Media antics

As November 2nd approaches, the media are going nuts. NPR did a hit piece on Fox News this weekend excoriating Fox's presumptive bias. There were no alternate views given. NPR, CNN, ABC, and the New York Times, etc., are just the tip of the iceberg. A phalanx of Obama's media supporters are rallying to his defense, with alarming lack of balance. The phenomenon has descended even to our local, 100,000 circulation community newspaper.

It must be extremely difficult for a partisan political columnist to control his baser instincts when attempting to write a straight news story. Jim Hand proves this theory in his thinly veiled attack on Marty Lamb ("At city event, Lamb takes a poke at pork").

Lamb is a candidate for the Massachusetts 3rd District, running against longtime incumbent James McGovern. Mr. Hand rightly informs us that Lamb has proposed a plan for reducing spending and the deficit, but then gives us only a silly example sourced from McGovern. Luckily, in the internet age, we don’t need to depend on the media and can find information on our own.

A visit to Lamb’s website easily reveals his “Lamb Chop” plan. His plan is actually quite extensive, with 19 items including a balanced budget amendment, providing the President with line-item veto power, and ending off-budget expenditures. These proposals may not all be desirable or possible, but they are all worthy of debate. It is a shame that Mr. Hand was unable to research and report on Lamb’s plan, but instead relied on Congressman McGovern’s office for an “unbiased” analysis.

In the run-up to November 2, we must all take personal responsibility for informing ourselves. We aren’t going to get the straight scoop from the press.