The Canadian media – when Iggy became Iffy

For years, Americans have criticized and laughed at the left wing Canadian media, especially the CBC. Billy O on Fox News comes to mind as chuckling about the bias of the CBC. This is the same guy that is probably still giving Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt; he’s fair and balanced, you know. It’s hard to believe that Americans who believe the media is too left wing can watch their news or read their papers and still criticize socialist Canada.

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There is no doubt that much of the Canadian mainstream media does have a leftist bias. The mindset of those in charge is that of a Toronto or Montreal elite much as the American media reflects the thinking of those who live within the boundaries of Manhattan. But by comparison, the Canadian left wing media is much more mature and even more objective than the American press is, at least since Barack Obama first had a realistic chance to become president of the United States. The Canadian media may consist of biased elites but at least they are still recognizable as journalists. It’s no secret that the vast majority of those in the American mainstream media support the Democrats in the same way that the Canadian MSM is Liberal and liberal. But Barack Obama is treated completely different than federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is and this illustrates the greater professionalism that is present in the media north of the border. Media outlets such as MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post go way beyond cheerleading and well into idol worship. It is not without a factual basis that Obama is sometimes referred to as “the Messiah”. Much like Obama’s White House cronies, the media is quick to label those who disagree with any of the president’s policies as a racist, Nazis or members of a right wing mob. Much of the media’s fawning has to do with Obama’s race. As one observer put it, many journalists would rather spend the rest of their lives in a Soviet-style gulag than to criticize Barack Obama and be considered to be a racist by one of their Manhattan socialite friends. As the American media doesn’t make any bones about its support of Democrats, the Canadian MSM doesn’t hide the fact that they support the Liberals. They want the “right wing” government of Stephen Harper gone and replaced by a kinder, gentler Liberal one. But that is where the similarity to their American counterparts ends. When Michael Ignatieff was appointed to lead the Liberal Party he was viewed as the second coming of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. It didn’t take very long before everyone, including the media elites, realized that he more closely resembled the Liberal Prime Minister that never was; Stéphane Dion, than Trudeau. Ignatieff lacked the experience to successfully lead the Natural Governing Party and it showed. It is extremely difficult to lead a political party to victory with virtually no political experience. Brian Mulroney, probably the most hated man ever to live at 24 Sussex Drive, was able to form two majority governments; the first when he lacked any experience as a Member of Parliament. But Ignatieff’s inexperience showed rather early and he has continually backed himself into a corner. The latest and probably the fatal act came when he absolutely refused to back the Harper government any longer. He did this at a time when the Liberals were down in the polls and Canada seemed to be doing well coming out of the recession. After Ignatieff seriously blundered the differences between the American and Canadian media became apparent. Instead of continued cheerleading and blindly standing behind the leader the media turned on him. Following what started on the blogosphere, many members of the MSM, most notably in the Globe and Mail changed Ignatieff’s nickname from Iggy to Iffy. As far as the media is concerned, Iggy or Iffy or whatever you want to call him is headed for the dustbin of history. Some have drawn an analogy to the way the U.S. media treats Obama and how the Canadian media treated Pierre Trudeau forty years ago. Yes it’s true; members of the media swooned and panted like other Canadians did whenever the great man graced them with his presence. But unlike Barack Obama, Trudeau was treated more like a rock star than like a messiah. The difference is that Obama as messiah is slavishly worshipped no matter what he does. Trudeau as rock star was different; rock stars are only idolized until they give a bad performance. It is difficult to see the U.S. media ever turning on their “anointed one”. The goal of the mainstream Canadian media is to see the Liberals form a government and they are realistic about Iffy’s chances. They want him gone so and replaced by someone who can win an election. The Canadian MSM at least champion their biased political viewpoints rather than engage in hero worship.

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