Larry Zolf – “Harper, you’re breaking our balls here. You’re breaking our balls!”
Harper is winning his war with the media because the media is hated by the public. Harper is loved by the public, so he is on top of the fold.
The media war has been a total Harper victory. The media will have to learn to play by Harper’s rules or they won’t be in the great game at all.
It sounds like Mr. “The Media Made Him And We Can Break HIm” may have read the reader responses. (Scroll down.)
NO NO YOU”VE GOT IT ALL WRONG!
IT’S BECAUSE STEPHEN HARPER IS SCARY.
REPEAT AFTER ME SCARY, SCARY, SCARY.
Not only is Stephen Harper SCARY, he now DEFINES and DEFIES SCARY.
In your House of Commons
In Parliament
With new SUVs in his motorcade
To ward off Cutthroats
In Ottawa
In OntSCARIO
In Canada
I am not making this up.
Does anyone really believe what they read today? The latest junk science, news reporting. Thanks for your contribution Larry.
How did all of those Harper-friendly comments get thru the CBC filter? Where’s all the hate? This is really weird. Maybe having muslim terrorists want to kill them shook them up a bit. Maybe they all went home to change their underwear.
Then there’s this
“British computer whizz-kid exports terror via internet”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2214663_1,00.html
“The arrest of 17 suspects, many of them teenagers, picked up in the suburbs of Toronto at the weekend is said to be the latest stage in dismantling a terrorist nexus that, worryingly, has its links with one of the world’s most wanted men — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.”
As my daughter’s former boyfriend (may my heart stop breaking, she’s over it) used to say:
SWEET.
The MSM dug its own grave.
Let them lie in it.
In Canada.
I’m not making this up.
The MSM, including, of course the biggest rip-off of them all, CBC, are deluded. Below (1) is my response to a long-winded, self-serving letter to me in response to my complaint to the ombudsman. (I’m glad to see they’ve had to hire more staff to keep up.) Not being satisfied with his response, I wrote to the ombudsman again. (2) I don’t hold my breath. I don’t think they’ll ever get it. (Well, maybe if the terrorists are successful . . . )
1) Dear Mr. Purdon
Thank you for responding. However, I’m totally unconvinced by any of your altogether empty rhetoric. I was writing letters like this to CBC–long before emails–20 years ago. Your response about standards and integrity, where I discern none, is the same old, same old, and leaves me, as it did 20 years ago, profoundly dissatisfied. You say, “I can assure you that the CBC prides itself on the excellence of its journalism.” Aye, there’s the rub, sir. The CBC should be seriously questioning its “excellence”–which excellence would that be?–rather than wallowing in self-satisfaction and -deception. (What IS the CBC’s audience share these days anyway?)
“I want to assure you that by any measure, the CBC’s journalistic code of ethics is considered to be rigorous, comprehensive, and detailed.” Is that
so? What do you mean by “any” measure? And “considered” by whom? Would that be your minuscule Canadian audience and CBC employees?
“I hope my reply has fully addressed the issues you raised.” Not at all. But, Mr. Purdon, I don’t believe in magical thinking, so am not surprised
in any way that your response is just more CBC hot air. Fortunately, referring this to the ombudsman–another CBC cheerleader–is a lot easier than it used to be. I’ll just do that.
But I’m fully aware that I do it only for the sake of a “paper trail”. I realize that the chance of the CBC actually honouring its mandate is about
as remote as the Pope renouncing the Virgin Mary.
2) Sir
I’m very dissatisfied with the polite but vacuous response of the polite Mr. Purdon.
My counter response is below. Again, I’m referring the issue to you.
If you could reply in clear, brief, plain English, I’d be most grateful.
(The chances of the last happening are also extremely remote. But at least it will keep some CBC employee busy using my tax $$ on my concerns!)
The self important asses at CBC and other media organizations will not actually concede that they are in fact part of the problem. Most of them have clearly demonstrated that they feel themselves to be a superior bunch and the arbitors of social conscience ( among other things ) for the public.
Zolf…one of the most delusional will soon be off bouncing his fuzzy head of new streetlamps.
lookout – great letters!
“The media, in fact, gave Harper his 2006 victory.”
You *owe* us Mr. Soprano.
The World According to Zolf:
“Harper’s distrust of media not helping him”
March 28
“Harper wins war with media”
June 7
It would be almost (but not quite) worth wading Jean Valjean-like through the CBC website to make catches like that, Kate.
I read those reader responses on the Zolf page. Wow!
