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The Spectacle Blog
Not since I watched Captain Midnight selling Ovaltine back there in the 1950s — blessedly preserved for eternity on YouTube (who knew??) — have I been so shocked. Shocked!
Oh the agony of having to learn as a child that Captain Midnight — Captain Midnight!!! — was getting paid to sell Ovaltine! I tell you…trauma city. The playpen was a mess for weeks!
Now — hold on to your playpen, conservative kiddies.
Yesterday Politico ran a story accusing conservative talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Glenn Beck of selling endorsements of conservative organizations. The groups in question are the Ovaltine of conservative adulthood: The Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, and Freedom Works.
David Frum piled on, writing this up for The Week with this headline:
“The conservative media’s pay-for-play deals:
Want better coverage on talk radio? Buy it”
Pay for play deals?
Apparently Mr. Frum, who grew up in Canada, is not familiar with Captain Midnight and Ovaltine. I have no idea where Politico’s Kenneth Vogel, who wrote the breathless piece in Politico, grew up. Mars? Outer Madeupscandalia?
No idea. But I can only be relieved Captain Midnight, now rocketing through heaven I’m sure, was never found out to be purveying Ovaltine in uniform right there on the old black and white Zenith. One can only imagine what special hell would be facing him today as assorted Frums and Vogels summoned up fevered images of pay-to-drink deals for some save-the-children prosecutor somewhere.
What I do know is that the conservative talk radio hosts — the Captain Midnights of our day — work right out there in the open every hour of their work day in a commercial enterprise. Hello? NPR this is not.
Every one of these people work for broadcasting companies. All of them. Companies that earn money by selling advertising. Their sponsors — whether it’s the Heritage Foundation or any other sponsor — are paying for direct advertising. In the case of the groups named they are targeting audiences for membership drives, this or that event etc. etc. etc. This is called capitalism, and the product being sold is conservative activism. The Ovaltine of the 21st century. And… hard to believe, I know… the idea is to advertise a conservative think tank or group to a conservative audience just like Captain Midnight was paid to wear his uniform while selling Ovaltine to kids.
What I do know is that Mr. Frum and Mr. Vogel seem to think the conservatives in these audiences are too stupid to understand as adults something we learned from Captain Midnight or, in one of a zillion examples growing up in American culture, the James Bond movie of your choice being but one example. As in this one, Tomorrow Never Dies, starring Pierce Brosnan and a BMW. Hint: yes, the BMW got something for playing itself. That would be, at a minimum, millions of dollars in publicity and maybe some good bucks and a date with a hot red Beemer.
Does anyone outside of actor Brosnan know whether he actually drives a BMW? No idea. Did the BMW have an agent and script approval? No idea. Is the BMW being advertised in the “editorial flow” — make that “creative flow” — of the film? Hello? Of course. Were Bond fans too stupid to understand this? Ahhhhhhhhhh….no.
The entire universe knows that Rush Limbaugh and his colleagues are, no kidding, really conservatives. The chances that, say, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin don’t believe in the principles they advertise for the Heritage Foundation and the others? Just a wild guess: zero.
Which is another way of saying that to try and say these conservative hosts have done anything remotely unethical, immoral, or illegal with these ads is untrue to the point of being bizarre. The accusation borders on the morally dishonest. And their audiences are nowhere close to being as stupid as Messrs. Frum and Nobel seem to think they are. We understood why Captain Midnight wore his uniform when he mixed up a hot cup of Ovaltine. We understand why 007 drives a BMW. We understand when we listen — let’s repeat that word — “listen” — to Rush or Sean or Mark when they are doing a commercial.
But is there more here? Why would anyone make a patently phony allegation like this — particularly on the heels of equally phony stories that conservative talk radio is losing its audience. An allegation discussed here.
Well, yes. There is more.
There’s an agenda.
Politico, for example, doesn’t say that Mr. Vogel is a frequent critic of conservatives. His, to use Frum’s term, “editorial flow” in the past has included making targets not just of conservative talk radio hosts but conservative activist Ginni Thomas and the Koch brothers. Again, free speech — bravo. But should there be just a hint of consumer warning that Vogel’s editorial flow is decidedly one-sided? That whether the story is about conservative talk radio or Thomas or the Kochs — the theme is the same? That theme being that honest, well-out-in-the-open activities by conservatives are somehow really shadowy, somehow dishonest or conflicted? Isn’t this pay-to-play? Mr. Vogel writes a supposed news story that is really ideologically driven — and gets paid to do just that?
You won’t find this consumer warning at the Politico, where Vogel is purveyed as a straight just-the-facts kinda guy. On the other hand, take a look at this story and you’ll see his idea of an unbiased, reputable source.
Uh-huh. That’s from Congressman Weiner the truth-teller. Thank God there was a photo editor for the head shot.
