Commentary by David G. Arredondo, Lorain, Ohio

 January 20, 2009 marks the beginning of a new era as we have been constantly reminded since November 4, 2008.

 In some ways we can mark it down as the day our free press died. For this reason, today I decided to dress in black to symbolize it as a day of mourning. I wear a black suit, black shirt, black shoes and a grey tie with gold elephants which I bought in Thailand.

 The Mainstream Media has manifested itself as an enthusiastic cheerleader for President Barack Obama and his administration similar to that in countries where there is no freedom of the press and the news media is controlled by the government.

What is different in our setting is that no government entity, no Propaganda Ministry has taken control of our major media; rather, the media itself has voluntarily ceded its' objectivity without a shot being fired. No one has cowed them into being obedient lap dogs of the government. 

Kim Jong-Il would be impressed with the adulation that has been afforded Barack Obama even before his canonization, I mean inauguration as president. Whereas inaugurations were once a one-day event, this one has been going on for nearly one week and it is hard to believe that the hoopla and celebrating will end tonight.

 The more I think about the death of the objectivity and non-partisan nature of the American Mainstream Media, I now realize that this is not something that just recently occurred; actually, it has been many years in the making. Republican President Richard Nixon may have queered it for us back in the 1970s by going after The Times, the Post, CBS, etc., just at the time when the Baby Boom generation began landing in newsrooms and broadcast studios.

It is our Far-Left generation that embodied a partisanship equating Republicans as evil and Democrats as good or not-as-evil. So during this generational period we have seen Republicans at all levels come to be more criticized and scrutinized than Democrats. There is no comparison. A Democratic President is impeached and it becomes no big deal; no mention is ever made again. There is no shame attached, no consequence. It might as well have never happened. 

 The controversial election of George W. Bush in 2000 made it easy to justify his subsequent demonization interrupted only briefly during the impact and aftermath of 9/11. True, there was tacit and grudging support by the MSM of the decision to go to war in Iraq but how hard was this when there was popular support of Bush and his decision of 80%+ .

Let’s remember that Congress also voted in favor in similar numbers. Unquestionably President Bush deserved major criticism for wrong decisions these past eight years but not hardly commensurate with the vitriol and opprobrium that has occurred via cartoons, hard news stories, commentary, and just yesterday, booing during the Inaugural introductions. How shameful.

So while the media has been largely hostile to Bush and most Republicans these past 8 years, beginning last January it embraced Barack Obama as its’ candidate and willed his election. I cannot remember a single instance during the campaign where he was principally criticized for anything? He could do no wrong. Hillary and Bill Clinton might as well have been Republicans insofar as they were treated as such while they campaigned for her nomination in the Primaries.

Quite a rude awakening for them who were so used to praise from the MSM. The proof rests in the numbers of positive stories for candidate Obama versus candidates Clinton and McCain.  And as if the MSM didn’t have enough red meat with McCain, well it went after Sarah Palin with a crazed feeding-frenzy equal to that of a mad dog in a meat market.

So once the election was decided this past November 4, the MSM couldn’t wait until January 20, 2009 and began covering President-Elect Obama as if he was already the president. “Bush who?” It is laughable to read the topic question “How Long will the Honeymoon last for President Obama?” Hell, try eight years. If this guy has made it through the past 2 years without any serious criticism, do you honestly think it’s going to begin now? No, instead, much as it occurs in countries with a controlled press, the Dear Leader receives no criticism. 

Rather, the barbs are aimed at the underlings and opposition.  Biden, Reid, Pelosi, Clinton, etc will be fair game but not el Jefe Maximo. And Republicans, brace yourselves because you will no longer have Bush to take the heat. We are yet to see the worst of it because it is only beginning. Imagine how things will be if and when the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” is passed by Congress?  Say goodbye to the only alternative source of opinion or dissent that comes from talk radio.

We are in for a long eight years of one-sided news and opinion.  Shall we go for cremation or burial?