4th estate, 5th column

[previously posted at BlogforCox.com]

In British Parliament there is the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords consists of the Lords Temporal (British nobility) and the Lords Spiritual (Senior Bishops from the Church of England). The House of Commons are those elected by the general population. Therefore three focal points of power within the British government, the Nobility, the Church and the People were referred to as the Three Estates. Tradition has it that British politician and philosopher, Edmund Burke once said, "There are three Estates in Parliament, but in the Reporters Gallery yonder, there sits a fourth Estate more important far than they all." Thus the nickname of the "Fourth Estate" for the Media, noting their power that reaches far beyond the government.

As four columns of troops descended on Madrid in October of 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, nationalist leader Emilio Mola Vidal boasted in a radio address that he had a fifth column already in the city, hidden and waiting to join those attacking. Since then the term "Fifth Column" has been used to refer to traitors in the midst of a society, eager to betray that society to its enemies.

Freedom of the Press in America has always been treasured, based on the firm belief that any free society depends on an independent voice, free from control and intimidation, to openly discuss, debate and expose the behavior of the government. But what happens when the Press itself becomes an exclusive, elitist, controlling force that suppresses information? Do we still have a "Fourth Estate" or merely a "Fifth Column"?

I remember back in the 80s during the Iran-Contra Senate hearing. The Media aired the hearings unedited and unfiltered, but to their dismay Oliver North, whom they considered the embodiment of Reaganesque arrogance, came across as a sincere, dedicated patriot (more than likely because he is). North's attorney Brandon Sullivan came across as an aggressive advocate, protecting his client from a Senate Committee nitpicking over trivialities. The Senate's questioner, initially Arthur Liman, chief counsel to the Senate select committee, impressed the viewing public as someone clueless to how incredibly ugly and fake his comb-over was. I mean here he was accusing North of being deceptive, while attempting one of the worst attempts at covering up his own appearance. After days of watching Mr. Hideous Comb-Over grill North on petty nonsense, Liman was replaced by House Chief Counsel, John Nields who seemed to have had a permanent leering smirk. It was one of those childish grins that looks like he just passed gas and was waiting until everyone else smelled it and reacted. He made an even worse impression than Liman. Watching North grilled by Bad-Comb-Over and Leering-Smirk, the comedy reached its peak when North was accused of having an affair with his secretary, based on a purchase of "hosiery". The Liberals in the Senate Committee spent days wiping egg off their face when it emerged that the purchase was leotards for North's daughters.

The Main Stream Media has struggled for twenty years to filter the facts of the case, because they made the "mistake" of allowing the public to watch the actual hearings, rather than the filtered version that is all one can find on the internet today.

But they made the same mistake in 1991 when they aired the Clarence Thomas SCOTUS Confirmation Hearings. The highlight of outrage came when committee chairman Joe Biden conveniently stepped out while management consultant John Doggett, was cross-examined regarding his signed affidavit declaring that in the early 1980s Anita Hill had fantasized about his being interested in her. Since there was no chairman present, no objections by Republican Senators could be responded to, so the questioning Democrat Senator took the time to ask completely inappropriate questions, which, without any foundation, accused Doggett of numerous outrages, none of which were ever backed up. Once Biden returned he "admonished" the Democrat Senator and "apologized" to the infuriated Doggett.

That the hearing was indeed an attempt by Democrats to use a delusional woman to smear an honest man was abundantly clear, except to those who had an ideological opposition to Thomas' conservative history. The MSM worked feverishly in the aftermath, and within a short time had managed to replace the short memory of the viewing public with altered versions of the hearing.

The action of the MSM is far from an institution existing to shine the light on the truth, but that of those who wish to hide the truth, and create their own.

I remember in 1988, we didn't have cable, but my wife was watching my brother's son at their apartment, and they did have cable. The Media had been censoring any and all speeches by Dan Quayle. But CSPAN that day aired a campaign stop which included a speech by the Vice-Presidential candidate. My wife turned to me in shock and amazement. She had been under the impression that Dan Quayle was a incompetent moron, because that's the image the MSM wanted. The truth was far different. Quayle was intelligent, articulate, and showed a firm grasp of the issues. She had had no idea that the Media were distorting reality in such a way.

It's sad that our presidential elections are spoon fed to us are pre-digested pap from the MSM propaganda factories, but it is wonderful that we also have ways of going around the MSM's censorship and learning who all the candidates are, and what they stand for. As we watch what was the Fourth Estate turn itself into a Fifth Column, it's good that alternate media provided by the internet as well as cable, is serving as a legitimate Fourth Estate. But it is incumbent on us to do much more of the legwork. We are still free to do that, and if we don't, I can guarantee one day we won't even have that freedom.

Posted by Danny Carlton at March 13, 2008 7:53 AM