Nightline Insults AmericaLast night, October 30, 2000, Nightline insulted America.
After giving endless, endless hours to the meaningless blathering of Bush, Gore, and the Pundits and newsmen who are backing them (Chris Matthews, Geraldo Rivera, Larry King, Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, etc. etc. etc.), Nightline crammed Howard Phillips (Constitution Party), and Harry Browne (Libertarian Party) into less than 7 minutes each in what was to pass as the network “covering” of these campaigns.
(John Hagelin of the deceptively named Natural Law Party, the man who proved he didn’t have an ounce of integrity or honesty as the New World Order shill in the “fight” with Pat Buchanan for the Reform Party nomination, was also on this Nightline program. Hagelin, as usual, had absolutely nothing to say, and answered in vague generalities. Nevertheless, since he got on enough state ballot lines to potentially win the Presidency thanks to all that Mahareshi money behind him, even a
vacuous, dishonest, nutcase like Hagelin deserved more time than he was alloted – if the Big TV Networks were actually news organizations instead of coordinated psyco-warfare battering rams against the American mind.)
But Howard Phillips and Harry Browne have something to say Now, I vehemently disagree with Harry Browne on his pro-abortion stance, his “pro-legalize drugs” stance, and his “erase the borders” policy, among others issues, -- but Browne’s criticism of the excesses and abuses of the current federal government, -- such as the existence of the IRS, -- are weighty, humorous, and persuasive.
As Howard Phillips points out, the Libertarian Party has been around a long time – it was the political party in the Garden of Eden.
And that’s the problem with the Libertarian philosophy: it confuses the nature of man with the nature of the angels. According to Catholic theology, angels fully understand all the consequences of all their actions. Angels see all the ramifications (which is why the angels that followed Lucifer’s rebellion were confined in Hell, rather than given another chance). In many Libertarian’s minds, they seem to even go so far as to make a little god out of each man. A consequence in the practical of the world of this philosophy seems to be that the Libertarians breed a selfish, theoretical type of activist, if they can be called activists at all. The Libertarian grassroots seems to like to theorize and expound, and leave the work to others.
With that said, I will finish this ewire by focusing on Howard Phillips’ appearance on Nightline. Now Howard Phillips knows more about how to restore Constitutional checks and balances in this country than Bush and Gore put together – and then multiplied by a thousand. Phillips intimately understands the Constitutional checks and balances intended by the Founding Fathers, AND he understands the strategical moves which need to be made by a President, a vice-President, and a Congress to move things back to a proper balance from the current state of affairs.
It was Howard Phillips who caused a light bulb to go on in my head in 1992, when he said that the REAL party platform was the budget supported by that Party. Thus, when the Republican Party puts out a “pro-life” platform plank, it then nullifies it and shows its real agenda when Party Leaders cooperate in a budget, year after year, which funds Planned Parenthood to the tune of tens of millions of dollars (or was it hundreds of millions?).
It is Howard Phillips who taught many of us that most of the Judgeships in the United States can be shut down by defunding them, leaving evil Judges and their staffs with no money to operate. And so on.
Any way, with all these and a hundred other more SUBSTANTIVE points that Howard Phillips was ready to make, the nationwide audience of Nightline was treated to something that I have rarely, if ever, seen on Nightline.
It was OBVIOUS that the show was a series of chops. In order to say that they “covered” third party candidates, Nightline’s Chris Bury conducted an interview that probably lasted 30 or 40 minutes – which was then chopped into one minute sound bites. The transitions were abrupt and awkward – and so transparent. The program was so choppy and fragmented,
that it distracted the viewer from the interview being conducted.
Under these absurd strictures, Phillips and Browne still got out many important and coherent points. Of course, the reason this program aired at all was so that Nightline could say that they didn’t censor three candidates who were on the ballot in enough states to have a theoretical chance to win the Presidency. It is the height of insult and absurdity to have the messages of these substantive Presidential candidates confined to 7 minutes on only one show – during a Presidential season that has lasted longer than any other – at least 18 months, because it was at that point the 5 Big TV networks had to jump onto the playing
field to try and stop Buchanan and boost W. Bush, --but that’s another story.
And, to add injury to insult, this “3rd Party candidate” Nightline Show was placed on Monday night, AFTER Monday Night Football, thus insuring that it aired from 12:30 AM to 1:30 AM in the eastern time zone.
No foreign power can limit the public’s exposure to legitimately qualified Presidential candidates like this. The news departments at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and FOX constitute the greatest enemy the American people have ever faced.
Those who runs these News Departments are warping and stealing our future.
Jim Condit Jr.
Director, Citizens for a Fair Vote Count