I've kept my mouth shut on the shootings yesterday because... well, I don't know anything, so to speak. And, after skimming through the news... heh. I still don't really know much more than before.
But there is an interesting compare and contrast from the coverage.
The Mainstreamers get on we bloggers because we don't fact-check. For a distressing number of bloggers, it is a fair criticism. Of course, perhaps we learned it from the Mainstreamers... who have cut, among other things from the newsroom... fact-checkers.
And the Mainstreamers go with the rumors for the same reasons the bloggers do - writing about an event, as I am, right now, 24 hours after the fact, is essentially just pissing up a rope, especially if you're a traffic whore, unless you're an Op-Ed writer. The trope has been set and your swimming upstream.
She Who Will Be Obeyed (SWWBO, the Mistress of Castle Argghhh!) notes this on her Facebook page:
Seemingly just about everybody in the Mainstream was running with the "possible soldier, officer, veteran, PTSD" trope - almost to the point of you wonder if it was a grand info-op on the part of the anti-war crowd or people who make money treating PTSD wanting something to help push their agendas (by which comment I do not intend to trivialize PTSD, it's sufferers (who are legion) and those who are genuinely trying to help - I'm after the shirt-rending, crocodile tear dripping disaster whore poseurs grinding axes and agendas and clamoring for air time). Easy enough to start checking on enlistment status, and if you know the bubba was 22, well, grab one of your tame retired generals and ask about the likelihood of someone that age being an officer (answer- not damn likely unless they came out of New Mexico Military Institute or Wentworth Military Academy, the only two-year commissioning programs I'm aware of). Pretty much 22 is the starting age for officers, and it's often older than that, but I digress.
I won't even delve into the "what kind of gun was used" reportage. I don't need to add bruxism to my list of medical issues.
Anyway - compare and contrast that with the guy in the story who was the *real* veteran, via this bit from newsitem.com
Yeah, sure, I admit, I like this trope better than the one the Mainstreamers were spewing yesterday. The press would do well to remember a key maxim of military life, especially in combat or high-stress situations: The first report is almost always wrong in key bits and is always incomplete.
[Update] Meet Daniel Hernandez, who clearly has a lot of sheepdog in him.
But there is an interesting compare and contrast from the coverage.
The Mainstreamers get on we bloggers because we don't fact-check. For a distressing number of bloggers, it is a fair criticism. Of course, perhaps we learned it from the Mainstreamers... who have cut, among other things from the newsroom... fact-checkers.
And the Mainstreamers go with the rumors for the same reasons the bloggers do - writing about an event, as I am, right now, 24 hours after the fact, is essentially just pissing up a rope, especially if you're a traffic whore, unless you're an Op-Ed writer. The trope has been set and your swimming upstream.
She Who Will Be Obeyed (SWWBO, the Mistress of Castle Argghhh!) notes this on her Facebook page:
I admit - Shepard and his crowd on Fox make me gag and hit the "anything but this (or any other "news" show, they *all* blow regardless of their alphabet names) button on the remote, but this is the kind of crap, allied with the "oh so frickin' concerned" mien (and dude, your makeup sux, you look like a healthy Boy George sometimes) and outraged tone they take, but I digress. They went with the easy-to-believe story that they're all primed to assume is true - the deranged veteran. The real story, of course, is more complex, and less comfortable - especially to the left side of the 'sphere, who would have loved to have a PTSD-addled Palinite tea partier to blame, because, well, you just *know* that's the kind of people who do this sort of thing, right?Fox News and Shepard Smith owe all veterans a huge apology after repeatedly insisting that the killer in Arizona was either an Afghanistan Vet or an Army Officer or maybe training to be in the Army today. The Army rejected his attempt to enlist. Why didn't Fox News (and other news outlets) do some research before reporting that this guy was in the military?
Seemingly just about everybody in the Mainstream was running with the "possible soldier, officer, veteran, PTSD" trope - almost to the point of you wonder if it was a grand info-op on the part of the anti-war crowd or people who make money treating PTSD wanting something to help push their agendas (by which comment I do not intend to trivialize PTSD, it's sufferers (who are legion) and those who are genuinely trying to help - I'm after the shirt-rending, crocodile tear dripping disaster whore poseurs grinding axes and agendas and clamoring for air time). Easy enough to start checking on enlistment status, and if you know the bubba was 22, well, grab one of your tame retired generals and ask about the likelihood of someone that age being an officer (answer- not damn likely unless they came out of New Mexico Military Institute or Wentworth Military Academy, the only two-year commissioning programs I'm aware of). Pretty much 22 is the starting age for officers, and it's often older than that, but I digress.
I won't even delve into the "what kind of gun was used" reportage. I don't need to add bruxism to my list of medical issues.
Anyway - compare and contrast that with the guy in the story who was the *real* veteran, via this bit from newsitem.com
Commendable caution on the part of writer Leslie Richardson of the TIMES-SHAMROCK - he (or she) did some checking before just blurting the story out - doesn't have a firm answer, but has done some checking and found some possibly corroborating circumstantial evidence before going with the story - and done so in a way that allows for a proper follow-up either way."I heard the shots but I thought they were fireworks at first," Bill Badger, a retired army colonel, said in a telephone interview Saturday afternoon. "I wasn't sure they were shots until I actually saw the shooter, and I was sure he was really shooting bullets when I felt the sting on the back of my head."