I’m shocked that the self-important Comrades at the CBC would print that string of very harsh MSM-bashing letters. I infer there weren’t ANY fawning pro-MSM letters, else the Comrades would have surely published them.
Unfortunately Mr. Zolf’s comments are probably widely held in the National Press Gallery. We can make him, we can break him. On one thing I agree. Harper has won the media war whether the PPG realizes it or not. If these reporters are not careful the big wigs will soon be saying..why are we paying these high priced journalists to sit around and report the news after the fact? Whether the PPG likes the way Harper is conducting his press conferences they are his press conferences and for them with their high and mighty attitude to think that a 5 second question with a 7 second answer fully informs the public they are truly delusional. Isn’t the real issue that questions are being asked? Mr. Harper owes nothing to the press gallery and most media organizations. He firmly believes this and fair minded Canadians also believe this. So the press gallery can continue to boycott the prime minister. Mr. Harper will pick and choose his media events. His message will get out unfiltered and Canadians will be better for it.
When Zolf writes columns like this, they are meant as warnings or cautionary tales. He has conceded nothing.
See this earlier example of Larry’s tongue-in-cheek, head-up-ass approach to current affairs analysis:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_zolf/20060313.html
I enjoyed Zolf’s comparison here of Harper and Trudeau. I have long maintained that one of Trudeau’s few virtues was that he treated the media with the contempt they deserved — and they loved him for it!
As for Harper not feeding sympathetic journalists, note that Trudeau did cooperate with two sympathetic (more properly, sycophantic) journalists: 1) Larry Zolf and 2) George Radwanski — yes, THAT George Radwanski, whose proximity to the Trudeau magic left him unable to fathom the concept of accountability.
Helen — unfortunately, I think the opposite. The CBC will send more journalists to the hill, to try and get news their usual reporters cannot come up with. Bigger and louder scrums coming.
Hubris.
The output of the likes of Zolf is of no use to me. I do not consume it. The enterprise which delivers that output enjoys no revenue from me. He is utterly irrelevant to me.
An interesting turnabout from Mr. Zolf as regards to Harper and the Canadian media.
The issue though is far from settled.
Watching the CBC foreign correspondents panel last week seething with anti-Americanism and steadfastly tying Harper’s foreign policy directly to that hatred. Nothing is changing at the CBC so far.
Perhaps the Zolf admission that Harper is winning the media war will trickle into the Press gallery mindset and relieve them of “stuck on stupid.”
The CBC is of course another matter.
Kate,
I’m starting to wonder about you. Your teflon coating is starting to wear thin. First kids and SUVs now some blatantly stupid blanket statements about the MSM and Captain Stevie.
If the public hates the media why do they continue to buy papers and watch TV news? If everybody loves Harper why does he have a minority?
Your making this stuff up and suckers are taking the bait.
SH might appear to have won a battle but the war has only just started. Once he comes out of his foxhole and shows the whites of his eyes the war will be underway, as for now he’s just another conservative chicken!
Some reading for Zolf…
http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020451,39272575,00.htm
It seriously makes me feel nauseous knowing that my tax dollars help prop up the incompetent state-run, liberal propaganda machine, known as the CBC, that employs losers like Zolf.
I can’t wait until the day that disgusting institution is either completely privatized, or dismantled.
Bloody gall of some of these media people…
MSM are so full of themselves that they don’t even know they are liberals.
They believe that their opinions are the only ones that true Canadians could ever hold.
“NO NO YOU”VE GOT IT ALL WRONG!
IT’S BECAUSE STEPHEN HARPER IS SCARY.
REPEAT AFTER ME SCARY, SCARY, SCARY.”
Mocks Hans Rupprecht.
The truth is that even though the previous government was scandal plagued and the Harper government hasn’t made any major screw ups yet, most people still find Harper scary: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/01062006/2/national-new-poll-leaves-tories-suggests-support-majority-soft.html
And although the public might not trust the media,it has even less trust for politicians: http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11338
The arrogance of these under educated psuedo-intellectuals is appalling.
The media forgot, a long time ago, that they aren’t the story, they aren’t important, the story is.
Trudeau was right to treat them with contempt, Harper should continue to carry on as if they are irrelevant, they are.
Seeing some in Ontario aren’t brainwashed is great news. I was beginning to think the only ones who aren’t, were his wife, kids and the 1/2 of caucus who aren’t out to behead him. lol
I find it most telling, even in his “gracious” admission of defeat, that Mr. Zolf can still exhibit such a pompous and arrogant attitude.
