A massive federal government debacle results in more than 3 million gallons of metal-laden water polluting a once-pristine Colorado river. At first, the same Environmental Protection Agency solely responsible for this disaster downplays the extent of the spill. However, photos of a river turning a toxic yellow force the EPA to come clean. And all of this happens while President Obama vacations.
Stories do not get more tailor-made for the national media than this. Government malfeasance, an early attempt by the government to downplay a calamity, amazing video, and the optics of a disengaged president vacationing while yet another one of his own agencies proves itself incompetent and deceptive.
So why isn’t the EPA spill the biggest story in the media world?
Why is the media downplaying such a thing?
Here are 5 reasons:
- Protect President Obama
This is the most obvious one. You knew this.
- Protect the Federal Government
If you want to see The Matrix behind all media bias, this is it.
The media’s primary bias is in favor of a more powerful central government. Democrats like Obama and Hillary Clinton obviously benefit from this bias because they are politicians who share the goal of using the federal government to control the rest of us.
There is just no way the media is going to damage that primary goal by doing anything that might damage a federal agency like the EPA.
- Republicans Could Not Be Blamed for the EPA Spill
Because there is no political upside, if there is no way to make Republicans answer for a disaster, the media is not interested in the disaster. The media blamed Sandy Hook on the NRA. The Tucson shootings were blamed on Sarah Palin. The Amtrak derailment was blamed on Republican budget cuts.
It was all a lie, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that for a few days the media could exploit a tragedy to hammer the political right.
- America Could Not Be Blamed
When places like Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis county (Ferguson) implode, the media doesn’t blame the Democrats and the left-wing policies that have been running those governments for decades, the media blames America. We’re racist or opposed to taxes or selfish.
There was no way to blame the EPA disaster on America, so the media had no energy towards the story.
Jonah Goldberg has written brilliantly on this.
- Local Government Could Not Be Blamed
Again, because the media’s overriding goal is to expand the power and scope of central government control, the media love to attack state and local government as ineffective, racist, and corrupt. If the local or state government is run by Republicans, the media attacks the policies. If Democrats are in charge, America is blamed (see #4).
Regardless, this is what the ongoing anti-cop Hate Campaigns are all about. The media wants to see all of America’s police departments come under federal control.
If a local environmental agency had caused this Colorado disaster, the media would be in a frenzy this week. The federal EPA, however, must be protected.
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When you can see The Matrix, everything the media does is utterly predictable.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC