Didn’t They Used To Call This A “Flip Flop”

Jamison Foser notes that President Bush is guilty of the big flopparino, first supporting a draconian immigration bill in December, 2005, and then more recently backing off many of the major provisions.

But Foser’s larger point is one that is well worth considering. The media seems to have a penchant for putting news into pre-defined story lines, regardless of whether or not the facts fit the predefined story line.

In March 2000, Washington Post ombudsman E.R. Shipp wrote that the Post “seems to have assigned [roles] to the actors in this unfolding political drama. ... Gore is the guy in search of an identity; Bradley is the Zen-like intellectual in search of a political strategy; McCain is the war hero who speaks off the cuff and is, thus, a ‘maverick’; and Bush is a lightweight with a famous name, and has the blessings of the party establishment and lots of money in his war chest. As a result of this approach, some candidates are whipping boys; others seem to get a free pass."

This typecasting wasn’t unique to the Post. As Paul Waldman (co-author, with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of The Press Effect, which illustrates the media’s tendency to shoehorn news reports into preexisting story lines) wrote in 2003, “Reporters decided before the 2000 campaign began that Gore was dishonest, and while he occasionally gave them support for this impression, he was also skewered for lies he never told.”

It is no wonder that many people are now finding their news, and particularly analysis of the news, from other sources. It is highly unlikely that those same newspapers which used the derogative term “flip flop” in their articles and headlines will even mention that this represents a reversal of the President’s position. Many Americans, such as myself, turn to blogs to hear points of view that are largely unreported and unmentioned in the traditional media. Do check out the fine blogs in my blog roll. There is lots to learn.