Media and Politicians Lies

I watched a video today titled How the Media Needs to Respond to Trump Now, by Keith Olbermann GQ. The link is below.

Please don’t let the reference to Trump put you off watching it. Trump isn’t the reason why I posted it. I posted it because Keith talks about the media. How the media should respond. After watching it, I think that it is how the media should respond to all politicians lies.

In our own country (Australia) our politicians lie to us all the time. The worst offender of the lot is none other than Labor Leader, Bill Shorten. Yet, even the media who is traditionally thought of as conservative like the Australian and Daily Telegraph rarely ever highlight it.

It isn’t good enough to simply say politicians lie. In the world of the fast paced news cycle it’s all about getting the story out. Keith Olbermann highlights why; money, the almighty dollar. The media needs to (in fact MUST) point out the lie but then present the facts. In doing that hopefully three things are achieved.

Politicians start to become more responsible. They can’t hide behind untruths and what is blatant and in many cases habitual lying.

The public becomes better informed.

The media starts doing their blasted job. Stop the headline chasing and start to present the truth; fact and data. Report on the lie but back it up with the truth.   

The ones most responsible for this should be publicly funded media. If they can't present us with the truth who can we rely on? Then we have the media machines; those driven by advertising dollars. Far too many journalists hide behind their 'unnamed source' justification. Whomever 'unnamed source' is, he or she is now the news feed for the world. That has to stop.

Until the media starts behaving as we expect them to, we should stop reading MSM. We should definitely stop watching TV media and above all stop promoting them. Hit them in the back pocket where it hurts. Money talks for them and we can make it sing for us. As for our publicly funded media? We support the party who insists on the media we fund telling the truth even if it is critical of them.

How The Media Needs to Respond

Hitting the media though their back pocket will be a lot more effective than complaining about them on social media. Or posting negative comments about journalists in response to their columns.

Edward Murrow once said, "A nation of sheep with beget a government of wolves." One of the major corner stones of democracy is a free press. One that tells us the truth even when we don't want to hear it. We need their help to keep with wolves under control. They need to start doing their job.

I'm Not Prone To Alarmism, But

Think about this for a minute.

"A psychopathic media magnate or politician can have a damaging impact on the minds and lives of hundreds of millions of people. They may in the long run be more dangerous & destructive to society than low-achieving violent psychopaths." ~ Gao and Raine

Quote from Will Blacks superb book Psychopathic Cultures and Toxic Empires. If you haven't read it, I can recommend it. It opened my eyes.   

So what happens when you mix the two? Like Trump & the odious exBreitbart CEO and now Trump chief advisor and bizarrely Security Council Member, Steve Bannon? I believe we have cause for concern. This is why.

Think about the practice of branding any major news site that publishes personal or performance valuations about a leader as fake. Even facts are branded fake if they are unflattering. Yes, fake news is out there. I don't deny that. A lot of fake news comes from independent sites, many only recently launched. Don’t kid yourself only the so called left do it. All groups do. But how dangerous and I dare say naive to label every column that is critical (or unkind) as fake? That’s idiocy. But, if you play the fake card often enough, it sticks. We witness that today. Even when the story is true, the cries of FAKE from the adoring throng resound.

In recent days fake news has been labelled alternative news. There is no such thing as alternative news. There is truth, untruth and opinions. I felt compelled to challenge someone last week over a claim of fake news. A research company looked into click words and hashtags posted on Twitter. The key tags and click words being bigot, racist, dishonesty etc.  What they found overwhelmingly was, that Donald Trump attracted more bigot, racist hashtag responses than anyone. Clinton scored the highest on dishonesty. This was published in the Australian. Out came the fake news chanters. Everyone conveniently ignored the Clinton dishonest tag. So I assume from that, it was only the Trump data that was fake, in the minds of some. No one mentioned Clinton. As I pointed out in my comments to the column, it’s research data. Given the chatter that Trump evokes it’s easy to conceive he rates highly on bigot and, racist tags. Because Trump supporters wouldn't accept the output that labelled their man a bigot and racist they tried to delegitimise the story as fake. It's ludicrous behaviour.

People on mass have now lost trust in the media. In certain circumstances there is some justification. What we are seeing from Trump and co is different.  They are running a deliberate strategy to totally undermine the press. Why do people do that? It's to make sure they are not closely scrutinised. When media trust is destroyed, readers don't believe anything. Truth will simply be labelled rubbish. Fake. There is enough evidence in our history to prove this works.

Along with the fake news strategy people are told there is only person to be trusted. The one those awful media people are trying to hold to account. We are constantly bombarded with messages telling us the media just lies, lies, lies. They are so mean. But, don’t worry we have a saviour. He’ll take care of us. It will be beautiful. He promises. He never lies.

Someone actually said to me yesterday. “Donald Trump is the most honest politician I know. He never lies.” The person who said it, I've always considered intelligent and discerning. When I presented him with a string of examples he rubbished the source as dishonest, fake. It was a facts site with links. So, I presented him with a similar set of examples where the same source highlighted Obamas lies. Of course that was ignored. This is how things work now.

It doesn’t end there. The calls to close down the free MSM press grow by the day. I see this on social media. The comments section of MSM is full of these demands.

A journalist from the BBC asked Trump an uncomfortable (for him) question during his press conference with British PM May last week. It was a relevant and important question. The question was respectfully asked. Trump squirmed. Dozens and dozens of people then hit a British News Service calling for the White House to ban the BBC. People demanded the reporter be fired. They demanded the BBC be closed. I find that seriously scary behaviour as I value freedom of speech and a free press. These are some of the values our forebears fought for. They fought for us to have that right. Some even sacrificed their lives in battle. It appears it was for nothing. As we are so willing to give it away. Please don't come back with the BS that's what Trump is fighting for. No he isn't. If he was, he wouldn't be trying to close down anyone who disagrees with him.

If you were reading the above, without being appraised of the circumstances it reads like the outline for a cheap political novel based in the third world. But sadly, it isn't. This is happening now. In the free world.

Even Hitler said. “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough it will be believed.” He was right.

I understand there is a ground swell demanding revolution. Thankfully there is also a groundswell saying, not like this. As I'm not a fool, I also accept something needs to change. But, there are some very sinister tactics at play. I just hope people wise up soon. Because what we end up with, might just result in us being much worse of.  I fear this will be the case. I am not prone to alarmism. But, I readily admit my alarm metre has hit the red zone.

As a conservative I will always stand up for truth, our rights and our freedom. Our right to question and critique those in power is a fundamental right. Steve Bannon, sits at the right-hand of the so called leader of the free world Bannon told the media to keep their mouth shut. Spoken like a true 'Alt-Right Psychopath'. He even labelled them the opposition party. The only countries I see trying to silence the press are Turkey, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and now the US. That bothers me. Regardless of who people support politically, it should bother everyone.

We should be reminded of the words of Theodore Roosevelt when he said.

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

To my mind, anyone advocating for change and who seeks to do so at the cost of our liberty and our freedom to question, to judge and to criticise them, is not seeking change for us. Instead they are seeking to relegate us to the level servitude.  

“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.”  ~  George Orwell, 1984

We live in troubling times. For the first time in my life, I am very, very worried for our collective future. What true centralist conservative can stand by in silence and watch this happen. I for one can't.

Media Agendas or Reader Biased Preconceptions

Like so many I have been extremely critical of the media. I don’t shy away from that. It's often deserved. However, to label all journalists as biased and therefore lacking objectivity is drawing a long bow. 

Reading comments to various journalists columns is an enlightening experience. It is obvious given the response some people don’t even bother to read the article. They kick-off based on the headline. Given the mendacious replies of others, it is obvious what their agenda is. Then we have the ‘follow the leader' bunch. They’ll scan the comments, find one that fits and merrily keep the lie alive. 

