UK flooding; Today Show; global warming; ventriloquist journalism; Johnstown flood of 1977

I made the mistake of watching the Today Show's coverage of the UK floods yesterday morning. After describing the devastation, looting, shortages, etc., the "reporter" blamed the whole thing on "global warming." But he didn't come right out and say that in so many words. Instead, he used "ventriloquist journalism:"

3. Ventriloquist journalism. A common tactic of the MSM/DNC is to get others to do its dirty work. Let it appear as if someone else is doing the talking so that "media bias" won't be so obvious. [Update] MSM/DNC often uses phrases like "critics say" "some say" "experts say" "sources have told CBS news" . . . .

In this case, the "reporter" concluded his piece by stating that people all over the UK were asking if this catastrophe was caused by "global warming." The reporter evaded responsibility for the ridiculous allegation by imputing the allegation to flood victims across the UK.
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update

Newsbusters has the exact quote.

end update
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Contrary to the current global warming hysteria, floods and heat waves have been happening since the earth began. In fact we have much to learn from past floods.

I have included a portion of a film from 1977 that should serve several purposes:

1) The film shows that floods happened even before George Bush became President;

2) It once again raises the question of when global warming is supposed to have begun;

3) For those who are still "stuck on stupid" by leaning on Hurricane Katrina as a political issue, the film shows the proper response to a flood, including immediate action by an adult mayor and an adult governor. [The PA governor was a Democrat, btw. I am not sure about the mayor.]

4) The film is historically significant, as July 20 was the thirty year anniversary of this flood.

5) The film also shows the proper response to looting. Note the mayor's answer at about 0:15 after the beginning.

6) The film also contains an interrupted reference to a "heat wave," indicating that heat waves did not begin with President Bush either.

7) Can you guess the identity of the tall "cut and run" advocate in the white shirt walking next to Governor Shapp?




As I have said before, memory is a useful tool. History is not merely some subject that is taught in school. History can actually be useful in countering the MSM/DNC.

Ann Coulter; Godless; the Witches of East Brunswick; Kristin Breitweiser, Patty Casazza, Lorie Van Auken, and Mindy Kleinberg

Ann Coulter has deflated another MSM/DNC propaganda balloon, and the leftists are squealing like stuck pigs. In Ann's new book, Ann writes the following about four of the widows from 9-11 who have allowed their names to be used in a relentless campaign against George W. Bush and for the Democrats:

These self-obsessed women seem genuinely unaware that 9-11 was an attack on our nation and acted like as if the terrorist attack only happened to them. They believe the entire country was required to marinate in their exquisite personal agony. Apparently, denouncing Bush was part of the closure process.

These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much.

As Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote more than two years ago, "Americans are beginning to tire of them." Ms. Rabinowitz also wrote the following:

From August 1940 to May 1941, the Luftwaffe's nightly terror bombings killed 43,000 British men, women and children. That was only phase one. Phase two, involving the V-1 flying bombs and, later, rockets, killed an additional 6,180. The British defense, was, to the say the least, ineffectual, particularly in the early stages of the war--the antiaircraft guns were few, the fire control system inadequate, as was the radar system. Still, it would have been impossible, then as now, to imagine victims of those nightly assaults rising up to declare war on their government, charging its leaders, say, with failure to develop effective radar--the British government had, after all, had plenty of warning that war was coming. It occurred to no one, including families who had lost husbands, wives and children, to claim that tens of thousands had been murdered on Winston Churchill's watch. They understood that their war was with the enemies bombing them.

Read the whole thing.

Ann has now accomplished what the rest of us could not do with our respectful debate and measured attempts to refute the shrill attacks that were made in the names of these women. She has dragged them into the center of the fray, so that they could not continue to snipe from the cover of their status as "9/11 widows." From now on, the MSM/DNC will have a harder time introducing any of these women on their morning programs as "a victim of the 9-11 attacks who takes issue with the President's position on [Iran, Iraq, tax cuts, gun control, fill in the blank. . .]"



I applaud not only Ann's criticism of the women, but the tone of Ann's counterattack. They have spent years spewing mud from a safe position and are now getting it back. Blood is in the water. Other conservatives need no longer give these ladies a free pass. They are as partisan as Hillary Clinton, Cindy Sheehan or John Kerry and can be identified as such.

