Rick McKee / Augusta Chronicle

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

Bill Maher called Chris Kyle of “American Sniper” a “psychopath patriot.”

Michael Moore called military snipers “cowards” who shoot people in the back.

Howard Dean said “American Sniper” appeals mostly to angry Tea Party types.

So what?

Why do we conservatives give two cents about what these lefties and liberals say about “American Sniper” — or anything else?

Nothing they ever say is surprising. Nothing they say ever adds to the debate, has any effect on anything or helps us find a solution to a serious problem.

The predictable — and wrong — things these liberals and others on the left said about “American Sniper” glorifying killing or whitewashing the Iraq war couldn’t stop or hurt that great movie.

Its record $250 million box-office take in just two weeks says it all.

Spending time or space reacting to anything Moore tweets or Maher says on his barely watched HBO show is a waste of time for conservatives and their media.

Dean’s comment (which he later apologized for) was seen and heard by far more people on conservative media outlets than on Maher’s show.

Ditto for Moore’s garbled tweets, which otherwise would have been seen only by his mindless followers.

So why does the conservative media take the bait, time and time again, and give the inane comments of liberal cranks so much attention and publicity?

Simple. It’s great for their bottom lines.

Unfortunately, attacking your enemies — even when you can predict what they’ll say before they say it — is what the American TV viewing audience wants.

I wish I could change it, but the reality is that it’s all about getting higher ratings.

Whether it’s on MSNBC, CNN or Fox News, the media boxing ring has been set up for everyone to be always fighting somebody else. It’s all about clashing opinions and playing to the opposite corners.

You watch MSNBC to be mad at the right and Fox to be mad at the left and no one watches CNN.

These staged media fights are rarely worth watching and they don’t bring any benefit to the country, the conservative cause or the political process.

It’s rarely a fair fight. Alan Colmes and Bob Beckel are the Washington Generals of Fox News.

And what good does it do for more than 2 million people to watch four conservatives beat up Beckel every night on “The Five”?

Beckel, not to mention Fox News, is laughing all the way to the bank.

But the show is a total waste of time for everyone else. You might as well watch an hour of professional wrestling.

I’m looking for straight news, news I can use, not reports on dumb things said by my enemies. But straight news is hard to find on TV these days.

Other people have noticed the news shortage. Last year during D-Day celebrations in Normandy I was talking to some high-ranking members of the 82nd Airborne.

“What news do you guys watch?” I asked.

“Al Jazeera America.”

“‘Al’ what?”

“Al Jazeera. Because we’re looking for straight news, not opinion. We’ll form our own opinion.”

Al Jazeera America being touted for its un-spun newscasts by U.S. military leaders is a shocking and depressing thought.

But straight news won’t sell to the TV masses in America, where the news media have turned us into a National Inquirer country.

We’re not getting the news we need or can use from network and cable TV. We get bad news, gotcha news, sensational news or shock-video of car wrecks.

The conservative media only make things worse when they constantly publicize the stupid things liberals say.

It may be good for ratings. But at some point you have to say to the conservative media moguls, “Guys, there are a lot of important things going on in the world and what Michael Moore and Bill Maher think are not two of them.”

——-

Copyright ©2015 Michael Reagan. Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of “The New Reagan Revolution” (St. Martin’s Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit his websites at www.reagan.com and www.michaelereagan.com. Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. “Message from a Veteran.”

    Your article is a disservice in its references to any American warrior. Its a movie, so was saving Private Ryan, and the Memphis bell.
    There are dozens of sicko video “games out there today for the American public media pussies to “Play with” .
    My advice do that ,stay out of the editorials and supposed concerns to what a actual American soldier might experience in his or hers service and duty to country!
    That aspect sported by “crazy town” has absolutely zilch to do with service, its some idiots political dirge. That goes for both sides, when one actually fights for freedom, once there, your pretty much …..all in. The response is ones training and teamwork do that, if you survive you’ll see a day sometime in the future where the all that pain you felt and feel today actually was for a reason.

    Sometimes the people who always sport “the right so too speak” are the worst representation in themselves concerning why, and how the real time American soldiers stomach the combat that’s required of them and their esteemed comrades to defend you.

    “Sick political bastards” 😛

  3. This is now the second week (I believe) that you have posted some inflammatory BS rant from this wing-nut Michael Reagan. Editor, you are once again proving what a hack site this is, just another partisan blog that does not know a damn thing about journalism.

    Michael Reagan, a moron who is only heard because he steals from his ADOPTED father Ronald Reagan, someone who has made numerous death threats against people, something that is frowned on in society. Last time I checked, death threats are not “protected” speech, right?

    Don’t recall (or just ignoring facts)? He made on-air statements offering to PAY for the killing of Mark Dice, an anti-war activist. He is also on-record as publicly stating that all mothers and babies of Arab descent in the West Bank and Gaza territories should be killed. He stated ON-AIR that in the case of some that he wanted for people to have hand grenades put up their babies butts and “lit”.

    Yeah, another teabagger wing-nut who is SO respectable to have his vomit-inducing writings splashed across a local paper.

    Yeah, great journalistic integrity and ethics again. Keep it up. Your relevance is slipping farther and farther each passing minute.

    • I don’t always agree with you . But today I do.

      Forget the picture reference, I’d put it up , but this article really is adverse to my not just getting sick to my stomach.
      This is straight BS from the crazy town right. The service to country is a dedication of ones very soul, always is, just as it always was, ever. Not that many know the valuation of that until the true cause is apparent and really in ones face. Like I said once in …your all in.

      I literally can’t stand these stinking video ranting wussy prophets much anymore, they just don’t have a simple first in concept of the actuality of what on earth an oath to service too country is.

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