An extremely good example of what I am referring to is graphically highlighted as a result of an article written by Ahmed Kilanith and published in the Australian last week. It was titled ‘There should be a charter for local Muslims’. Mr Kilanith spoke of what needed to be done (for the want of a better word) to modernise Islam and to start to address radicalisation. He spoke eloquently on the issue of dysfunctional leadership in the Australian Muslim community and the importance of Australian Muslim leaders and imams, not imports. He shared his very valid opinion that all organisations should implement quotas for female representation on their boards. Mr Kilanith suggested that all boards should comprise 50 percent of suitably, qualified Australian-born or raised female Muslims under the age of 45. Well out they came in force attacking him for wanting female representation on boards. Of course the idiots (sorry, but it needs to be said) completely ignored the fact or simply didn’t read what he wrote, that Mr Kilanith was referring to Muslim boards and Muslim associations NOT all boards. The agenda of the knockers ‘beat up on Muslims’ and simply ignore what they are really saying. 

Likewise, there was an article published in The Telegraph about teaching the history of the Middle East and Islam in schools as part of a program to help to combat radicalisation. The idea was tabled by security expert Peter Jennings and is being considered by theeducation board for inclusion in religious studies. Given the success that people like Sarah Khan and her organisation has achieved in the UK with education programs, I personally think the idea has merit. But, the headline caused an eruption within some of the ‘beat up Turnbull’, team. It was all the fault of Malcolm Turnbull. They completely ignored what was being proposed and by whom in their eagerness to take a stab at the Prime Minister. 

We see these types of reactions repeated ad nauseam. It simply points to the fact that for far too many, the perception of the facts is shaped and altered by their biased preconceptions. In short, people believe what they want to believe, and the facts be damned. 

Could We Give It A Rest, Please?

Don't know about you, but I'm a bit tired of hearing about ISIS & maybe terror attacks. Page after page of media reports. Social media saturation with every armchair expert in the universe voicing an opinion, which is their right, I know but seriously can’t we give it a rest? 

Reminds me of a few months back when we were all going to die from an Ebola pandemic.  Remember that? It was going to wipe out millions of people. Days and days of  scare mongering and knee jerk. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent on screening and tightened security. Guess what, it didn't happen. We are still here. 

I’m not saying we should be blasé about what is happening in the Middle East. I'm not saying we should be completely fooled into thinking we are immune. Only an idiot would think that. But seriously, on the probability scale of what will kill me, I’m figuring being bumped off by a terrorist wouldn’t be number one on the list right now. 

I feel very comfortable that our security forces and our police are on top of this. They can never guarantee everyone will be safe, no one can. The same as a driving test assessor in granting someone a license can never guarantee that person will not kill you whilst they are behind the wheel of a car. That’s life. 

I don’t know about you, but I had safety rules drummed into me from the time I was a child. We should be cautious. Nothing new in that. But to turn on the news, switch to any media service and be faced with as I said page after page of drama, hypothesis and questioning our security only frightens people or increases their anger. 

I caught the replay of an Alan Jones interview with the odious Mr Bernard Gaynor on 2GB873 last night. My God. Talk about whipping up paranoia and hatred. I’ve mentioned Mr Gaynor previously. He is the ex Army Major who was booted out for his extreme homophobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic  and bullying tactics. Mr Gaynor is running for a senate seat next election for the Australian Liberty Alliance. Mr Gaynor also now appears to have found a champion in Mr Jones, who is also well known for possessing the same set of corrupted values as Mr Gaynor. They were having a great old time slurring our ADF and our security capability. The main thrust of their discussion was Muslims in the services and the fact that our security is compromised as a result. Disgraceful stuff in my opinion and my very low opinion of Gaynor and Alan Jones has now reached the level of utter contempt. 

Whilst ever we put up with this stuff and support people like Jones and Gaynor the more they’ll play to an already frightened electorate in their cynical campaign to garner listeners and supporters. 

But hey, I’m merely one voice, but I suspect I’m not the only one thinking they have had enough. There are more things going on in the world and in the country that we need to know about and talk about. 

