Spiro Agnew: He has a point, but...

"Sure, it's bad to be remembered as an evil and corrupt politician. But what's really bad is to be remembered as a mediocre evil and corrupt politician."

In his address in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa, Spiro Agnew  complains that American public opinion is being manipulated by "a small band of network commentators and self appointed analysts". He rightly points out that their qualifications to their positions may be considered dubious, given that they purport to speak for the common man when they themselves are anything but. He also states, with some justification, that jumping on everything the president says without giving the public time to digest his remarks is unfair. While I agree that the network employees have an agenda, the same applies to politicians, and even the public itself. Mr. Agnew demonstrates his lack of faith in the intelligence of the average citizen when he claims they are so easily swayed. He also offers no viable alternative. His whining about the good old days of the public media kowtowing to the government is embarrassing in this somewhat more enlightened age.

"Now what do we know about these men who wield such power?" He asks us ominously. The same could be said about you, Mr. Agnew, considering the ignominious way your own political career ended.

Comments

[A. Mattson]

No mercy for Spiro?

The media mostly supported the war and American foreign policy. The criticisms were mostly about how the war was being waged not if the war should be waged.

Agnew was sent out to attack the press by the Nixon administration and many Americans were sympathetic to what the Vice-President was saying. Some people did feel that the media reporting bad news about the war was disloyal. Bad news is hard to hear, but the media should be applauded for bringing the facts to the public. It actually took a long time for the mainstream media to turn against the war itself.