Column" that we are forced to deal with today may very well be more dangerous than the politicians that are actively working to destroy our Constitution and our way of life. I work for a huge international corporation that happens to be one of the largest private sector employers of union labor. The low quality of the discourse that I have to endure is unbelievable. These people are literally acting and talking like robots or zombies. They accept as fact, without question, ANYTHING that is fed to them by the union or by the ultra-liberal media that substitutes for news in this country. I have a very hard time keeping my mouth shut. I just overheard a couple of women here (in Ohio) talking about how badly they want to force a recall vote on Governor Kasich. They have absolutely no idea how bad it is to have public-sector unions that have wages and benefits that NO private business could afford. I find it hard to understand how otherwise seemingly intelligent people can be so dense and uninformed. I also find it hard to understand when they look at me like I'm crazy when I call for transparency in the way our union spends our union dues. The union actively supports groups that are openly anti-American, and no one cares. Please keep up the good work. It's very unfortunate that loyal American citizens can no longer simply storm the capital and throw out the traitors that have been elected with their lies. I hope and pray that groups such as the Oath-Keepers won't be forced to prove that their word is their bond. If Obama is re-elected, I don't think that it will be long before American law enforcement or troops will be asked to fire on American citizens that are simply acting within their Constitutional rights. If the worst happens, Obama will have nothing to lose, and our nation and our freedom will be lost forever.

My fav Heston movie is " The Mountain Men" with Brian Keith. Funny!

And, Burt, you've done it again! Ten-four on the "firing squads!"

billy396,

Do we work at the same place? :) I pay my dues ONLY to keep from being terrorized and to have the chops to argue with the other Teamsters about the moron they helped elect-and hopefully, to spread some sanity around. When the local union posts good stuff on their Facebook page about the a**holes marching with avowed communists in WI , ya gotta wonder. How much more of a declaration of contempt do "the authorities" need before prosecution?

And who constitutes ( pun intended ) the rightful authority when the enemies, foreign AND domestic, seek to destroy my country? I took an oath to defend the Constitution against such enemies and my allegience did not end with my time in service. Where do I get my marching orders when TSHTF?

P.S. We are not alone, BTW. MANY Teamsters are conservative, just not most.

Burt,

Perhaps you might devote an entire article on the determining factor in who gets to claim "rightful authority." According to my oath, I swore to protect and preserve the Constitution of the United States against all enemies , foreign and domestic. So that makes me right if I want to dethrone our gutless leader, correct?

So if I and a few hundred thousand of my closest friends were to set about cleaning house ( and senate ) to restore constitutional accuracy who could legally stop me? I suppose Bill Clinton would stand there and argue " But what do you mean by 'right?'"

Well, Ruffie, I'll tell ya:

The country was founded on certain principles. Those who adhere to those ideals are correct. Those who seek to cavalierly change a "living document" are wrong. America is what it was in the beginning; changing that makes it "not America." Therefore, those who want to live outside the American box-well, don't let the doors hit you on the butt on the way out.

But, Burt, I'd still like to see your take on the sitch. :)

Merry Colin

Syncretism is a most interesting study particularly in the realm of religion. This is where most cults come from.

FWIW: I think it would be appropriate to give John Adams a bit of slack on his use of "bequeathed"...

If any one knew where our rights came from, he did...endowed by our Creator...

Instead of bequeathed, "secured" might have been a better term...but the point is that we are NOT a single life...but we have responsibilities to those who suffered to get us where we are, and we have a responsibility to those who follow us.

Incidentally, this thinking one dimensionally was just as big a problem then as now....

One reason Tom Paine said:

“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”

God bless

"Posterity - you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom...

...I hope you will make good use of it." --John Adams