I Am Angry For Allowing Myself To Be Conned

At first I was angry and now, as it appears I’ve been conned and manipulated I’m really angry? Angry with myself and angry with stupid irresponsible media. 

It’s no secret, that I have made my position on the Muslim issue perfectly clear. So when I read, that the badge worn by our Army Chaplains was to be changed after 102 years and two World Wars because it was offensive to Muslims I simply threw my hands into the air in desperation. My initial thought was why do I bother. Why do I bother saying but hey let's give them chance when they do things like this. Typical knee-jerk reaction. 

So when I actually took the time to confirm exactly what was happening, I became really angry over media and opportunistic manipulation. 

Malcolm Turnbull has come in for a heap of flack over the story that was published by  the Daily Telegraph. There was already a heap of accusing fingers pointing at him over the addition of an Imam to the Religious Advisory Committee to the Services, which in fact happened back in June. This appointment had nothing to do with Turnbull. In fact, it happened under Tony Abbott’s Prime Ministership. Not that it had anything to do with Mr Abbott either. 

It would be fair to say the appointee Sheikh Mohamadu Nawas Saleem has copped a lot of flack on social media & in MSM. Some warranted, as usual, some not. So the environment was right to pour petrol on already smoking embers. People are angry about Paris, they are angry about refugees coming here, they are angry about the Sheikh, they are angry about Turnbull, who many think has gone soft on all of this (I’m not in that camp but that is another story) so....cue stage right…

Out comes the Telegraph story of November 21. With the headline. 

Now to my shame I hadn’t actually read the Telegraph column until today. I had picked up snippets in the Oz on social media, etc. Yes, I know I whine about others doing that. I’ve learnt my lesson. 

When I actually read the story I realised I had, as they say ‘been played’. You see NO decision has been made on this despite the affirmative headline. It’s merely being considered. 

I suspect 99.9% of the population had no idea what was on the Chaplains badge anyway, until it was circulated as part of this story. I suspect even less are aware there are two badges. Jewish Chaplains have their own. So we have two cap badges. The ADF comprises people of all religions and I dare say a swag of atheists.  From where I sit, it makes sense to consider having one badge that represents all as I assume what we come out of this. 

Now, a decision would probably have just been made, implemented and no one would have been any the wiser. But the Telegraph mentioned the magic word, MUSLIM, and like a moth to a flame up pops Bernard Gaynor. You know Mr Gaynor the disgraced ex Army Major who was kicked out because of his extreme views. Mr Gaynor is entitled to his opinions, but the ADF didn’t have to tolerate them so they separated. 

Mr Gaynor came to public attention in the 2013 election campaign, when he fearlessly asserted his opposition to having his children taught by gay teachers. At the time he was found to breach even the loopy standards of his party, the Katter Party and he was subsequently dumped. That tells you a lot. He was too hot for Katter. 

But it is now 2015 and Mr Gaynor has found his Political, Spiritual Home at last. He will be running for a senate seat for, wait for it, the Australian Liberty Alliance. Let’s spend a few minutes interrogating Mr Gaynor’s beliefs.  

We have established he is vehemently anti gay and hence against same sex marriage. Fine, many people are but it probably touches on insanity when someone takes it to the level he does into wanting gays prosecuted. We can be thankful he isn’t advocating beheading them, a favourite pass time in Saudi Arabia. 

One of his tweets on same sex marriage back in 2014. 

He was relentless in his bullying of transgender Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor. A woman who has earned the respect of many, many Australians, including ex Prime Minister Abbott. 

He is anti-abortion. Fine, he is a Catholic.  

He is anti women in the military. Heaven help us, it is 2015 we got out of the kitchen a long time ago.

His ongoing vilification of Muslims is legendary so he must have been salivating over the opportunity to get in front of the media and beat up the Chaplain badge story. Disavowed ex Army, Muslim hater, want to be politician, the perfect mouthpiece. 

If it quacks like a religious far right extremist, it’s a fair bet that is exactly what they are. 

