The next time you hear someone complaining about the perfidy and bias of the “Liberal Media,” I’d ask them one question: If the media is so uniformly “Liberal,” where are all the breathless stories trumpeting Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s exposure as a child molester? Go ahead; I’ll wait….
I know, right?? If you get your news from the usual suspects, you may be aware of Hastert’s legal issues and moral failings…but I suspect you don’t know many of the details. Why would you? The story’s been largely ignored by the very same “Liberal Media” who you’d think would be ALL over an opportunity to embarrass a good, God-fearing Conservative Republican.
It’s not a stretch to believe that if Hastert was a Democrat, his particular perversion and alleged criminal behavior would have been front-page banner news from sea to shining sea. Hastert is the beneficiary of one of the strongest and most pervasive double standards in American politics and media: Being a Republican means never having to say you’re sorry or worry about being held accountable for your actions.
In case you haven’t figured it out, the “Liberal Media” is a myth, invented by Conservatives to deflect attention away from the truth that the media are far more right-of-center than they are guilty of obvious “Liberal bias.” It’s a variant of the “Big Lie” theory- repeat something often enough and with sufficient fervor and it will eventually come to be accepted as the truth. An idea’s veracity (or lack thereof) is beside the point, because as most Conservatives understand, truth isn’t what actually is- it’s what people can be convinced to believe.
Too many of those who’ve swallowed the “Liberal Media” myth are either too ignorant or too disinterested to recognize the truth. They KNOW the “Liberal Media” exists, and they KNOW it’s an evil attempt by the Left to use stealth and deception to dismantle America…all while they grant Conservatives license to do the very same thing they’d pillory the Left for.
The story that Dennis Hastert- one of the Republicans chiefly responsible for impeaching President Bill Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky- has seen the sexual skeletons lurking in his own closet exposed should qualify as BIG news. That it’s been largely ignored by the “Liberal Media” should serve as graphic proof of the dishonesty and lack of integrity of those who control our media.
Double standard? WHAT double standard??
Hastert paid off a boy he molested while working as a wrestling coach at a high school in Illinois. He’s been indicted for bank fraud for purchasing his victim’s decades-long silence. Three other men are now claiming to have been similarly harassed by a man who rose to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. Hastert used his position and unrepentant moralizing to push the impeachment of a sitting President over his sexual indiscretions. Hayes is correct; it really is pretty amazing that this isn’t a bigger story. The hypocrisy regarding the far more egregious nature of Hastert’s alleged crimes is frankly stunning…and evidence that the “Liberal Media” exists only in the minds of Conservatives who need to believe in the Far Right’s bogeyman.
Hmm…I wonder why that might be the case?? Could it be that such a double standard is just another way to ensure that ideologues who can’t win based on their ideas will have and maintain the upper hand? Remember…being a Conservative means never having to say you’re sorry or worry about being held accountable for your actions.
