Michelle Malkin » Dealergate and the MSM

Dealergate and the MSM

By Michelle Malkin • May 28, 2009 09:06 AM

I talked about Dealergate on Fox and Friends this morning. Will try and get the video clip up later today. I made sure to credit bloggers Doug Ross and Joey Smith, who took the lead in probing the relationship between political considerations and Chrysler dealerships targeted for closure, also Hot Air, which is where the F&F producer saw the story.

The bloggers are continuing their intriguing work. Doug has a new post here shedding more light on Mack McLarty/Robet Johnson’s dealerships. Joey has more info on Lithia Motors here.

As I’ve stated from the beginning, there is still much to be researched on this issue. Given Obama’s Chicago gangland propensities, anything corrupt is possible.

Some professional journalists, however, have shown obstinate unwilligness to get to the bottom of the decision-making process.

The Washington Post’s business columnist Steven Pearlstein was asked about the story yesterday in an online Q&A. He scoffed:

Boonsboro, Md.: A bit off the topic, but have you or anyone at the Post investigated this? Chrysler dealers shut down in Obama bankruptcy are mostly Republican? It seems a crosscheck of dealerships to be closed versus donations shows almost all the dealers to be closed donated to Republicans. http://hotair.com/

Steven Pearlstein: Oh, please. What percent of all auto dealers are Republican? I bet its (sic) pretty high.

Well, why don’t you use all your professional journalism training and find out the answer, Mr. Pearlstein? And why don’t you look at the flip side of the question — as “amateur” bloggers have been doing — and investigate the circumstances of the protected dealers?

Pearlstein is not alone in dismissing the blogosphere out of hand. The impulse to denigrate blogs is borne of professional protectionism.

Ace reflects on the conservative blog-MSM dynamic:

Here’s a dilemma for conservatives. The MSM will not investigate any of these claims, ever. So what is a conservative to do? If a conservatives admit that this line of inquiry seems unlikely to turn up malfeasance, the MSM uses such statements as pretexts to not bother to even check, and uses such statements against conservatives who are agitating for additional investigation — “Even conservatives think this is unlikely, so you guys are obviously crazy…”

Of course I want this looked into, of course. It’s my guess it’s a non-story, not my expert opinion.

But the MSM is so ridiculously biased that they make honesty a dangerous and politically counterproductive business.

The only way to even get the MSM to do their jobs and take a look is to pressure them by claiming Worst Scandal Eveh, even if we don’t all necessarily buy that. But we have to claim that in order to spur any sort of media interest whatsoever. (That interest, of course, coming in the form of stories like Conservatives Now So Crazy They Think Obama Is Closing Chrysler Dealerships for Political Advantage, which isn’t exactly the headline we seek, but that’s the best we can hope for from the MSM.)

A few quick points: I do think that eventually, the MSM will come around to investigating. If they find anything at all that confirms the politicizing of the process, they’ll either whitewash it, downplay it, or take credit for exposing it with little or no credit to the bloggers who first started digging. They’ll also ignore the fact that some of us early on have made the caveat from the start not to make too-broad claims.

I also don’t think it’s necessary to over-sell the story in order to get more mainstream coverage. The fact is, Missouri senators have already pressed the White House for more transparency on the closure decision-making process.

Do the rest of the MSM’s business journalists take Pearlstein’s arrogant “Oh, please” position that the answers are not even worth pursuing?

***

Jim Hoft has further info/commentary.

Posted in: Chrysler

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#709324

On May 28th, 2009 at 8:35 pm, Ragspierre said:

http://townhall.com/cartoons/2009/05/28/4

1 cartoon = 1000 words
#709341

On May 28th, 2009 at 9:41 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

If dealerships (who cost the automakers nothing) were unprofitable, they would shut themselves down.

The two primary cost issues with the US automakers has been crushing legacy labor costs and overcapacity because unions make closing idle plants more expensive than keeping them open.

I believe both GM and Chrysler will go out of business unless they get permanent anti-competitive advantages that enable them to sell their inferior cars at below fair-market price. Advantages like free government loans, government pension plans and all sorts of tax breaks no one else gets. A Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac solution.

Just think of all the new Beltway billionaires reaping the new source of massive “campaign contributions” and cushy post-Congress sinecures.
#709369

On May 28th, 2009 at 11:15 pm, twofoot said:

Slightly ot, but dealers closing doesn’t bother me. It does bother me that it’s a decision made by Washington slime however. But since I will never buy another vehicle made by union labor?
#709447

On May 29th, 2009 at 8:33 am, MtsEdge said:

On May 28th, 2009 at 9:41 pm, Pasadena Phil said:
If dealerships (who cost the automakers nothing) were unprofitable, they would shut themselves down.

Exactly. The government doesn’t need to decide which dealerships must be shut down.
#709461

On May 29th, 2009 at 9:16 am, iamsaved said:

It could be just a coincidence that most of the dealerships slated to be shut down were Republican contributors. Sort of like it was a coincidence that Al Franken miraculously found 400 or 500 hundred votes to come from behine against Norm Coleman.
#709495

On May 29th, 2009 at 10:40 am, jsmiddleton4 said:

But I say that’s what’s wrong with our “country – it has lost its stomach for identifying, much less confronting, evil.”

Sorry but what has happened in our country is good men/women did nothing thinking someone else would do it for them. As a result conservatism took a big hit. The way back is for conservatives to get busy and stand up. Labeling the “other” side as “evil” is inaccurate, a distraction and ineffective.

Unless you have a conservative TV talk show or radio show.

Change will happen when WE get busy and take action.
#709496

On May 29th, 2009 at 10:42 am, jsmiddleton4 said:

“I believe both GM and Chrysler will go out of business”

It is only a matter of time. Even if the government agreed to only buy GM or Chrysler, they’d still go out of business. Yes the government buys a lot of cars. But not that many cars and the entire government fleet is not replaced every year.
#709497

On May 29th, 2009 at 10:45 am, Jet Jaguar said:

I guess this means that, over time, we’ll start seeing more tricked out cars with giant gold rims and hot-pink interiors…