Although authorities would not confirm Saturday if Badger was at the scene of the shooting, Badger said he was grazed by a bullet in the back of his head. A local hospital confirmed later Saturday that Badger was treated and released for an undisclosed injury.
Yeah, sure, I admit, I like this trope better than the one the Mainstreamers were spewing yesterday. The press would do well to remember a key maxim of military life, especially in combat or high-stress situations: The first report is almost always wrong in key bits and is always incomplete.
[Update] Meet Daniel Hernandez, who clearly has a lot of sheepdog in him.
Such as, the initial reports that the Congresswoman was dead at the scene. That's kind of a biggie, and falls under Fact-checking 101. Really. Basic. Stuff. And if you can't confirm, that's what you write...
You state "...That's kind of a biggie, and falls under Fact-checking 101. Really. Basic. Stuff. And if you can't confirm, that's what you write... "
It's rather obvious that YOU will never succeed as a "journalist" for ABCNNBCBS or their dead-tree fellow travelers. The REAL motto is "If you can't confirm, feed the party line." After all, they're just following their original leadership with his assertion that "A lie told often enough becomes the truth."
I observed with interest the comments sections on the various news articles regarding this tragedy and didn't notice much of the 'deranged veteran' angle.
But what I did notice, with interest, was the almost immediate mass postings of nearly identical 'talking points' presumably from the far-lefty types attacking the Tea Party, NRA and Sarah Palin with unusual vitriol. The simularity and immediacy of the posts was, well, almost like they knew in advance and had their propaganda gin set up and ready to go.
Not suggesting anything, oh, no, no, no... just observing a mass coincidence in action. The reds have a very good propaganda arm, or.....
As for the 'news' articles, shows etc. Feh! A pox on all their houses. Pathetic.
There was a lot of Propaganda already in the can ready to be unleashed upon the domestic target audience within minutes of any active shooter incident that could be used to smear Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Conservatives, Republicans, veterans, gun owners, people with Gadsen Flag stickers on their trucks and opponents of illegal immigration.
How much of this pre-planned product was disseminated over JournoList, v2, to sore losers trying to replicate Bill Clinton's success with the OKC Bombing?
...never thought of the Boy George connection--good one, John!
Fortunately the army quashed that little number before it grew up. They do owe an apology too. It's a very wide slur. There was a bit of rather thin meat on the Sarah Palin one via a rather stupid political poster she had with crosshairs and the Congresswoman's name on it. No doubt we'll hear more of the real nature of this guy and any associates as the machine whirrs into action.
News these days sell emotion. It's really an addiction. FOX are very good at it and that shows in the high readership. Blogs may actually be better.
The revelation that the shooter was a fan of Karl Marx hasn't resulted in a single retracted comment ...
Well done, Colonel Badger! (74 years young and still serving)
Cheers
Yep. Kind of irritates the MSM when they get scooped by non-fellow travelers...
@Ms. Susan Katz Keating, it is a shame that all of the reporting on the Tet Offensive of 1968 was all done in retrospect. I know that is the description of your job to try to report the history of this event and not looking forward at the same event.
Well, yeah. This guy is a lunatic. A rational assassin would start with the banksters.
Unfortunately, this doesn't alter the fact that the Left was able to use their bogus narrative at the time to sap American will for the Vietnam War effort, which ensured a defeat for us and victory for the Communists.
The Left will continue to use the power they still have to spread lies, innuendos, and half truths because they know the power of being able to make the FIRST IMPRESSION. People's attitudes and opinions - and thus policy - are shaped and molded by these first impressions and the emotions generated by first reports. Corrections to stories printed on Page F-32 or aired at 2:30 AM, four or five days after the fact, don't have the same impact.
IMHO, the benefit of today's new media is that people have become more and more aware of the Left's lies and their bias. I think this past year's experience with the Tea Party is that the MSM is still lost in the fog of their own bias, and they still don't understand that their attempts to malign the Tea Party and conservatives has backfired and will continue to do so.
I personally hope they continue to scoff at the fundamental importance of the Constitution as it's written and I hope they continue to try to paint Tea Partiers as crazy, violent, right-wing wackos.
Every time they do this, the majority of normal, peaceful, law-abiding American folk will recognize their shrill Leftist hysteria for what it is.
At least, I hope so.
They had help. Those ops-hampering ROEs and MacNamara [spits] were right in there with them...
Let us not forget the actions of 'Americas most trusted man' Uncle Walter Cronkite and his part in the Tet propaganda. His later years have revealed his political leanings, but at the time, nobody knew where his true affiliations lay. His pronoucement that we had 'lost' the Tet offensive to the communists started the ball rolling and is perhaps one of the first times that an American newsman became a commentator devoid of any 'objectivity.'
Give the man a 'Duranty' award, appropriately colored blood red.
The anti-gun folks are really going to get some mileage out of this one. "Did you know that in Arizona that anyone can "conceal carry" without a background check"!!! And the "extended mag." is getting a lot of coverage.
There is no statute of limitations on a felony. Treason is a serious crime... and should be prosecuted.
Well... I'm still irked over the Patton incident. I definitely blame the media for that bit of idiocy...
Susan, I'm wondering; how do you mean that? Are you upset that Patton slapped the crap out of two enlisted men, or that the press reported what happened?
Much has been said about Patton slapping a stressed-out soldier. We forget, though... that incident included *two* soldiers who were fresh from combat.