Ditto an agenda with Mr. Frum, whose editorial flow in The Week does not mention that he is an activist for a group whose leaders and members are loud critics of conservative talk radio. That group, No Labels, counts Frum as one of its “Founding Leaders.” Again, democracy at work. But to pretend he is some disinterested observer while hurling a fundamentally dishonest accusation of dishonesty at honest people practicing straightforward, above-board capitalism is, well, gee.
When Frum wrote this cover story back in 2009 for the liberal Newsweek, this was pay-to-play. Either Frum turned in a piece sharply critical of Limbaugh, a hit piece from an ex-Bush speechwriter going after the number one conservative talk radio host in the land or — no cover story, period. And no check. No play — no pay. No trash — no cash.
There’s more here. For one thing, is it an accident that this recent rash of allegations against conservative talk radio — specifically against Rush, Hannity and Levin — with swipes at the medium’s advertisers and its conservative audience have come from two people involved with one group? That would be David Frum and John Avlon. Both, amazingly enough, “Founding Leaders” of the No Labels group. Hmmmm. Do they get paid to write these pieces? Is this capitalism? Or could we call it what it increasingly appears to be: trash-for-cash?
One suspects Captain Midnight would not be pleased with the answer.
View all comments (37) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Jeffrey Lord
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/16/david-frum-politico-trash-talk
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Tim| 6.16.11 @ 8:26AM
Casino Royale
Whether you're financing terrorism or fighting it, Vaio has a laptop for you!
Why does anyone take Politico seriously?
vivian | 6.18.11 @ 12:26PM
Tim, no longer do I take politico seriously. I have learned.
And I believe Rushbo, Levin, or Hannity would not support (give air time) to anyone they did not truly trust and believe in..... If they ever did , then I would no longer be a fan.
vivian | 6.18.11 @ 12:27PM
Tim, no longer do I take politico seriously. I have learned.
And I believe Rushbo, Levin, or Hannity would not support (give air time) to anyone they did not truly trust and believe in..... If they ever did , then I would no longer be a fan.
David W| 6.16.11 @ 9:00AM
Time magazine apparently created a fake cover to help sell a video game! Any complaints from Misters Frum and Vogel for Time selling out to a major corporation that makes video games? Maybe the video game company is a big liberal contributor?
Robert Pinkerton| 6.16.11 @ 9:12AM
Outside of fora such as this one, where one's socio-political views can mostly be correctly assumed by this forum's audience, putting one's socio-political views out front and out in the open, is simple courtesy to the reader. Among other things, doing so alerts the reader where the author's sacred cows are wandering across the tracks of the author's train of thought. (For example, despite being Pagan, I trust the scholarship of E. Michael Jones. Dr. Jones puts his socio-political views squarely out in the open and in bold relief, enabling the reader to account for their influence on his line of exposition or advocacy; he is High Catholic Reaction, and I think he would understand that I use that categorization without pejorative intent express nor inplied.)
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.16.11 @ 9:28AM
Politico will soon share the fate of other organizations who push "fake" products.
Tom Osterman| 6.16.11 @ 9:46AM
Politico's attack on Limbaugh, Hannity, et. al., just go to show that 2012 won't be an election so much as a nasty guerrilla war with voting.
Teflon93| 6.16.11 @ 9:51AM
Wouldn't David Brock and David Frum be totally cute together?
That might get me to support gay marriage.
megapotamus| 6.18.11 @ 2:23PM
The Two Davids! I had that idea years ago but sadly made no hay with it.
Superpower| 6.16.11 @ 10:06AM
You mean like when USA Today and the Politico publish ongoing slobbery sycophantic PR articles documenting Obama's daily golf games? ...or like the hundreds of American 'progressive' websites selling Obama as the cure for the world? David Frum and John Avlon have benefitted greatly from evil free-market Capitalism; I suppose they're going to hell too?
Thomas Beach| 6.16.11 @ 10:09AM
People like Vogel and Frum simply hate what America is. Their audience is stupid people, frankly. They attack the values and principles of Liberty by attacking Liberty's champions.
Teflon93| 6.16.11 @ 10:16AM
Has there ever been a more perfect combination of envy, ambition, scrupulousness, and waspish ninnery than David Frum?
It is sad when a great man falls---and delicious when a small man does.
megapotamus| 6.18.11 @ 2:47PM
Wow, that was brutal. I will be stealing that. Frum is a curious creature, that is for sure. As far as I can tell he is claiming that CATO and a couple other thinkeries are being slighted in favor of Heritage. In the case of Rush and Levin, as observed, Heritage is a major sponsor. Maybe the others could try that. Or maybe the FCC should have a monitoring program that redistributes air time more equitably. Funny how equity always flows into certain pockets.
