Media Stuck in Blue Bubble

The unconscionably dishonest media translation of Rush Limbaugh's humiliating beatdown of Harry Reid marks a new journalistic low.

The contempt held for Limbaugh's listeners is breathtaking, as if we're not going to read coverage of the event, if only to immediately detect the liberal bias.

The reportage is well chronicled here and today Thomas Lifson demolishes the brazenly dishonest media spin and offers an explanation for what may cause such journalistic malfeasance.

So what does this teach us about stupid media tricks?

There is a substantial and powerful subculture in America that lives in what might be called a blue bubble. They wouldn't be caught dead listening to Rush or any other conservative talkers, and have not a bit of interest in the conservative blogosphere, Fox News, or any of the other outlets which provided coverage of the issues raised by an official letter from the majority caucus seeking to influence the federally-licensed employer of an important media figure.

I know of plenty of highly educated, very hard-working, intelligent liberals who live within the blue bubble. I am related to some of them. According to the information set on offer to the blue bubble, the whole incident has been cleverly rationalized away.

Of course, this sort of maneuvering only works so long as the blue bubble remain impermeable to information from outside sources. That's a losing bet in the long run. Especially if the subject remains on the public agenda. And is that likely to happen? Strom of the New York Times concludes her article with this fascinating account of an issue that could lead to a public re-examination of the issue of the Senate Democrats' abuse of power:

Marcus S. Owens, a lawyer who headed the Internal Revenue Service division that oversees charities and foundations, said the Casey foundation might incur taxes on its purchase because it would have difficulty demonstrating that buying the letter furthered a charitable purpose. "They'd have to establish the link between the transfer of money for that letter and promoting free speech," Mr. Owens said, "and that's going to be tough."

Would the MSM be willing to avoid covering a legal dispute over the tax status of the documents? Perhaps the NYT and WaPo are smart enough to not take the bait. But, the blue bubble loses effectiveness as a shield every day, as public trust in the MSM continues to decline and alternative media continue to flourish. "The truth will out," as Rush frequently says.

More from Paul at Power Line.

If anything, the media has provided Limbaugh reams of material.

Perhaps if they ever actually listen to him, rather than relying on press releases from the thugs at Hillary Clinton's Media Matters, they'd get to hear themselves publicly humliated as well.