Here's a good example of journalistic malpractice poisoning the political sphere:
All right, so we think we understand what Mitt Romney meant when he told some hecklers at the Iowa State Fair Thursday that "corporations are people, my friend."
Anybody these days fortunate to have a 401(k) retirement plan, or even a job with a corporation, understands that when a company makes a profit, there's a benefit to that firm's "stakeholders," as executive-types like to say.
Still, he gave his Democratic opponents an early Christmas gift by uttering those words. He just made their goal of pushing the narrative that he is a tool of corporate America much easier by providing them with that handy piece of video.
I have no doubt that the author, Frank James of NPR, fully understands what Romney meant. Rather than admit that completely, he gives cover to Democrats distorting what Romney said. I guess we can call him Frank "I know what he meant but I'm going to take him out of context anyway because I'm just another fucking asshole" James.
Civility in politics is not just about abstaining from name calling, it also means listening to your political opponents honestly and in good faith. Too much of our politics right now revolves around just this type of distortion and gotcha, and rather than call that the nonsense that it is, Frank James gets a little bit of a kick out of it. I would like to think he is an exception, but I know he is the rule when it comes to journalism and politics these days.
Thanks, Big Media(and that means you too, Frank), for helping make our political discourse the bullshit that it is today.
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