DCBuckeye| 6.16.11 @ 10:19AM
It sounds like the Politico article is truly cash for trash and making its author sound less intelligent or informed than a box of rocks. Limbaugh states openly that ad spots are paid spots- Heritage, Hillsdale College, etc. Heck, he even reads from Politico in his commentary & pumped Apple products but I bet THEY haven't paid a cent...
Don't even get me started on NPR = federal allocation = thieves.
C'mon if these Politico writers were serious about their craft, come up w/ some real substance.
JP| 6.16.11 @ 10:30AM
Frum and Vogel are second or third tier players in the highly competitve world of insta-punditry. Frum, it should be remembered bailed on Bush43 in order to cash-in on his few years as WH speechwriter. And as Bush's 2nd term began to unravel, Frum positioned himself somewhere on the Left-Center in order to keep his options open. From 2006-2009 the GOP and conservative brands went south; the future was with the Left. But one cannot fault just Frum. To be fair, some so-called GOP or conservaitve bloggers sprinted from the Center-Right to the Far Left (witness Little Green Footballs blogger Charles Johnson). Others like Brooks and even to a degree Charles Krauthammer read the tea-leaves and acted accordingly.
I hate to be a cynic, but for most political activists, money trumps principals. But one can only gyrate Left-Right so many times before people catch on. The trick is not to burn bridges. If one is to play the game, one should take note of the political operative Dick Morris. No matter what one says about him, he has a knack for riding the fence. A decade ago he was still in the Bill Clinton/DLC camp. Now, he is a frequent guest on Fox News, and people still pay for his political advice. Frum has no such skills.
talkradio55| 6.16.11 @ 11:11AM
I suppose if talk radio was being subsidized by the tax payers and bankrolled by a Nazi-collaborator who specializes in undermining currencies then Frum and Vogel would be kissing their rear ends.
Teflon93| 6.16.11 @ 11:24AM
AmSpecBlog really needs a Like button.
Thomas McMahon| 6.16.11 @ 11:33AM
Exactly, Mr. Lord. Frum de dum dum, as the saying goes.
Derek Leaberry| 6.16.11 @ 12:20PM
The two Davids, Frum and Brooks, are the anti-conservative "conservatives." They especially despise social conservatives, you know, the sort of people who don't think the social chaos of the last fifty years has turned out so well. I gather both men in their private lives are critical of Christians and Christianity as well.
J.C.Eaton| 6.16.11 @ 1:00PM
Now here is commentary that hits home runs! I was about 6 or 7 and Capt. Midnight was hustling Ovaltine[which as I recall, was pretty foul tasting] through the sale of a cherry-red, unbreakable plastic Ovaltine-C. Midnight festooned cup. A couple cents, a label or two and numerous nervous days waiting for every postal delivery followed. I became so impatient home life turned on every mail delivery.[Mom called the post office and said where is the cursed cup? My kid is going apeshit.] Finally it came, I slammed my new unbreakable cup on the kitchen counter so as to prove the word of my hero....it leaked like a collander after that. Good times. Thanks Mr. Lord.
Larry| 6.16.11 @ 5:38PM
Frum's hypocrisy is breathtaking. How he was ever a Republican operative, I'll never know. Frum, just go back to Toronto, okay? Write your hit pieces (for pay) on Canadian politicians.
Westie| 6.27.11 @ 10:08AM
Frum was speechwriter for that great Compassionate (Progressive) Republican GWB ..... these 2 were at that time Lefty Love Birds.
GWB was the best Demopublican President of the 20th C.
W Krebs| 6.16.11 @ 7:03PM
Hmmm. Frum's insinuation would have some point if one could possibly believe that Hannity and Limbaugh's general opinions were for sale.
On the other hand, the whole point behind the Politico publishing Frum is that he is thought to be a conservative. I think Frum himself is more duplicitous than he accuses Limbaugh or Hannity of being.
Clint| 6.16.11 @ 8:11PM
Interesting, how The Ruling Elites' Hired Guns view things differently from We Tea Party Patriots & The Grassroots.
"Republican and Democratic political operatives, campaign consultants, and party strategists, in a special National Journal Political Insiders Poll :
Republican Insiders thought that Romney was a winner tonight in large part because none of his rivals were able to land any blows that damaged the party’s nominal front-runner. “When you are in the lead every day your opponents don’t knock you back is a good day,” said one GOP Insider. “Made no mistakes, seemed comfortable, and confident,” said another.
Democratic Insiders were not as bullish on Romney tonight but they concurred with Republican Insiders that Romney emerged from the debate without any permanent scars. “Romney acted like the front runner and resisted all attempts to knock off message; he’s still the one to beat,” said one Democratic Insider. “The level of debate was higher than I expected,” acknowledged another Democratic Insider. “Romney did not win every question, but he did present himself as the front-runner in the nature of Walter Mondale. Steady and gray. Some may sprint ahead, but slow and steady can win this primary race.”
