{"id":11977,"date":"2013-01-24T12:29:20","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T19:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=11977"},"modified":"2013-01-24T12:29:20","modified_gmt":"2013-01-24T19:29:20","slug":"sound-and-fury-signifying-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=11977","title":{"rendered":"Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Three furious headlines:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/crooksandliars.com\/susie-madrak\/chris-matthews-backs-anti-abortion-sh\" target=\"_blank\">Chris Matthews Backs Anti-Abortion Shill Into A Corner<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/online\/allen-west-blasts-lifting-ban-on-women-in-combat-misconceived-vision-of-fairness\/\" target=\"_blank\">Allen West Blasts \u2018Misconceived\u2019 Policy On Women In Combat<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kcna.co.jp\/item\/2011\/201110\/news18\/20111018-07ee.html\" target=\"_blank\">S. Korean Authorities&#8217; Fascist Oppression Flayed<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first is from a leftie site called Crooks &amp; Liars; the second from a right-leaning site called Mediaite; the third from North Korea&#8217;s Central News Agency. Each one of these could fairly be rewritten to say &#8220;Choir Hears Sermon, Opposition Plugs Ears.&#8221; Does anyone seriously think Chris Matthews&#8217; anti-abortion guest feels backed into a corner? Are Leon Panetta and the Joint Chiefs reeling from the blast Allen West set off under their feet? Are South Korean authorities&#8217; backs bleeding after that vicious flaying?<\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Slaps Down Senatorial Inquisitors! Senator Rand Paul Makes Hillary Beg for Mercy! It&#8217;s all bullshit. We choose sides beforehand and nothing anyone says changes a single opinion.<\/p>\n<p>The headlines I cited are from nakedly partisan news organizations. Mainstream news sources strive for &#8220;balance.&#8221; Yesterday NPR, balanced to a fault, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2013\/01\/22\/169950210\/obamas-2nd-term-rankles-die-hard-republicans\" target=\"_blank\">interviewed a birther<\/a>. Never once did the reporter question her assertions, even when she said &#8220;We never saw a birth certificate.&#8221; Would it have violated NPR&#8217;s policy of balance for the reporter to have mentioned the two birth certificates Obama released in 2008 and 2012?<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of birthers, I predict Beyonc\u00e9&#8217;s\u00a0lip-syncing will become the next weapon in the arsenal. Because we all know the Constitution requires the national anthem be performed live during presidential inaugurations. Otherwise the swearing-in is invalid and the powers of the commander-in-chief automatically pass to the white congressman from Wisconsin&#8217;s 1st District. Orly Taitz is probably writing a new brief as we speak.<\/p>\n<p>You watch. It&#8217;ll happen. And NPR will continue to &#8220;teach the controversy.&#8221; Is it any wonder we&#8217;re all getting our news from partisan websites these days?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three furious headlines: Chris Matthews Backs Anti-Abortion Shill Into A Corner Allen West Blasts \u2018Misconceived\u2019 Policy On Women In Combat S. Korean Authorities&#8217; Fascist Oppression Flayed The first is from a leftie site called Crooks &amp; Liars; the second from a right-leaning site called Mediaite; the third from North Korea&#8217;s Central News Agency. Each one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8,6],"tags":[1124,1123,1122],"class_list":["post-11977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-politics","category-a-series-of-tubes","tag-birtherism","tag-neutrality","tag-partisanship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11977"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11998,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11977\/revisions\/11998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}