Don't let the facts get in your way

Salon has a terrific article on how the current administration has carefully and methodically (and successfully) chipped away at the foundation of journalistic integrity, as the Fourth Estate ultimately pays the price for the Presidential Propaganda machine's wrong-doings.

It's a brilliant strategy on the part of Rove and his evil team of spin doctors. After planting their own phony stories and fake journalists - and thereby muddying the murky waters with dubious facts - they then question the (already lazy) press on its fuzzy facts and effectively confuse the public.

"It's basically gaming journalism," says Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. "It shows withering contempt for journalism. What's frightening is that it's been done with total disregard, or lack of concern, about being exposed."

Moreover, they revealed their complete and utter contempt for the media by having a male escort pose as a faux journalist, creating an actual, honest-to-goodness media whore.

According to David Brock, author of "The Right Wing Noise Machine" and CEO of Media Matters for America, a progressive, not-for-profit advocacy group, the White House's ultimate aim is to raise doubts about the information independent journalists produce. "Their explicit goal is to get us to the point where there are blue [state] facts and red [state] facts," Brock says.

By creating these Red State and Blue State facts, they have effectively eliminated the actual facts. And, as John Adams once famously said: "Facts are stubborn things." At least, they used to be stubborn things for Republicans. But no more.

"They have an ability to confuse an issue and neutralize the facts that aren't in their favor," says Brock. "When a reader looks at a story and does not know what to make of it, then Fox has done its job."

That's how groups like the Swifties were so successful in their smear campaigns. When you're lying, you have nothing to lose. But John Kerry - a man who had the facts and the truth on his side - can only lose, because baseless allegations must get equal time in order to appear "balanced." Calling John Kerry's character into question - when he was telling the truth - diminished him, even though the charges were completely false. In the end, the truth was the ultimate casualty. And God help any who the truth favors.

It's like that ol' saying about mudwrestling a pig; you both get dirty, but only the pig likes it.