Obama's assist from the media

Assuming, as expected, Obama wins tomorrow's election, what will that tell us about America in 2008?

Mainly, it tells us that the mainstream media have shifted from being merely biased in its coverage to operating as de facto propaganda ministry for the Democratic Party. What I'll remember above all else from this campaign is the outright refusal of the media to report revelations about Obama that would have been daily, front-page news in any other year. The examples are so many, it would be depressing to recite them all. However, it's no exaggeration to say that the cost of Sarah Palin's wardrobe received more press attention than the fact that Barack Obama belonged to a Socialist fringe party in the 1990s.

When it was not simply ignoring negative stories about Obama, the media sought to defuse legitimate attacks on Obama -- and indeed turn them against McCain and the Republicans --through a highly propagandistic device known as the "fact check." At best, the "fact check" is a vehicle through which a news organization can examine a disputed, controversial issue and render a judgment as to which side (Obama's) was telling the truth and which side (McCain's) was being less than honest. At worst, the fact-checkers performed this function with respect to charges and allegations against Obama that were indisputably true. In that case, the "fact check" tended to conclude with the reporter's blessing of whatever spin the Obama campaign happened to put on the charge.

Here's an illustration of how a "fact check" tended to work in practice:

• THE CHARGE: While serving in the Illinois State Senate, Barack Obama kidnapped and murdered dozens of teenage girls. John McCain says he has videotapes to prove it, along with DNA tests and affidavits from a number of victims who managed to escape.
• THE FACTS: Obama's plan for kidnapping and murder specifically exempts girls ages 13-16. Furthermore, according to his website, the vast majority of American teenagers would not be kidnapped and murdered if Obama is elected.
• THE VERDICT: McCain's effort to play on Americans' fear of kidnapping and murder is misleading at best, and possibly racist. Fact Checker gives him 2 Pinocchios.

What we've seen from the media this year is the kind of change Goebbels could believe in.