Thursday, July 14, 2005

''Dean vs. Santorum Proves Media Bias''

"Last month when Howard Dean called the GOP a "pretty much a white Christian" party, the Beltway media went absolutely crazy. You couldn't turn on a television without hearing about it in some way, shape or form. Incredibly, though, the same can't be said for revelations that Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) blamed the Catholic church's child molestation scandal on Massachusetts/Boston liberalism.

That's right, Santorum actually said "it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." When Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney said Santorum was out of line, Santorum's spokesman defended the comment by saying "It's an open secret that you have Harvard University and MIT that tend to tilt to the left in terms of academic biases."

This is sheer crazy talk from the #3 Republican in the U.S. Senate. And yet, beyond a few stories, it hasn't garnered nearly the same coverage as Dean's comments, which were, frankly, less inflammatory, and rooted in fact.

Don't blame the Democrats for not standing up and condemning Santorum. High-profile people like Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) have hammered Santorum very hard for his outrageous statement.

What we have here, however, is a media double standard. When a Democrat says something that pushes the envelope, it is a scandal. When a top Republican Senator makes an offensive statement worthy of an insane asylum patient, its barely news because the GOP is just expected to make crazy fringe comments like this. That's the media obstacle our side faces these days - and it is surely part of the reason why it is so difficult for Democrats to get their message out."-from the post on Sirotablog.

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