Comments for Loyalty above Principle or Principle above Loyalty | Eastern NC Now

One more thing, Bobby Tony. This last comment of yours has enough in it for a mighty post; if for no other reason your summation in your poetic last line: "I would ask for a double-shot of Vodka in my Kool Aid."

Beautiful.

Commented: Saturday, May 20th, 2017 @ 3:29 am By: Stan Deatherage

Most of the millennials will not remember the press hounding Richard Nixon long before Watergate. The Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee was a close confidant of the First Philander in Chief John Kennedy, long before Kennedy was elected president. Nixon had an intense dislike for the press based on his previous treatment when Vice President over his campaign fund financing, which was common practice in the 1950's. To be sure Richard Nixon was a brilliant tactician but with a deeply flawed personality that did not fare well in the new arena of TV politics.

It is interesting that many who heard the 1960 Nixon / Kennedy debate on the radio thought Nixon won but most who saw it on TV thought Kennedy won. Roger Ailes came into Nixon's spotlight in 1967, as a 27-year-old Executive Producer of the syndicated Mike Douglas show, when he tried to convince a still skeptical Nixon that Television was not a gimmick but a real influence on the public. Thus the quote re the "People are lazy" quote in the comment below.

Having never been in the political arena, I can nevertheless understand the blood sport that politics seems to breed. The Democrats have long known that, but many Republicans suffer from the "Rodney King Syndrome."

Then along comes Donald Trump and everyone thinks this it is something new. If I were still a drinking man I would ask for a double-shot of Vodka in my Kool Aid.

Commented: Friday, May 19th, 2017 @ 4:48 pm By: Bobby Tony

Roger did not invent the technique he just appropriated the Liberal bluster an applied it to his conservative views and found a vast audience that was not being served by the established media. A marketing coup if ever there was one.

Politico had an article by Jeff Greenfield, liberal commentator that amply describes the attraction of Ailes, Fox News and MSNBC.

"How did Roger Ailes achieve such devotion? At root, it flowed from one key fact: He approached his task not as a journalist, but as a political warrior.
Perhaps the best way to think about what Roger Ailes built is to recall a comment by a liberal US Senator some years back who found great comfort in watching the liberal rants of Keith Olberman, then on MSNBC. Why, I asked, after hours on Capitol Hill, would you watch an hour of political rhetoric?"

Because, came the answer, “it’s like sinking into a nice warm bath.”

www.politico.com

Have a nice cool glass of Kool aid, anyone?

Commented: Friday, May 19th, 2017 @ 8:58 am By: Bobby Tony

With the death of Roger Ailes, founder of Fox News and perhaps the second most hated man by the Liberal Media, I noticed a quote from one of the news sources, which illuminates the problem with getting all your information from television (either left or right). I suspect that Rahm Emmanuel learned many lessons from Roger and thus my fear of Rigid Ideologues or Lazy Moderates.

"As an aide to President Richard Nixon in 1970, he prepared a 300-page memo titled, A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News."

"Today television news is watched more often than people read newspapers, than people listen to the radio, than people read or gather any other form of communication," the memo read. "The reason: People are lazy. With television, you just sit -- watch -- listen. The thinking is done for you 1970."

Commented: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 @ 10:03 am By: Bobby Tony

Apologies for the long reply:

I agree that James Comey was in a difficult position because he possessed knowledge that he felt the public should know, but he was bound by the constraints of an ongoing investigation. (Catch 22) and his duty as a citizen. I cannot wait to read his book. It is sad that most of this information comes after the point that we the public would find it useful.

I think one of the points I was trying to make was that our elected, appointed and hired officials should have a loyalty to the principles of our constitution and not the loyalty to people or an ideology that is not consistent with the constitution. The campaign process allows candidates to explain their positions and expand their vision of the path they plan to take. Their objective should be clear. We have too much nuance from both sides because of their need to gather a majority of votes.

Perhaps the cure is illustrated by the article recently posted by Publius Huldah.

beaufortcountynow.com

Commented: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 @ 7:27 am By: Bobby Tony