His claim of flattering coverage of the Harper campaign is most telling. Although to some degree true, it occurred only after the anger over years of self service and corruption on the part of the Liberals FINALLY became obvious to the media. This, coupled with a totally disjointed and incompetent campaign by Martin and his team, convinced them that they had to find a winner to back (IE: find a parade and run to the front in hopes that others will believe we are leading it). If I recall correctly this happened some time after the beginning of the campaign when it became obvious that the Liberals were imploding.
I find his belief that the media gave Mr. Harper his victory insulting. Although it is true that more balanced and favourable coverage of the Conservative campaign didn’t hurt, he completely ignores the fact that Mr. Harper presented a number of realistically attainable goals and policies that connected with the public. (This as opposed to years of unfulfilled and grandiose promises made by the Liberals, coupled with too high taxes and a number of divisive and unpopular policies – SSM being just one example). He insinuates that every voter in the country was incapable of making an informed and intelligent decision until the media arrived to save the day and educate us.
I would find his statements here more credible if he would finally realize that the media (particularly the PPG) is a huge part of the problem. Whether he likes or wants to admit it or not they need us a hell of a lot more than we need them. It is time that they put their house in order.
Chicken a la Anon. Same ol’, same ol’.
RE: “Harper’s suspicions of the media as being left-leaning and against his agenda is rooted deeply in his soul.
It always creeps me out when the left wingers feel the need to report or comment on what is in other peoples souls.
Personally Mr. Zolf, I think it is PMSH’s mind that has reached the conclusion that the left wing media is against him and so has mine, years ago.
The media want to be hard-nosed with politicians.
Fair enough.
But why so hurt and dewy-eyed when politicians are hard-nosed back?
Kudos to Larry Zolf for recognizing what’s happened.
Apart from that, frissons of delight up and down my spine.
anon said :
“The truth is that even though the previous government was scandal plagued and the Harper government hasn’t made any major screw ups yet, most people still find Harper scary”
Correction, the TRUTH is that the LIEBerals don’t know what truth or ethics are.
Call to the stand: VOLPE YOUTH, raiding piggybanks across the country
Liberals with hammers
In your cities
In Canada
I am not making this up.
A large part of the news business is that when media “personalities” run out of ideas they write about each other.
Often it seems about as significant as a game of tag played by some kids on the side lines during the time outs at the big game.
It’s always amusing with the naysayers like “Dr. Wayne” don’t read carefully enough to realize they’re responding not to my comments, but to quotes from members of “their own” side.
Perhaps if he read the link prior to commenting, he might realize that.
one PPG member to another as they walked out of press conference:
” Come on Barbie, we have a government to defeat”
Time for old Larry Zolf to retire. No use waiting for a Senate seat Larry, it ain’t going to happen.
Fred:
Yes, the media will defeat the govt. as the Official Opposition is sleeping.
Witness the LIEBerals, govt. in a LONG wait, unanimously passed the budget without so much as one objection.
Minister of Finance Flaherty passes unanimous budget of some 180-190 BILLION dollars; and the Official Nudge Nudge Wink Wink Party is napping at the switch again. Yes, now we know why the LIEberals are leaderless, visionless, truthless, brainless.
Minister Flaherty takes flight with 190 BILLION dollars.
In Parliament
In Ottawa
In Canada
I am not making this up.
Let the LIEBerals stew in their own juices.
Please stop taking Larry Zolf seriously. He is mostly delusional. One day, white is black; the next black is white.
Hans…
Joe Who?
Dr. Wayne’s comment made me laugh. As Bugs Bunny likes to say, “What a maroon.”
Ding ding ding…sda has a new bozo.
Dr. Wayne has thrown down the gauntlet.
I can hardly wait for PMSH to “come out of his foxhole” during the next election.
I’m anticipating the fight with the left wing clowns and having a majority Conservative Canadian government.
But I must add watching PMSH with a minority is great fun too.
I think he has little to lose politically while the other parties have a lot to lose.
Also as a nation we have a lot to lose if we do not lend serious support to the necessary and difficult efforts of our police and military in the WOT.
Canadians can see that the bozos in the NDP and on the left refuse to help.
The problem with Canada is our political class is based in the media and the MSM. Because we built the country with Crown Corps then we became a subsidiary to America; we never developed an investment class to become part of our political class. I should add that because the socialists taxed us to death we never had enough capital to invest in ourselves; we had to rely heavily on foreign investment. This is all changing as the centre of power shifts to the entrepreneurial West, thank God.
