Former Ron Paul staffer leaves old media

[Bradley in DC]

Bruce Barlett was a legislative staffer for Dr. Paul back in the 1970s or 80s (not sure exactly when).

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/B..._of_commentary

also more here on his book on Bush
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2006/...-thinking-big/

[Trance Dance Master]

Broadcasters are under the same pressures, and I suspect that the traditional nightly network news program will eventually go the way of the dodo. Those who care about the news will get it from cable, the Internet or talk radio.

I've seen this coming for years now. I started caring a lot more about the news when I found out that I could discuss it with others online, and read alternative views that anyone who wanted to write about could. Especially when I saw how much better the quality of the content was sometimes.

The Internet, in particular, has enormously changed the ability to get a message out -- one is no longer dependent on the traditional media, such as newspapers, for that purpose. Today, anyone with a computer and a modem can start a blog and, for all intents and purposes, be a columnist.

The internet has also had a dramatic impact on what old media can get away with doing. It's not so easy for them to rewrite history. They can delete an article from their website if they learn that it doesn't serve their agenda, but that article can be saved and spread. Case in point:

http://americandefenseleague.com/dieforil.htm

Source page not found anymore, but it was there when I first read about it on a forum such as this one and it didn't get deleted until after it spread to many. Can you believe that a former US president actually pledged to fight and die for a foreign country to get an applause at a fundraiser? Makes you wonder why the story got deleted if you don't know the agenda of the old media. Makes you wonder why they leaked the story if you do. Old media learned a lesson from the response of the internet community.

The quote was spread pretty far as you can see from google results.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+FOR+ISRAEL%22

85 google hits for the exact quote.

"The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die." -Bill Clinton 2002