The old liberal media need to go back to their high school science texts. Newtonian physics' Third Law of Motion states that if object A exerts a force on object B, then object B also exerts an equal and opposite force on object A.

This law also increasingly applies to the media and their interactions with their customers. The media have become so vitriolic and obvious in their incessant Bush—bashing, so pathetic in relying on old news stories, twisted "facts", and now probably forgeries, that they have prompted a counterforce of cynicism among the reading and viewing public.

Now, when the media take a forceful and over—the—top opinion on an issue they will likely as not prompt a counterreaction in the opposite direction. The major media's opinions now are a contraindicator for the public. There is a reason media monitoring groups are grwoing in number, why internet blogs are surging, and why Fox is putting your rating numbers to shame.

We once were like Stasbourg geese being force—fed grain crammed down our gullets. The livers of the geese become gourmet delights, just as the public's support for liberal politicians delighted the media ideologues. But we are passive farm animals no longer. The new media have been the instrument of our rebellion.

Ed Lasky  9 10 04