Calling Out the Press

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I’m ignoring Ted Cruz’s presidential bid announcement and instead will focus on something actually important. Jay Rosen analyzes how the press might cover candidates who are climate change denialists (like Cruz). Some news media (such as the New York Times) now have stated policies saying that climate change denial cannot be taken seriously and are brushing aside their usual position of not taking sides on an issue.

However, that’s not necessarily going to mean they will publicly declare that politicians like Cruz are being ridiculous. In real-world political reporting, much of the press is still falling back on treating climate change denial as a normal campaign position. Others, more cynically, treat it as a strategy — will it help or hurt them on election day? Never mind if it’s true or false.

The earth itself may have something to say here. California is drying up, you know. It’s groundwater supply is shrinking. To a large extent California feeds the rest of the nation; we depend on that one state for a whopping large percentage of our fruits and vegetables. If California becomes the next dust bowl, what will we eat? How will that affect the rest of the economy? And how quickly will Republicans blame Obama?

15 thoughts on “Calling Out the Press”

  4. “And how quickly will Republicans blame Obama?”

    Oh, they’re probably warming up their accusations now.

    You now, like the droughts in CA and TX, are all part of that Kenyan SocialiFasciCommuniHeatheAtheiMuslim Tyrant Obama’s attempt to make this nation thirsty for Sharia Law!!!

    Our MSM political “reporters” and punTWIT’s were smart to take media over writing for horse racing and wagering publications.
    The exposure is greater, the pay is better, and so are the benefits – as for the cocktail parties, I’m pretty damn sure the KY Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont parties, might give any of the MSM DC Villagers parties ‘a run for their money.’
    All they have to do instead of analyzing, questioning, and reporting on issues and policies, is turn politics and elections into a horse race!

    Of course, in politics, there’s a hell of a lot more bullshit to deal with, than there is horseshit in all of the horse-racing tracks in this country!

  5. Dukkha Earl,
    It’s not just Africa.
    Read “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” by John Perkins, and you’ll see we’ve been securing the water, agricultural, and mineral rights for ourselves pretty much, well… everywhere around the globe!!!

  6. And how quickly will Republicans blame Obama?

    The speed of light = 300,000,000 m/s and the distance between the White House and Capitol Hill is 5200 meters, so I’d say about 0.000017 seconds.

  7. I lived in Santa Barbara in the 80s when there was a drought severe enough that they were rationing and decided to build a de-salination plant. So, they did and it cost a lot of money and by the time it was done, the drought was over and they didn’t need it. It was never used and I don’t know if it is still functional or not. Although I don’t think this current drought is going to go away. CA has clearly used and wasted water and now has to pay the piper. That area is basically a desert and nature never intended for the lifestyle that is prominent there.
    My son still lives in Thousand Oaks and I have been trying to get him to move for years cause I want him closer but he surfs and can’t leave the ocean. So far they have not done anything in TO to make him “feel” it but if that happens, maybe he will move.

  8. Whenever the LA Times publishes something about the drought, you can reliably depend on yahoo commenters coming forward to blame –

    – environmentalists, for caring more about protecting small fish than feeding or quenching human thirst

    – nimbys, who don’t want desalinization plants built near them

    So something as large and abstract as climate change easily translates into local issues, where it’s easy for conservatives to find villains and beat them over the head. And still deny that humans have anything to do with climate change. All before lunch.

  9. The water situation will be solved with the rise of the ocean by 10′ or so. Of course the central valley will become the Central Valley Sea (or some such moniker), and be under saltwater, but hey, it’s water as far as the eye can see! Down in the southern reaches of the state, we’ll have Lake New Cahuilla to get water from. So this global climate change will be a net gain for water in California…

  10. If California becomes the next Dust Bowl, we will eat meat and potatoes, just like real men always have! Fruits and vegetables are for elitist snobs like Michelle Obama and her pals.

  14. It used to be [that] it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier.”

    Notice how Cruz twists the reality by inserting the term “scientific wisdom” in place of using the correct term of “religious dogma” in defining his bullshit. The only thing I can take from his twisted words are that he is so contemptible toward other people’s intelligence that he can’t see that he’s not getting over. He really thinks he’s God’s gift. He’s the biggest narcissist I’ve ever seen in my life. He could make Narcissus seem almost self loathing by comparison.

    I love myself, Ted…Who do you love?

  15. Well, Joan, I don’t think there is a term derisive enough to define Cruz. The closest I can come to expressing my feelings about him can only to be expressed in a guttural sound that conveys extreme disgust.

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