COLUMN: They will never love you

Harry Caines contributes a weekly column to CacheValleyDaily.com. His column is a work of opinion, and does not reflect the views of Cache Valley Daily, the Cache Valley Media Group, or its employees.

<em>“If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: ‘President Can’t Swim.’”</em>

—Lyndon Johnson

Journalists are historically and overwhelmingly biased in favor of liberal politicians, especially those belonging to the Democratic Party.

There. I said it. It is out there and I cannot take it back. And now that I have crossed the Rubicon, I can indulge to you some more top secret information.

The sky is blue. Water is wet. And clowns are creepy.

When do I pick up my Pulitzer?

I never understood why members of the media—and more specifically those who cover politics—just don’t admit what is obvious. In large numbers, and without much subtlety or discretion, members of the journalistic community dislike Republicans, social conservatives, organized religions, gun owners, Southerners, bankers, CEO’s, Fox News, people who watch Fox News, pro-Israelis, Donald Trump, talk radio hosts, Mel Gibson and the CIA.

I would put Ann Coulter on that list, but everyone hates her.

And here is where the problem lies. The Republican Party, like a wayward son, keeps looking to receive a level of love and respect from Big Media that they will never get. The 5 inch heels, sexy red dress and smoldering ‘come hither’ glance the GOP puts on every couple of years to seduce journalists does not ignite their passion.

How do I say this without being cruel? You’re not their type.

Mind you, there are times when Republicans, and more to the point, social conservatives who have hijacked and brought the GOP to its knees like the Spanish Inquisition of yore, deserve to be excoriated. Take a look at the dossier of columns I have published every Thursday; I rip them with a frequency that would make Michael Moore wince in pity.

I will relent a little bit on one point. A majority of journalists want to get the story right. Few of them are committed to making sure what they print is nothing more than a hit piece—aimed to promote or destroy an agenda. Those media mafioso exist; but they are the minority.

To those who are rolling their eyes at what you consider to be the trite claim that the media is biased, I assume your argument will be equally trite. You will state that you do not see any bias when reading or viewing the news. OK. That is understandable. Allow me an anecdotal reply.

I once visited a friend who lived next to a gas refinery. I asked him how he could stomach the smells emanating from the plant. He looked at me and said, “What smell?”

If the media uses the same language repeatedly, and it is language you mostly agree with, it does not stand out to you as bias. It comes off as common sense.

Perception is reality. And the perception of Republicans by many in the press is that they are religious wingnuts who are uneducated, uncultured, bigoted and bitter. Maybe that is sometimes true, but it should not be reported as a given. That is bias.

If my stance on this issue is not lucid, let me rectify that now. I understand, and to a certain extent excuse the media for being liberal. I give a pass to most who show an obvious bias towards those more liberal politicians. Who do I not give a pass to? In three letters: G.O.P!

They keep asking for love from a group who has denied it to them longer than I have been alive. Stop! You’re embarrassing yourselves!

This is my advice to the Republicans and social conservatives who frequently find themselves alone when the ugly lights come on. Ignore the media! Or, at the very least, be belligerent towards them. They will never love you, so never love them back.

It is time for the Grand Old Party to Taylor Swiftboat the media.

Whenever a crisis comes up, or a political event painted to be a crisis, the GOP tries to win in the court of public opinion. They use the media to get their message out. Fox News is always there to be a conduit. On a larger scale, that’s about it.

And with the omnipresent stories about sequestration and continuing budget resolutions plaguing our lives the ideological battles between Republicans and Democrats are even more intensely argued in the media.

This spaghetti Western of a battle is being fought by the Republicans against the Democrats and their willing sidekicks, the mainstream media. They have the guns and they have the numbers.

Don’t show up. Mount your horses and leave town.

Republicans have to realize that journalists will never be swayed to like them; no less love them. Take your arguments directly to the people. Not the people who harumph every time you proclaim your political stances. Go to that voter who may not know what you stand for because the press does not relay it to them untainted by their own bias.

Ignore the media. Their disdain for Republicans is always going to be there. If you are not there to receive it, it relegates them to snarling dogs barking at the wind.

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