Heads Up.
megapotamus| 6.18.11 @ 2:51PM
I was wracking my brain trying to think of who Romney reminded me of. Yes, it is Mondale. No question.
biesmuth| 6.18.11 @ 5:27AM
You should note that Frum's mother Barbara was an extreme leftist "journalist' in Canada and his brief flirtation with conservatism was a sissy boy rebellion against mommy's beliefs. He has since come around and found his role as a born again leftist strikes a chord with both sides insuring a long and lucrative career.
Sean| 6.18.11 @ 11:29AM
Listen to ESPN Radio sometime. Pay for play for stamps.com, P90X, gotomypc.com, and many others.
t22| 6.18.11 @ 11:30AM
So I went to Politico's home page. Before it came up, an ad for The Economist popped up. The page itself had ads for AT&T and Home Depot. At the bottom was a promotion for "Politico in Print" and it opens to a page for an ad for WTOP in Washington.
So assumedly everyone at Politico uses AT&T exclusively, wouldn't be caught dead at Lowe's and toes the corporate line with the editorial policies of WTOP and The Economist.
I'd say you couldn't make this stuff up, but the left continues to do so.
Gmason| 6.18.11 @ 11:49AM
Tradh for Cash indeed. One wonders whether any of the money George Soros is shoveling out for "media outreach" is makaing it's way into their pockets.
The accessability and freedom of the internet must be driving them crazy. It's just so hard to peddle lies when there's all this free information floating around. No wonder they want to do away with that to.
bc3b| 6.18.11 @ 12:10PM
David Frum is a sleazy little man who is handsomely paid by the liberal media to pose as a conservative and attack conservatives..
While talk show hosts have the right to endorse any product they choose, I think any that use Sean Hannity are fools. Hannity hawks so many products that he has lost all credibility.
Mimi| 6.18.11 @ 12:23PM
Frum de dum....Who cares ? Our top tier Talk RADIO HOSTS are saving the darn country, by keeping us fully informed...literally by the HOUR!
These guys are the epitome of PATRIOTISM and their helping to educate the ignorant, and making responsible and THINKING CITIZENS of all of us....Thank-God for Rush , Sean, Mark, Beck, Laura and Savage true PATRIOTS and....Congrats to all those SMART, advertisers!
Possum Dearie| 6.18.11 @ 12:32PM
The real outrage is that they sell endorsements to wackadoos and bigots.
Patient Observer| 6.18.11 @ 1:01PM
OK. Let’s say after putting up the reported 1 to 2 million, Rush never mentions the Heritage Foundation. How quickly do you think that funding disappears?
A deal was struck. Heritage expects publicity for payments. How much? How often? In what context? Who knows?! And that’s the point.
Cash compels Rush and Hannity to worm content into their programs other editorial considerations might not have warranted. What, when and where is anybody's guess.
And god forbid if they should now try to editorialize with credibility on news-worthy topics like influence peddling in Congress.
Bad call. Poor judgment. It casts suspicion on the whole enterprise. It corrupts the show and diminishes the host.
And so cheap! A measly million! Is that all these guys think their credibility is worth?
We’ll sit through penis enlargement commercials and weight-loss scam spots because that’s sometimes the grubby business of commerce. But at least we know (or until now, THOUGHT we knew) that it was JUST about commerce. They were COMMERCIALS. We didn’t think Rush or Hannity were tilting content in favor of advertisers. Or accepting little bumps in their salaries to message the message.
Oh, and Mr. Lord, this goofy, “arch” writing style of yours…
It might have worked writing for the high school paper, but in an adult forum, it gets awfully tiresome.
Mimi| 6.18.11 @ 5:39PM
Kinda Petty and SMALL of you To take your frustration Out on The Fabulous, Fantastic, thoughtful, incredible, historical.and HONORABLE Mr. LORD.
Karla1953| 6.18.11 @ 1:05PM
Why would anyone care what David Frum said????
He is not even yesterday's news IMO
megapotamus| 6.18.11 @ 2:56PM
Like MSNBC, Frum's obsessions are best understood as a tactical play for clicks/viewers/readers/listeners. Limbaugh is, in any per-capita sense, the biggest thing in media by far. Mention Rush and you pop up the Google ladder considerably, you are quoted and invited on those crapulent shows like Schultz, of course only if you are pitching a negative view. Truly Frum carries this transparent practice to an absurdity. Why he must pretend to be a man of the right is likewise explained by a need for product differentiation. This puke should get a job on the Romney campaign or maybe Newt's. I hear they are hiring.
weddingdresses | 6.29.11 @ 5:32AM
Why would anyone care what David Frum said????
He is not even yesterday's news IMO