Host intro: Some in the White House don't like the media coverage they're getting. A 331-page report outlines how they think bad news is made. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis thinks there's an easier explanation than the document they've produced.
The "Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce," starts with opinions generated by "well-funded right-wing think tanks and individuals." Those are repeated by conservative opinion journals, the Internet, British tabloids; re-introduced through conservative U.S. papers like the Washington Times and Wall Street Journal; turned into grist for congressional committees; and finally given the stamp of approval by Washington Post and New York Times.
And we thought the Nixon White House was paranoid about the press.
What makes this astonishing, though, is that they assume the average American isn't capable of finding tax increases, corruption, over-regulation, and moral laxness offensive on their own; that they need some Byzantine system that launders propaganda through the British press.
All administrations have had critics in and out of the media. Well, so what? Politics isn't the art of the possible — it's the science of making some people happy and some people mad. As long as you don't make 51 percent mad at you at election time, you win. But don't sell the people so short that you have to cook up a Rube Goldberg contraption like the Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce to explain it.
What's next? An enemies list?
Those are my ideas. And at the NCPA, we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont, and I'll see you tomorrow.
Host outro: Tomorrow, the minimum wage issue won't go away. Pete du Pont says the news isn't getting any better.