Back to the badge. A Defence spokeswoman has denied the motto was being changed because it was associated with the Crusades, when Christian armies fought Muslims in the Holy Land during the Middle Ages. Seriously, you would have to have a very colourful imagination to even think that was the reason. 

“The motto of the Australian Army Chaplains is being changed to better reflect the diversity of religion throughout the Australian Army,” she said. To me, that makes sense. 

“The new wording on the Australian Army Chaplaincy badge is under consideration and no decision has been made at this time.” End of. So why didn’t  the Telegraph phrase their headline to reflect that,  instead of the inflammatory mischief making headline they opted for. 

I  don’t particularly like the wording of, “In this sign we conquer”with a stylised cross in the middle, either. Chaplains do not go into battle. They are there to provide support and guidance to those who do. I simply don’t think the wording represents that, so if they can come up with something better, which is more inclusive great in my book. 

As for the Telegraph. Shame on you for stirring up division and hatred and particularly shame on you for doing it at time when volatility within the community is high. 

GUILTY: TRIAL BY MEDIA

I wrote on a meme today, that once upon a time, you actually had to COMMIT a crime to be found guilty. In the new world, however, you don't even have to be at the scene of the crime. Now, you are found guilty, sentenced and hung on the basis of a mere 'fallacious' fingerprint.

This comment was in response to recent events involving Union Royal Commissioner Dyson Heydon. He has been declared guilty by Media Trial for not attending a speaking event, organised by Liberal Party Lawyers. And yesterday, we had Andrew Hastie guilty of war crimes, that he was not involved in (apart from reporting the incident). Two men, found guilty when they were not even at the scene of the crime. If it wasn't so serious, you wouldn't be remiss for thinking this was the story line for a low budget political farce. But sadly, it isn't and the unblemished reputations of two good men are being tarnished.

It's a very worrying trend, when reputations can be ruined based on nothing more than mere spurious accusations or associations. Whilst many trials of late; such as in the case of Mr Dyson & Mr Hastie are most definitely politically motivated, the attack can be for any reason.

News media are the first to kick off politically focused trials (serving their political masters) but social media soon takes over. That's when we are regaled with the most vicious, slanderous attacks. A couple of twitter posts from yesterday highlight the extent.

THIS ONE WAS RETWEETED BY A LABOR POLITICIAN!!!

It’s a worrying trend and don’t think you are immune to media trial. None of us are. More and more employers read through their employees and potential employees social media profiles and threads and that research can be (& at times is) used as the basis for assessments. Now we accept, that some people ‘out there’ believe everything that media and social media publishes about individuals. So what happens, if one of those people just happens to be your boss or possible future boss and they just happen to believe some spurious accusation levelled at you. Conspiracy? Definitely not.

Let’s face it, even genuine (loose term in the circumstances) media hacks promote fanciful conspiracy. Back to Mr Heydon. The media, in their pathetic attempts to blacken Mr Heydon and tie this to Prime Minister Abbott related to an event over 30-years ago where Mr Heydon sat on a committee of seven who awarded PM Abbott his Rhodes Scholarship, was a classic. The inference was: 

30+ years ago a man sat on a committee to award a scholarship to  a the recipient, so that 30+ years later the recipient would be elected PM so that he could appoint a specific selection committee to a Royal Commission to bring down Unions and the current leader of the opposition. AND, some people believed it. 

So I guess the gullible will fall for any line spun to them. The disreputable will promote lies an innuendo for political gain (or any other cause they are championing) and unless we take a stand and say ‘enough’ good people will continue convicted by Media Trial based on nothing more than a mere 'fallacious' fingerprint.

It Was NEVER Going To Be Easy

If you are a conservative, it takes nerves of steal to read and listen to the day in day out attacks on the government. Nerves of steel to hang in there, and not bail out as some have done. But remember, these are not just attacks on Tony Abbott and the LNP, they are attacks on us as well. So unless we are doubting our convictions we have no choice but to stand up and voice our opinions and call out BS when we see it. 

When we voted the LNP into government in, in 2013 we did so on the basis that we could no longer afford an out of control dysfunctional Labor government. We demanded change and we wanted pressing issues fixed.