Larry Zolf is part of that baby boomer socialist mentality that needs to be retired. He’s loved off the state for five decades. Hopefully they won’t just replace him with the next generation of BA’s in Humanities like Heather Mallick. If they do let’s close the CBC.
Dr.Whyne: It is fun watching you chew off your own nads. Kinda like watching Libs in the last election.
Hans hit the nail on the head with his “Opposition is sleeping” statement. The fact that neither the Liberals or NDP offered a peep against the budget with its GST cut and child-care cheques shows that both parties are scared stiff of another election. The Liberals can’t afford to run (they’re broke, and Bill Graham is as prime ministerial as any member of the Village People), and the NDP knows they’re as strong as they’re likely to be – both parties fear a Tory majority if they go to the polls now. Sleep is their only option.
OT but there was just a report on that some Canadian troops may have been abducted in Afghanistan. No details yet.
CTV.ca News
Allied forces in Afghanistan are probing a report that says an unspecified number of Canadian soldiers have been abducted, Canada’s Department of National Defence confirmed Wednesday.
Al-Jazeera television earlier quoted unnamed Taliban sources as saying they had abducted some Canadian soldiers.
“(We) are aware of the al-Jazeera news report. However, (we) have no information at this time that would validate the report. Task Force Afghanistan is investigating the status of personnel in Afghanistan. Canadians are involved in that investigation,” a Defence Department spokesman told Reuters.
Canada currently has 2,300 soldiers in Afghanistan, and recently committed to remaining in the war-torn nation until at least 2009.
Since 2002, 16 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.
Canada’s Lt.-Col. Ian Hope told The Canadian Press last weekend that fierce fighting in Afghanistan is only expected to intensify as Canadian and NATO troops build up to aggressively attack Taliban strongholds in campaigns throughout Kandahar.
More to come….
Harper is toying with these pompous 4th estate mutts like a cat with a mouse….brilliant move….by creating a phoney media war he has exposed the very bias in the media they all deny…their duality is frint and center in this story…..we recall there was np such war when Chretien clipped the press out of the loop.
Thank You Kate!
Sometimes it can be hard to keep the faith when your only sources of like-minded opinion are conservative blogs,or the rare free-thinking editorial.
This article was enlightening in it’s contradiction’s of itself and it’s OPEN admition that the MSM does manipulate the news for partisan reasons.Some here have tagged him as crazy…I think you are just witnessing someone soooo comfortable in his liberal PC ways that he is openly expressing his own partisan biases.
The letters section was equally surprising if these are indeed representative of the majority of Canadian views on the CBC.For the most part,they were articulate,accurate,respectfully written and had a similar message.But,most importantly,they seemed to me like honest reactions to Zolf’s open admission of CBC bias.
These letters surely add depth to the rise in the polls that DIRECTLY contradicts the MSM’s constant sales pitch for liberalism.
George Jonas: “Beethoven’s Mask”
Excerpt from review:
Tales of Jonas’s CBC years are wonderful, and very relevant in these days of corporate lockout. His views on CBC executives: “Being mindless and pompous at the same time was a challenge, but CBC programmers responded admirably.” Mind you, Jonas admits that he reacted, “like a White Russian nobleman in exile,” communicating with the nouveau riche. The wonder was that this tumultuous relationship lasted for 35 years before the CBC ended it.
Politically, Jonas considers himself a classical liberal, a creed that he says is inaccurately labelled as neo-conservatism. Personally, he describes himself as a “true cosmopolitan – not exactly antisocial, not exactly friendless…only profoundly alien – a Martian” …
http://www.snowbirds.org/csanews/issues/57/38.html
Love those reader comments! Some might be buying the paper but they aren’t buying what Zolf and the left media are saying.’The media was good to Harper in the 2006 election’? Not! Compare it to what they DIDN’T say about Reid, Martin and Duffy.Even Sun Media journalists like Weston turn themselves upside down trying to avoid saying Harper got it right. But his belly? …let’s focus on that!
Dr.Wayne you being an outsider, what do you think of the human race?
Larry Zolf is a disgrace. He starts off with a feww acceptable points and then gently shifts into emotional opinions that are completely untrue and off target.
Larry can suck in John Q Canadian with his mushy MSM overviews, but readers here can easily see where he strays from the truth into his lala land of where the MSM does anything for Harper.
Helping Harper win seats in Quebec? What garbage!
Those seats came as a Liberal protest result and not at all from any imaginary MSM help.
Zolf… please retire into obscurity and take the current CBC Librano executive with you. TG