Clive Bibby: A sad but alarming scenario

Finding MSM outlets that accurately reflect international events is hard enough in normal times given the censorship that has become commonplace even amongst those once great bastions of free speech like CNN, BBC and in the print media, The Guardian, NYTimes and Washington Post or closer to home, the Sydney Morning Herald.

Unfortunately, but thankfully, we have been forced to watch only the conservative media channels like Sky in Australia or it’s counterpart in the USA.

It would be immediately clear to any impartial observer prepared to do the same, even accepting that these same outlets are not immune from putting their own spin on the headlines of the day, that the democratic processes that are our only hope against the modern threats are themselves in danger.

Last night l watched two different clips involving the leaders of Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the hapless President of the United States Joe Biden, who were both under the spotlight for different reasons.

Morrison had agreed to an interview in the cauldron of left wing journalism at the ABC, the state owned corporation that these days, unashamedly attempts to discredit anything that might endanger their chosen candidate for PM “Each Way Albo’s” path to victory at the next election. Fortunately PM Morrison had the strength of character to push back at each one of these personal attacks on his record.  Whether it will be enough to save his ministry at the polls in a month’s time is anybody’s guess but l do sense the tide may have already begun to shift in his favour.

The average voter in Australia and across the free world including here in New Zealand, will only take so much of this obvious biased reporting before it decides in large numbers to vote for the bloke who is being unfairly treated. That’s what happened last time in Australia with Morrison defying the odds, to come from behind and score an unexpected victory.

My guess is that these media creeps who have abused their status as servants of the people have overplayed their hand and may well have contributed to the loss of another “unloose able” election. Time will tell.

There are similarities to this Australian scenario in the US but in that case, the nakedly partisan press is doing all it can to shield the President from close scrutiny.

And boy do they have a job on their hands.

It’s bad enough when you see the President stumble with words when making statements that should be showing a strong and committed government announcing to the world that these modern day Russian, Chinese, Iranian and North Korean tyrants have overstayed their welcome and had better withdraw before they are faced with an overwhelming response that forces them to do so.

It must be obvious to even the most ardent Democrat supporter that this President is incapable of remembering even what time of day it is, let alone being able to stamp his mark on what has become in reality, a third term de-facto Obama administration.

Last night the world witnessed the most humiliating example of just how bad things have become for the Democrats in the US.

We saw the leader of the free world wandering around in a semi dazed state, ignored by almost everyone who attended this function that was apparently intended to unequivocally show who was running the show.

If that was indeed the objective, it failed miserably. In fact it only reinforced the realisation amongst Democrats that this Presidency was doomed even before it started. I was shocked but sadly, not surprised to see the attention shift away from the Commander in Chief to his predecessor and boss of eight years, Obama who proceeded to play the crowd using all his natural political skills leaving Biden standing there alone like a child on the streets of a Ukrainian city looking for his mummy. It was enough to make a grown man cry.

We must assume that those who should be trying to salvage this administration from an undignified internal collapse had already decided to party on into the night, seemingly oblivious of the inevitable train wreck that was just around the corner.

At least the analogy often used to describe these catastrophic times ie the band playing on as the Titanic slowly slipped beneath the waves was a reflection of heroic deaths, not at all of their making. In contrast, this slow death of a government is unprecedented in modern history but it is also the result of self inflicted wounds.

The cowardly abandonment of a politician who had served his party well over four decades showed that “honour and respect” are two words missing from this administration's play book.

It was an exhibition of naked cruelty that would sit comfortably along side those perpetrated by Putin himself.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.