Politics of The Week

I was perusing Google News the other day and saw this:

Internal investigation clears New Jersey governor in 'Bridgegate'
The Globe and Mail     - ‎43 minutes ago‎   
An investigation commissioned by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie cleared the potential Republican presidential contender on Thursday of wrongdoing in the “Bridgegate” scandal and blamed senior staffers for orchestrating the massive traffic jam.
Christie's lawyer: Governor not involved in plot Martins Ferry Times Leader
Featured: 6 Conclusions From the Chris Christie Bridgegate  ReportNational Journal
Highly Cited: Official Said He Told Christie of Lane Closings, Bridge Scandal Report Says New York Times
In Depth:Internal report clears Christie in GWB lane closures; blames two former appointees NorthJersey.com

Why do I bring this up? Because there are people who think there is no liberal bias in the media (and I include Google as a part of the media). Look at the headlines (boldface). These are all about the exact same report. It's all in the presentation. Way too many people only read the headlines so headlines are important. Even those who read the stories under the headlines can be influenced by the tone and slant of the headlines.

For one of the stories referenced when I first looked at Google News that day, the headline read:

Christie is innocent, says Christie-ordered internal review

This was from the MSNBC website (which clearly labels itself "progressive") and it made much of the fact that Governor Christie hired the investigators, referring to them repeatedly as "Christie-hired lawyers."

Personally, being a cynic, I would expect an investigation ordered by a governor would always exonerate a governor. Just as I would any president-ordered investigation into actions by administration officials would exonerate them and the president. What rational person would think such investigations would actually uncover wrongdoing and name the person who ordered the investigation as implicit in any way?

The NY Times made much of the fact that one of the people on the Port Authority board (who resigned under pressure) alleged that he told Governor Christie in September about the lane closing ("lane alignment" is what he referred to) at a 9/11 memorial event. He, the official, also claimed to have mentioned the September conversation in December to Christie's Press Secretary. These are allegations, not facts. The report, understandably, does not lend much credence to them.

But the important thing about the report is that it has been published and it is in the hands of the media.  Where is the report from the Justice Department's investigation into this matter?  And how long will we wait to see it? I say we will never see it if it also exonerates the governor. If we do see it, it will be buried under other captivating headlines and stories... it will be just a quick few seconds on the major network news shows and buried on page 6 of the Washington Post and NY Times.


One more thing: Harry Reid essentially said the other day that people are stupid when it comes to the internet...

Harry Reid: People Are Not Educated On How To Use The Internet

You will want to turn your volume up when viewing the above 1 minute clip. Harry Reid is a Democrat, the Majority Leader in the Senate. Do you think you are stupid? If so... Apparently, you should vote Democrat.