Brian Lambert – A Cry For Help?
Brian Lambert is an entertainment columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. His specific assignment is to cover television and radio, with an emphasis on news programming. He’s been on this beat for at least a decade, watching and listening to untold thousands of hours of broadcasts from every mainstream news outlet, thus qualifying him as something of an expert in the field. And .... Brian Lambert doesn’t believe there’s a liberal bias in the mainstream media.
Dementia is not a pleasant experience, for those suffering from it or for those affected by their actions (as his readers in St. Paul will attest). A pattern of delusional behavior, if left untreated, can only lead to a steady, spiraling descent into utter madness, ultimately leaving the victim wholly incapacitated and unable to operate in society.
Sadly, the case of Brian Lambert has been allowed to degenerate for years, without anyone intervening in an attempt to salvage the man’s mind. His employers, his readers, his colleagues in the media have all stood by and watched while Lambert not only denies reality, but also creates paranoid delusions to justify his fantasy world. Take this example, from a recent column, where he characterizes the identification and analysis of liberal media as:
“conservatives' masterfully choreographed accusations of bias”
And he sets the context of these accusations with some classic examples of projection (or is it transference?):
"With mainstream news organizations all getting tarred by the New York Times' ethical lapses, and commercial talk radio flagellating actual journalists as often as they hype their sponsors, there's no end of readers, viewers and listeners venting opinions on media inaccuracy, sloth and, of course, bias.
Anyone in the business of journalism (as opposed to attitude, infotainment and "op-ed" TV) recognizes a certain parrot-like quality to most such accusations. Many voices simply repeat what they hear with no great infusion of individual thought."
Lambert’s even been able to find other similarly delusional individuals to support his own beliefs. A quote from NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin (who I’ll assume does indeed exist, as Lambert has not shown acute symptoms of a multiple personalities disorder – yet):
“... my own view is that NPR has been quite careful to present voices from both sides of issues. If anything," he says, "we may have put more conservatives on in recent months."
"What [critics] really want is to hear their own opinions reflected back at them, and they really resent anyone who contradicts what they think."
I am not a mental health professional. But since no one else has volunteered to attempt to salvage the mind of Brian Lambert, I guess it’s up to me. The first step in helping this man is getting him to admit there is a problem. To open a door into the dark, feverish dream world he has created and let the sunlight of reality shine in, just long enough for him to realize he needs some help (at which point a team of trained psychologists can take over).
In order to do this I intend to present him with examples of liberal media bias. Examples of someone from the mainstream media, tasked with objectively reporting the news (particularly in a non-political realm), yet who consistently chooses to infuse their reporting with their political beliefs. And I see no better example of this than .... Brian Lambert. What better way to expose his delusion than to show his own actions as examples of that which he denies?
What follows are a few examples from recent Lambert columns. And please remember, he’s an entertainment reporter, not a political columnist. Further, recall the point of this exercise. It’s not to prove his editorializing as factually incorrect (even though it is). Rather, it’s to show a liberal bias in the writing of news, which he denies exists. Read on and try to guess which team he’s playing for:
From a recent column on the political prospects of those working in the entertainment industry. His characterization of Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger:
”...a mostly monosyllabic ex-bodybuilder [who] can use Hollywood's celebrity hype machine to simultaneously launch another sequel about a killer robot and a gubernatorial campaign in California.”
Now his characterization of Democrat Jerry Springer, a potential candidate for US Senate in Ohio:
"the comparatively erudite host of a daily TV show" and "a disarmingly reasonable, moderate populist, as calculated as any other, most likely, but directly plugged into a huge, largely ignored and otherwise apathetic segment of the population."
Bonus comment, his characterization of potential Republican voters: "the terrified family-values crowd"
From another column, on CSPAN’s coverage of Iraq, here’s his characterization of the American motivations for the war and the prospects for postwar success:
"America's nation-building adventure in Iraq has a long way to go before it turns a stable corner, and there's no convincing reason to be sanguine that that will happen."
To most of us, that would be enough evidence to snap us back into reality. But Lambert’s been lost in this fog for some time, and I suspect this radical therapy will need to continue for a while. Therefore, as he continues to write his bias laden columns, I’ll continue to compassionately confront him with the evidence.
(Note, if I never write on this subject again, assume I cured him. And in advance I have one more comment for Brian Lambert - you’re welcome.)
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