Why many of us are fed up with the mainstream media

Those of us who are critics of mainstream media have yet another reason for our low opinion of them. I was reading in The Wall Street Journal about the recent planned bombing in New York’s Broadway area. We were lucky to dodge another bullet there when the concoction failed to explode. What was interesting was the information that was leaked—apparently, officials are seeking a courier who helped get the suspect money.

Use of a courier seems old-fashioned in this day of wire transfers of money. But it all goes back to the pinnacle of mainstream media—the New York Times. Back in 2006 this influential newspaper disclosed, on its front page no less, a highly classified government program for monitoring electronic international money transfers through what is known as the Swift system.

Keep in mind that this monitoring violated no law. So the paper wasn’t letting the public in on some devious plot by the Bush administration to deprive us of all our liberties (sound familiar?). Instead, it was leaked and reported simply as a way to titillate readers for fun and to relieve them of boredom. Nobody at the Times was concerned about possible harm this revelation might cause. Is anyone surprised that terrorists took note and changed their methods? They have since resorted to the use of physical "couriers," making it much harder to trace terrorist financing.

So, here we go again. If the mainstream media are not acting as cheerleaders for those they love (President Obama comes to mind), they recklessly make charges, tear down those they disagree with, and, in this case, display breathtaking stupidity in aiding our enemies.