I've been trying to trace my disillusionment with conservative media, because I know it's been going on a while. Tellingly, it probably began when I started writing a weekly column for our local paper back in 2003, much of which is the basis for what can be found here. Early on, it's easy to note the typical conservative talking points. But after being called out for factual errors a few times, I began researching for myself, rather than relying upon received wisdom from the media gods. I soon learned what was delivered as "fact" wasn't always so. Eye-opener #1.
Jump ahead to 2008, when a local talk show host named Bill "Willie" Cunningham gained national notoriety for being among the first and most visible to use Barack Obama's middle name while introducing John McCain at a rally. This took place the day after William F. Buckley died and Cunningham's feigned shock at the uproar showed he was all about attention rather than principle. Eye-opener #2.
In 2011, after we had taken out Osama bin Laden, I had some surprising disagreements with fellow conservatives who felt we shouldn't trust our president on the matter (I was told to be wary of something sinister in the President's act). Ok, partisan whack jobs, maybe. But then I heard similar questions being raised on talk radio. That was probably the Eureka! moment when I realized these guys were driven by ratings and therefore dependent upon maintaining a riled up audience. Eye-opener #3 (and channel changer).
Finally, the echo chamber that is conservative media became crystal clear just last month, following the Khizr Khan speech at the DNC. I saw the interviews with the Khans and with Trump where he questioned why the mother remained silent and how he'd sacrificed similarly by running a business. The next day I had a six hour drive and heard Rush, Hannity and especially, Michael Savage accuse the father of being an immigration lawyer, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and of using the U.S. Constitution as a cheap prop, while the mother was accused of having appeared in western garb at a Clinton gala years before - indicating the hijab she wore during the speech was an effect and that they were in the Clinton's pocket from the start.
Except that none of it was true. The woman in the photo was someone else with the same last name, the father had nothing to do with the Muslim Brotherhood, worked as a commercial attorney specializing in electronic discovery, and was known to keep copies of the Constitution at his home, which he handed out to military cadets who visited.
But that's not what was all over social media the next day. Instead, Facebook and Twitter were full of the misinformation spewed by conservative media. I found trying to correct it like trying to stop a flood with a fishing net. Frustrating and futile. But we must find a way to stop it, for we are seeing the damage that can be done to our democracy when a few selfish folks put personal profit ahead of principle and sway a nation with lies. An ignorant, ill-informed electorate is fertile ground for despots and demagogues.
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