Orson Scott Card The Rhinoceros Times Open Letter Creates Controversy
As you can see there is the media at it again and the possibility of having no honor and not committed to the truth. This open letter is the mechanics of war in play between two large idealogies determined one way or another to take the country into a direction that a lot of people do not really want, on either side of the scale.
The Rhinoceros Times has the opportunity to have an open forum for these types of debates and Orson Scott Card is doing what he must do. The housing crisis is part of a much wider systemic problem that goes back further than senior Bush. For instance, take a look at what Robert R Prechter, Jr. of Elliott Wave had to say about the housing crisis back in 2002! Yes, that far back he was calling this whole financial debacle and guess what? He was right.
Although I have no idea who is columnist Orson Scott Card there is an open letter to journalists that he wrote which you must read. The open letter appeared in the newspaper The Rhinoceros Times of Greensboro, North Carolina. Here is part of the open letter, via InstaPundit:
“This housing crisis didn′t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.
It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans. …
This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.
Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It’s as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)
Isn’t there a story here? Doesn’t journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren’t you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?
I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. “Housing-gate,” no doubt. Or “Fannie-gate.”
Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed. …
Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!
Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That’s what you claim you do, when you accept people’s money to buy or subscribe to your paper.
But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie — that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain, and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad — even bad weather — on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.
If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth — even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.”
What do you think?
Tags: CongressmanBarney Frank, Democrats, denied, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, housing crisis, orson scott card, orson scott card rhinoceros, orson scott card rhinoceros times, problems, rhino times, rhinoceros times, rush limbaugh, Senator Christopher Dodd
