Adamo – Media's Framing Games With GOP Candidates

“Social Issues” From A Truly Conservative Perspective

By: Christopher G. Adamo

With Republican candidate Rick Santorum’s meteoric rise of recent weeks, the media has predictably gone into full attack mode against him. The new controversy of the day, repeated incessantly by the network anchors, is anything related to “social issues.” And even a casual association with them will be the “kiss of death” to aspiring contenders. Or so we are told.

Their ruse is as transparent as cellophane. Only a few weeks back, the only matter of importance to the chattering class was “vulture capitalism,” which was their characterization of Mitt Romney’s business practices while involved with the investment firm Bain Capital. And during Newt Gingrich’s brief moment in the spotlight, the liberal press was obsessively fixated on fidelity in marriage. In light of this obvious bias against anything that might generate momentum for the Republican ticket, their duplicity is having a significantly diminished effect during this campaign cycle.

Clearly, the liberal media/Democrat Party cabal will go to any lengths to distract the American people from such nuanced topics as the nation’s disintegrating economy, the malignant expansion of the federal government, its increasing intrusiveness in the lives of the American people, and their consequent loss of freedom. In essence, the daily commentaries from the liberal press must studiously avoid any honest assessment of American life under Barack Obama.

So it was no surprise that a speech made by Santorum at a theological institution in 2008, in which he described a satanic onslaught against this nation, is now getting nonstop coverage on the nightly news. Obviously, their intention is to paint him up as an out-of-touch paranoid, whose far-out beliefs, along with his “extreme” stances on such defining issues as the right-to-life of the unborn, render him completely unfit to hold the nation’s highest office.

Here again however, the myopic talking heads of the liberal media prove themselves to be completely hypocritical, and thoroughly out of touch with America. Against the backdrop of recent “spiritual” declarations from Barack Obama essentially claiming Jesus to have been a Marxist, his twenty year former involvement with the likes of the “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright and the militant bile of “black liberation theology,” promoted in Wright’s church, it would be extremely difficult to make Santorum look unreasonable. Furthermore, in contrast to the current winds of “moral relativism” blowing across this country and the ravages inflicted on the populace by such errant thinking, a simple and blunt recognition of the age-old contrast between good and evil is actually refreshing.

The existence of that evil entity to which Santorum referred is widely acknowledged by a huge majority of Americans. And though most people do not actually envision it as the comical, red-suited countenance appearing on those little cans of processed meat spread with excessive sodium content (Does anyone still make that stuff?), they nevertheless witness the tragic consequences of its labors around them on a daily basis. Something sinister operates in our midst, tearing down the institutions of a formerly great nation, from marriage to the family, to the community, and striving to supplant them with the empty promises of a depraved and hyper-regulated “brave new world” that is rightly to be abhorred.

Consequently, the people of this nation are keenly aware that the perils facing it, both from within and without, cannot be addressed solely in financial terms. Nor do they expect that such things can be indefinitely skirted by a national leadership that either ignores their existence or is too timid to take a bold stand against them.

The deepening squalor of this nation’s inner cities will not be fixed by further infusions of money from without, no matter how vast the sum, as long as the values of the people residing in them continue to degenerate. Likewise, the threats faced by this nation from its enemies throughout the world cannot be placated or otherwise wished out of existence. And any attempts to carry on as if they no longer present a potential for calamity will only increase the likelihood of them someday being again manifested as they were on 9-11.

Four years ago as Barack Obama made his way towards the White House, America was subjected to perhaps the most flagrant display of disingenuousness in its history. Voters were ensnared with empty assurances of a miraculous fix to environmental problems that never existed, concurrently with the dawn of social utopia. Not surprisingly, at least to those willing to objectively weigh the evidence, the actual results have been abysmal. On virtually every front the current state of the nation is quantifiably worse than when Barack Obama took office in 2009. And no amount of pretending otherwise will improve anything. Barring a genuine and principled change of direction, the American people can only expect more of the same.

Real conservatism requires an understanding of the underlying problems plaguing the nation, and the resultant will to boldly address them. In stark contrast, the objective of “fiscal conservatism” is ostensibly to manage the finances of the nation more capably, while studiously evading any entanglements with those issues of morality and values, such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” But while many high-sounding excuses are offered in support of this strategy, in reality it results from either the cowardice or moral bankruptcy of its proponents. Over time the Alinskyite tactics of the left have been successful at intimidating many on the conservative side who recoil at the prospect of being labeled extreme or fanatical.

Of course these characterizations are always invoked at the discretion of the liberal accusers. And considering the degree to which the “mainstream” media presents its thoroughly jaundiced opinions as unbiased news, it is inevitable that only conservatives can be expected to incur such scathing allegations. It is therefore futile to deviate even slightly from the liberal agenda, if one expects to avoid being a target of leftist venom.

So for those on the right, only two options exist. They can thoroughly sabotage their entire cause by engaging in vain efforts to mollify their critics, which neither inspires their base nor improves their portrayal by the opposition. Or they can ignore the inevitable scorn and ridicule from leftist activists, remain true to their core principles, and rally the country to their cause.

Christopher G. Adamo is a resident of southeastern Wyoming. He has been involved in politics at the local and state level for many years. His archives and contact information can be found at www.chrisadamo.com