We hear an awful lot about “democracy” from the Left and the Media (but I repeat myself!) in 2023, Save Jerseyans, but there’s an obvious problem with their presentation:
Can a free country function when the press refuses to think critically?
Examples abound. Russiagate. Hunter’s laptop. The ever-evolving climate “crisis” which is the latest iteration of a decades-old hustle. Everything about the Covid-19 lockdowns. The ever-changing “science” on Covid-19 vaccinations and what they actually do, or don’t do, or might theoretically engender. Each step of the way, the Media – aided by the Big Tech social media platforms – lazily repeated the government lines and in many cases derided or outright censored anyone daring enough to ask questions.
In a sane world populated by honest brokers, someone in the legacy media establishment would take stock of these many recent, epic failures and commit to embracing time-honored but rarely practiced traditional journalistic principles. But this isn’t a sane world. We’re beset by liars and many more who are perfectly happy to go along in the interest of getting along.
Just look at the bizarre coverage of Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver’s passing. Can you imagine a scenario where a vice president was hospitalized on a Monday without warning, passed away on a Tuesday, and NO EXPLANATION was provided to the general public? And the president subsequently confirmed that no information would be forthcoming?
Well, unbelievably, that’s exactly what happened here.
We have seen plenty of platitudinal obits and click-and-paste stories from the networks and “print” outlets. She was a trailblazer, folks! You know so because you’ve seen the same word or a close synonym recycled by nearly every outlet. One radio station (NJ 101.5) actually went out of its way to passive aggressively SCOLD listeners for questioning the whole affair.
“Sheila Oliver is only the second person to ever hold the office of lieutenant governor, so there is no precedent on what information is released, and her cause of death may remain a private family matter,” explained station manager Eric Scott in an op-ed. “For now, the family and state government is focusing on the celebration of a life lived dedicated to public service and the countless lives Oliver impacted in a profoundly positive way.”
Ironically, many of the same folks lauding the late LG as a “trailblazer” are simultaneously arguing her position isn’t important enough to warrant disclosure.
“The president gets a yearly physical and the results are generally made public,” continued Scott. “We rarely hear anything about the health of the vice president.”
Of course that’s utter and complete nonsense for a few reasons. I already gave you one: we’re talking about a DEATH, not a routine visit to adjust blood pressure meds. Unlike a Veep (who only takes over in rare instances when the president is physically unable to serve), LG Oliver took over whenever Murphy was on vacation or doing anything out of state. She was hospitalized while filling in as governor.
If she was seriously ill? Cancer? A severe heart condition? Whatever? We had every right to know the health of someone with very considerable authority not just filling in for Phil but also as a department head (Community Affairs), and that’s before even considering (1) whether a chronic condition was hid during Election 2021, which is tantamount to consumer fraud in my humble opinion, and (2) the obvious hypocrisy of every other citizen’s medical freedom and privacy being severely curtailed for three years.
The Media doesn’t want to know. They’re not asking questions. There’s little indication of digging into her schedule and looking for evidence of a long-standing undisclosed issue. It’s Covid-19 all over again; regurgitating government “stay home and mask up” propaganda all over again And just like during Covid, the more the Murphy Administration is permitted to get away with sans serious scrutiny, the further the public’s ability to hold elected officials accountable continues to erode.
This governor has made a practice of ignoring OPRA requests. Where are the media corporations and their lawyers to fight back?
How many nursing home victims would still be alive? How many less kids would be suffering from learning loss? How many more small businesses would still exist if the Media had challenged the Murphy Administration in spring 2020 or, hell, at least by sometime in summer or fall 2020?
When will the Media learn?
Does the Media want to learn?
Probably not. There’s a damn good reason why public trust in Media continues to hit record lows, and it’s because of horseshit like this, folks. A press corps completely uninterested in knowing the circumstances behind the death of New Jersey’s second highest elected official. Whether the root cause is bias, laziness, cowardice, or some combination of all three, the end result is the same.
There’s no clearer or more present threat to “democracy” then a Media that refuses to do its job.
