CBC Radio: Business as Usual

This morning on Michael Enright's "Sunday Edition" show, the following discussion was aired:

CONSERVATIVES IN AMERICA, POST-ELECTIONS Duration: 00:18:00

It's been five days since Americans went to the polls in the U.S. mid-term elections and some things are very clear. The conventional wisdom that this election would be a referendum on the conduct of the Iraq war has been accepted by everyone, The pundits, the winners, the losers and even George Bush himself. The very first casualty of Tuesday's election, was the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defence. By the end of the week, everyone was acknowledging that "staying the course in Iraq" was no longer an option.

But bubbling away underneath the conventional wisdom argument is a larger question, one with implications for the next two years of American politics as that country heads into a presidential election. Has the conservative coalition, begun in the Reagan era and consolidated in 1994 with the Newt Gingrich Contract With America campaign come undone?

This morning, Michael is joined by John Samples. He directs the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute in Washington. He is also an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and the author or editor of five books including The Republican Revolution Ten Years Later: Smaller Government or Business as Usual.

The only thing that was "business as usual" was Enright's "hit job" attempt to steer the interview in the direction he intended. But Professor Samples, though he didn't sound particularly biased either way, would have none of it. I just had to send in an e-mail afterwards:

Dear Mr. Enright,

I had no idea that a political segment could turn into a comedy skit, but your "interview" with John Samples certainly came across as one.

Since you clearly missed a few early classes of journalism school, let me provide you the Coles Notes version: The role of real journalist is to approach a story with an open mind, gather all the facts, and then draw conclusions based on those facts. It seems clear that this approach didn't warrant even your basic consideration.

It must have been painful for you to have Professor Samples shoot down every attempt you made to assert your predetermined conclusion that the conservative movement in the United States was now dead. Especially stinging must have been the little fact he raised that conservatives outnumber liberals in the U.S. by 50 to 75%.

I'd like to draw a few more facts to your attention:

1. Joe Liebermann won handily in the traditionally liberal state of Connecticut, even though he vehemently supported the Iraq War.

2. So-called "conservative" referendums on such things as banning same-sex marriage, declaring English as the official language, and restricting affirmative action won in almost every state they were voted on.

3. Historically speaking, the recent loss of seats is very much in line with that of other mid-term elections in the latter half of a two term president.

4. Many of the new Democrats who were elected are very much conservatives.

In the big picture, I'm actually very glad that the Republicans received the swift spanking that they did. It's an important time-out that will hopefully make them wake-up and realize that things must change in Washington. Running on a platform of "keep voting for us, we're not as bad as the other guy" simply won't cut it with Americans.

If I may segue for a moment, I actually do love the concept of the CBC as a national entity that could well represent the views of all Canadians. But somehow it has devolved into a blinded group-think morass of ultra-left pseudo intellectuals who think that their views and values are representative of all Canadians. Anyone who disagrees is branded as a Neanderthal, neo-con, or ignoramus. This is most clearly evident during every Canadian federal election. Though your Liberal patrons are currently out of power, I have little doubt that the wink-wink, nudge-nudge amongst CBC staffers will be resurrected again, with the clear aim of restoring the true governing party of Canada to its rightful throne.

Once again, I want to thank you for a bellyful of chuckles on a rainy Vancouver morning. Your efforts provide a great parody of real journalists everywhere.