Double Standards

Is it any surprise that we have stunning double standards in our political and journalistic circles? Fat people are maligned in the general society, women still have a tougher time in the work place in some industries, and racism is a cottage industry that leads certain minorities to prosper off of past wrongdoing. Hollywood movie types and sports figures are idolized, while those teaching children, the medical profession and the regular Joe are relegated to be one of the unwashed masses. The way “haves” versus “have-nots” are treated in this culture is the epitome of a lack of ethics and a society in decline. The whole culture is riddled with it.

An easy illustration is the Presidential election. Fore nearly two years Barack Obama has been fawned over and Senator McCain more maligned. Liberals don’t readily see it, but conservative think they are watching a version of the “especially for women” daytime bull session “The View.” The Vice Presidential debate also, offers other evidence of corruption among those charged with maintaining high ethical standards. Gwen Ifill is the moderator of the debate. She may be a respected journalist in some circles, but her political point of view is well known. Asking tough questions of either candidate is not as much at issue as the slide in acceptable behavior. Walter Cronkite, the much respected journalist of the 1960’s and 70’s was equally as liberal as Ifill, maybe more so. The country however, never knew his political stance. He wouldn’t allow it. His reporting never showed it. He never would have been caught dead on camera touting one candidate over another or using his writing skill to that end. In his day such a thing was unethical!

Look how far we’ve come down off of such a principled high horse. Ifill has a book “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” that is scheduled to be released on Inauguration Day 2009. The book’s title even en measures today’s politics with Obama as the standard. Should he win the Presidency her book might be a best seller, and make her substantial money. A loss might cost her that chance to pad her wallet. She has a vested interest in a Senator Obama win in the coming election. She should not be a moderator in a debate where she has a vested interest in one of the parties. Our cultural moral compass, like much of journalism, has embraced double standard as a way of life. To make it worse those “withes” pretend as if there is no double standard against the “withouts,” and don’t recognize their own complicity in the debauchery of human values.

Since this information became known to the general public, .Ms.. Ifill response is typical of the double standard perpetrator. She claims her professionalism enables her to maintain the role as moderator. Herein lays the rub. Whether or not she appears unbiased, is not the issue. The appearance of impropriety tells us all we need to know about Ms. Ifills standards, and they don’t measure up. For liberals though, the traditional standard of ethics has a very low bar. Moral principles, espoused by the Democrat Party, typify the single edged sword. The in-group can do no wrong, the out-group, no right.

Should Brit Hume, Bill O’Riley or someone else with a suspected conservative credential moderate a similar debate? If so could they have a positive book deal pending on the virtue of John McCain, the war hero? Not without liberals displaying a wild emotional conniption to make it a crisis issue.

It is this cultural “us” verses “them” mentality that permeates all levels of government, media, entertainment, and much of the society as a whole. The difference is that both
O’ Riley and Hume would recuse themselves from such a process because of the very morals that liberals deride. Ms. Ifill, like so many others in this culture, does not believe in recusing herself from the limelight, and uses her responsibilities as a journalist as a convenient cover. She like so many others embraces elitism because she thinks from the heart she can adequately perform this service to America. Like Senator Obama, Ifill largely illustrates the arrogance of the left and its lack of high moral standards. Both carry an air of condescension to “regular folk.” Their elitist point of view stems from the Higher education system in this country, which unfortunately gives us attractive choices for journalists, and Presidential candidates with substantially lacking moral authority, and good judgment.