* Carbon Tax gone

* Boats stopped 

* Mining tax gone 

* Start to bring debt under control 

One - three have been resolved and four is being addressed. Whilst our debt continues to increase (largely in part as a result of a rapidly declining resources market and funding previous government commitments), the level at which the debt has grown has been reduced due to a lot of hard slog led by Treasurer Hockey.  

Since 2013, the government has been under unmerciless attack from a Labor, the Greens and the ever increasingly left leaning media.  The anti government cheer squad at the ABC and Fairfax leading the chorus. Recently however, some journalists in the Murdoch press have joined the yapping ABC & Fairfax, supported by many from Sky, SevenNews, Nine and 10. 

Through this attack Tony Abbott has maintained dignity. Not involved himself in mudslinging, certainly hasn't screamed discrimination like a previous PM. He has stuck to the course. He's bumbled along the way. His mere gesture of a wink causing a media meltdown and yet the blatant corruption of the opposition leader hardly rates a mention. 

We've been through the recent travel rorts where Tony Abbott has borne the brunt of the Bronwyn Bishop disclosure. Yet, Bill Shorten walks away from the ten times worse Tony Burke disclosure. It's hard to comprehend that could be the case, but sadly it is. 

Now we are facing attacks on the Trade Union Commissioner Dyson Haydon. Accusations based on acceptance to deliver an address (2 years ago) that was timed to take place after the commission was completed. And which the commissioner has now declined, for the very reason the commission is still sitting. Nothing corrupt or sinister in that. The story was timed, to try derail the commission before the next appearance of Bill Shorten. 

Make no mistake, this commission will snare the opposition leader Shorten and his union buddies. This cynical attack, launched by interested parties, is a collective endeavour, to try and maximise the damage to both the commission and the PM and it's nothing more than desperation. Tony Abbott had the guts to kick off this commission and he is hated for it by powerful union bosses and their political and media allies.  If they didn't have anything to hide they wouldn't be trying so hard to stop it.

I'm not a Tony Abbott groupie. There are many things I don't like about him. BUT I admire courage and decency and he has that in spades.  He has the courage to stand up to bullies and he has the courage to drive the necessary change to get this country back on an even keel. That won't make him popular, but it will make him effective. 

I know what it is like, after spending years driving change in business. I have some empathy for Tony Abbott because of my experiences. It's a very lonely path at times, and even some of those who supported you in the beginning bail out when the going gets really tough. So, as stated at the start, you have to have nerves of steel to complete the course. 

"You don't have to be liked, you just have to be effective"..  Abbott is effective. 

People in Glass Houses...

I just need to have a wee rant...

For days we have been swamped by media headlines of the Bronwyn Bishop helicopter ride at taxpayers' expense. Labor MP's falling over each other to climb onto the moral high-ground to condemn. Although the slates of those condemning most loudly are not clean by any stretch.  

Tony Burke the loudest 'Labor mouthpiece', demanding the PM sack Ms Bishop. This from the man that submitted fifteen claims that he was forced to pay back. Not one claim, fifteen. And, there is more hidden in his 'dirty sox drawer' and he knows it. 

For heavens sake, even the "coalition of the banchees" Jones & Lambie chimed in on Q&A last night. Lambie, preaching from the moral high ground is galling. The hide of this woman is astounding.  A woman who does little else other than chase a headline, jumping into the most divisive news story of the day and then sharing her idiotic opinion, to lecture anyone is galling. The same woman who shamefully used poor old Clive Palmer to gain office and then publicly humiliated him and stabbed him in the back. I've no time for Clive Palmer, but Lambie's treatment of him was reprehensible. She has no right to lecture others. 

Yesterday @Riley7News (an avowed Labor supporter) broke the news of Bill Shorten's misuse of travel expenses. A scan of morning news? Not a whisper. The Australian did report it, but buried it under the national news tab, story 15 from memory. 

I guess I should be used to it by now, but it still rankles.