Welcome to the Slaughterhouse!: News In America, Where Is Clark Kent Today?!

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." George Washington
Welcome to the Slaughterhouse, America!!

by Nicholas Meyeres

News in the United States is not what it once was. Our American citizens don't trust anyone anymore, and they have every reason not to. Impartiality certainly is not par for the course today, and money talks.

Nothing encapsulates that thought more than this meme  going around social media networks:

But is this meme wrong because Stewart is "correct and accurate" as a friend of mine tried to tell me recently?

Well, Hogan's Heroes is accurate and correct, also. They were correct about the years the war raged on. They "reported" who was in charge of both sides in as factual a way as possible. They were accurate when they claimed that allied forces were taken as prisoners of war, and put into detention camps. There were even underground intelligence agencies at work in some of those POW camps trying to subvert Nazi progress. It was ALL correct and accurate! The problem came with the editorial that was added in for effect and ratings.

Excess commentary makes for bad comedy when it comes to the news.

The times when Lois Lane was in it for the "scoop", or Clark Kent would use his moral compass as his guide to write a truly unbiased piece is a thing of the past.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what your political persuasion is. John Stewart, MSNBC, and nearly everyone at Fox News are nothing more than opinion suitors in the guise of the real reporter. They are all correct and accurate in the same sense that the winner of the war is the one to always write the history books.

It is indeed the truth. It simply is not the whole, and undoctored truth. After all, this meme could have easily said "Getting your dieting tips from Rosie O'Donnell is like learning how to stay healthy from watching Honey Boo-Boo."

Personally, I like Glenn Beck and agree with him most of the time-- especially when he takes on both sides (which he does nearly every, single day). I also recognize he is exactly what his tagline states on tv and radio: "The fusion of entertainment and enlightenment." He is a showman, former radio personality, and stand up comic. What he says is "true" as far as I am concerned, but I also know that my "truth" may not be yours, and that perception is reality.

After all, mainstream news (at least in America) is fast approaching something akin to State propaganda these days. 

 
After all, I was always told that journalists were intended to be the watchdogs of the government, not tell stories about how Fluffy got stuck in a tree, or how tasty Mrs. Robinson's hot, apple pie is on a Sunday afternoon right after church. That is why Wikipedia says, "Like a literal guard dog that barks when it notices an intruder, a 'watchdog' [reporter] involves alerting others when a problem is detected."

In that case, people like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are the true heroes of journalistic integrity even though neither of them are actual reporters. Yet, how does our government treat them both? Like traitors, and criminals for uncovering corrupt and immoral behavior perpetrated by the State. And in turn, most corporate news reporting agencies will say the very same things about them.

As I see it, honest reporters report with unbiased integrity which is difficult because that is not humanity's default position.

Judges in courtrooms are exactly the same. How can a judge truly rule in any way other than with bias and their own experiences as their guide? The answer is easy. They follow the letter of the law & Constitution, and rely solely on the facts presented before them to reach a decision. Sadly, that is hardly ever the case. Activist judges are just as morally corrupt as activist journalists, and they must all be held to a higher standard.