The messenger vs. the message

Or, maybe, 'Sen. Palin vs. Harry Potter'?

Small-town girl v big-city boy

It is all rather extraordinary, not least in the shadow of Clark County.

I really having trouble forming a view of the people and/or the policies involved, not that my UK opinion matters a jot to US voters, but such reporting standards have to create a backlash.

Trying my utmost to be objective, almost any 'fact' that gets unearthed seems to be trivial, given totally undue prominence considering the relative status of the object of focus... and is hard to look at as anything than spiteful hissy fits from a small, if vocal minority who don't think others are smart enough to vote the 'right' way.

It may be there are other, more balanced 'analyses' of the other protagonists but I honestly can't say I have noticed. This Sarah Palin obsession seems unrelenting. The Guardian and even The Telegraph has staff bloggers that run an endless drip of 'anti-Palin stories. Trouble is, most seem to be either based on heresay or are plain wrong, and these sad, weak diatribes pale in comparison to the often YouTube-loaded rebuttals that in many cases can skewer Messrs. Obama and Biden by highlighting that whatever Mrs. Plain is accused of, they are on record of actually doing.

Despite some deep concerns on aspects of her policies and beliefs (such is the volume of red flagged effort across almost all 'we know better' media that might be true it's hard not to), as a human being I have to confess she comes across as someone I would instinctively side with simply by who is ranged against her and the sheer clunkiness of these so called 'smarter than the average PR' commentator's dollops of bitchiness vs. the Governor's self-evident US-style 'sass' & 'class'.

I can imagine how that plays with a more average voter outside of Washington, New York, Hollywood or indeed London, Paris or Berlin.

Yet again the arrogance of the (plus the paid-for 'our' in the UK thanks to the unique way our national broadcaster funded) media elite establishment seems extraordinary.

But I have a theory, and it is that they are all indeed very smart, and are in fact seeking to reap all they sow in this way by design. Punt out obvious, nasty drip-fed digs playing the person rather than the ball in media no one reads or watches in the USA, but let the power of the internet bear the rebuttals across the pond.

It is hard to divorce the medium from the messenger, so when a foreign liberal media cabal say do one thing, I'm figuring the more conservative folk in the heartlands may just kick back.

A bit like how I just felt being told as top of story that Gordon Brown was a saint because the multi-billion earning author chum of his wife says so and has dropped some chump change on his bankrupt party. And especially via a dig a Mr. Cameron's (of whom I am no fan) Party's policy seeking to promote family units on the basis which the author deems nasty as she was a 'single mum'. Thanks to the BBC's relentless, celeb-obsessed, 'word of the Gord' coverage, I mainly heard a direct snub to some modest, middling family values and struggling ambitions ill-served in a decade by the incumbent Govt (we are £500 poorer, apparently), from another out of touch luvvie FOG (Friend of Gordon) who is empathising with her sisters. Which, by the nature of the coverage at least, is a tad different to most rich Conservative donors that will be cited in balance.

All these guys can do what they like, with however much they want but... and this is the key point... the way it gets served up is not playing as well with this one-person voting constituency as well as those who spin may have intended.

Indy - JK Rowling donates £1m to Labour - 'Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I am delighted that JK Rowling, who is one of the world's greatest ever authors, has made such a generous donation.' I know she is popular, and deservedly so IMHO, but... Bless.

Maybe it's deliberate...if inexpicable

My love for most modern media is well known.

'Facts? Pah, who needs 'em? Integrity? Old school! Objectivity... is for wimps'. Agenda is all. And getting your personal one across and in place is paramount.

This seems pretty much to describe the attitude of a small but until recently over-powerful and unrepresentative collection of our 4th estate who might collectively be called the chatterati, were it not to also include some who in title at least inhabit the, um, 'news' rooms too.

One thing that sets these fine folk apart, at least in their minds and those who think like them, is just how darn smart they believe they are. How well read, and gracious.. and cultured. Not at all like those above who they must tear down and those below who they need to re-educate in the 'right' (not in a political sense, you understand) way of thinking.

Hence, for the life of me, with the Gaurdian's last Clark County outing still fresh in my repeating history of memories, I can't figure out just what the heck these humourless numpties are up to.

My only conclusion is either they can't help themselves or it is a deliberate ploy. To what end, heaven knows, but worth getting a few more pogroms going to lob it in by way of a notion, eh?

Telegraph - Media attacks have helped John McCain and Sarah Palin - Shame the quality of post is so dire

FT - Democrats must learn some respect

Gaurdian - The world's verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for - This'll help. Maybe not in the way intended, mind.

Not that it matters a flying monkeys to the US electorate really, but this little bit of the world in front of his keyboard right now would thank others who think they know better and seem to feel they speak for all others to be more careful with what they write. It might backfire.

I'm still coming to a conclusion. Telling me what I yearn for in such a manner, and what my reaction will be is... presumptuous.

Operation Clark County springs to mind in the US. What little cred the Grauniad has an organ of anything worthwhile by way of news or views in the UK is teetering on an abyss such that even the publications in the group some do buy, will have trouble subsidising its glittering scribe's salaries.

Gaurdian - John McCain corrects Gordon Brown over Obama 'endorsement' - Meanwhile, the gift that keeps on giving...

Telegraph - Gordon Brown has his John McCain chips

Telegraph - Did Barack Obama compare Sarah Palin to a pig? - You know what? I am sure there may be some policies and track record in there too. But the point that those who don't check their facts better (and those that employ them) might find their track record scrutinised is a good one. Such commentators are coming up as no more than stooges to undermine the causes they seem to 'support'. It is getting beyond farce.

BBBC

Telegraph - BBC crowns Barack Obama leader of the world -

New English Review - Who Has A Vote In The American Presidential Election?

The perils of meddling

Dear Limey assholes

Just for the archive, having been reminded myself by others, I attach here a link to the fallout that can ensue from some going a bit far (in this case literally) in letting others know how they think they should vote.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but they way such views are now being imposed (such as 'Operation Clark County') by an elite, on those deemed in need of re-educating on the correct path can often achieve a result quite the opposite to that intended.