Any conservative who shrinks from attacking these ladies makes a tactical mistake and provides them with more respect than they deserve. The Captain wrote in a comment on his blog that Ann should ". . . criticize their policies instead of using insults and personal attacks. . . " This comment highlights the point of the 4 widows. They have no policies. Their usefulness to the MSM/DNC lies in their guerilla attacks, not in proposals or policies. Demanding a "commission" that would whitewash the causes of 9-11 and serve as a tool for partisan sniping is not a policy, it is a tactic.

H/T to Atlas for rallying to support Ann.


[H/T Atlas for the photo]

Being nice to those whose only goal is to foment Bush Derangement Syndrome will never pay off. We will never receive any credit for such refinement.

But those of us who are not blessed with Ann's mass appeal need not do the heavy lifting required to uncover the various MSM/DNC voices. We can, instead, sit back and enjoy the fruits of Ann's labor, as we watch the MSM/DNC search for new frontpeople to give voice to its tactics in its endless War on the War on Terror.

The Culture of Ventriloquism; L.A. Times; Michael Hiltzik; Patterico

Big thumbs up to Patterico for exposing yet another example of ventriloquist journalism.

For those who have not read the story, here is Patterico's summary:

Is an L.A. Times columnist leaving comments on the Internet under assumed “sock puppet” identities — identities which he pretends is someone other than himself?

Read on and judge for yourself. As for me, I’ve made up my mind, and the answer is “yes.”

Read Patterico's post for the details.



Based on the updates to Patterico's post, either more than one L.A. Times' employee has been doing this, or Michael Hiltzik continues to do this even after his suspension.

The Washington Post and Wuzzadem weigh in also.

I have not maintained a list of MSM/DNC lies this year as I did in 2005, but this episode certainly qualifies. As the fictional character was quoted as saying in that post,

we can't be sure of anything we do . . . anything we see.

The Times' columnist's use of alter egos to convey propoganda is standard operating procedure for the MSM/DNC.

Here is entry # 3 from the bias category list:

3. Ventriloquist journalism. A common tactic of the MSM/DNC is to get others to do its dirty work. Let it appear as if someone else is doing the talking so that "media bias" won't be so obvious. [Update] MSM/DNC often uses phrases like "critics say" "some say" "experts say" "sources have told CBS news" . . . .

A previous example of ventriloquist journalism from December 2004 and related commentary:

A good ventriloquist will never let you see his mouth move. But the MSM's ventriloquist act gets more obvious every day.

Usually, ventriloquist journalism takes the form of vague references to "widespread assumptions," "popular beliefs" and "generally recognized" facts:

But as far as good old fashioned MSM/DNC propaganda is concerned, nothing beats Reuters' subtle ventriloquist journalism and well poisoning technique:

Ratzinger, the strict defender of Catholic orthodoxy for the past 23 years, was elected Pope on Tuesday despite a widespread assumption he was too old and divisive to win election.

Ventriloquist journalism is category # 3 on the bias list. Referring to a "widespread assumption" is an MSM/DNC commonly used technique that allows MSM/DNC to hide behind unnamed "others" as it spreads its propaganda.

emphasis added

That story, from April 2005, reveals the ease to which the MSM/DNC attributes its own biases and venom to the general public. In this atmosphere of widespread ventriloquism, it was too easy for Michael Hiltzik to make the transition from reliance on invented "widespread assumptions" to posting comments on others' blogs under assumed identities.

And don't forget ventriloquism's twin, the poll:

4. Polls. An offshoot of ventriloquist journalism is the MSM/DNC's reliance upon polls. The polls that the MSM/DNC uses are either (1) unreliable or blatantly false and/or (2) self-fulfilling prophecies. It is a common tendency among humans (especially those who have been softened by 70 years of the welfare state) to want to be on the winning side. When the MSM/DNC releases its polls showing some Democrat with a lead or that the "public" thinks that Social Security is just fine, those who might otherwise harbor doubts are intimidated into going along with the majority. I am sure that the MSM/DNC will continue their efforts to bully the public into acquiescing in the status quo on social security with just this tactic.

[Also - I hate polls.]

I think it is incorrect for bloggers to focus mainly on Michael Hiltzik. The fault lies in the culture of ventriloquism that pervades the MSM/DNC. If the MSM/DNC expressed its opinions in its own name instead of hiding behind contrived polls or vox populi, it never would have obtained the power that now slips further away with each passing day. We can hardly blame individual employees when they follow the pattern set by the establishment for which they toil.