If I were advising a politician these days, one of the first things I would do is lecture him and his staff about the realities of the American press corp. In my lifetime, the most bizarre and disturbing aspect of politics has been the press. They operate like a weird religious order that only cares about the hunt for heretics, even though heresy is based on an ever shifting collection of fads. The press will savagely attack someone today for saying what they held up as eternal truth last week. The liberal media are the Jesuits of the Cult of Modern Liberalism.

If you are on the outside, they will never give you a fair hearing. When some poor slob fell afoul of the Inquisition, the inquisitor was not interested in being fair. Long before he became interested in the sinner, he made up his mind. That’s how things work with the fanatics in the press corp. They are always scanning the horizon for heretics they can attack. If you are a member of the wrong party or hold the wrong ideas, they will savage you. There’s no amount of facts and evidence you can muster to change their minds.

A good example of the berserk fanaticism of the media is in this article about the never ending clown show that is the Obama presidency.

The CIA’s top officer in Kabul was exposed Saturday by the White House when his name was inadvertently included on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in President Obama’s surprise visit with U.S. troops.

The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual, who had been identified on the initial release as the “Chief of Station” in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for its highest-ranking spy in a country.

OK, we have a banal report on another unforced error by the White House.

The disclosure marked a rare instance in which a CIA officer working overseas had his cover — the secrecy meant to protect his actual identity — pierced by his own government. The only other recent case came under significantly different circumstances, when former CIA operative Valerie Plame was exposed as officials of the George W. Bush administration sought to discredit her husband, a former ambassador and fierce critic of the decision to invade Iraq.

There we have it. Nothing in that graph is true, but the fanatic who wrote the piece believes it to be true. The editors probably believe it to be true. They don’t care. More important, they found a way to attack an enemy of the faith. In this weird religious order we call the mainstream press, the currency is the number of attacks one launches on the heretics. That’s all that matters.

If you are a political party or politicians, you have to accept this reality. These people are crazy. They are not nice people who are mistaken. They are not persuadable. They are nuts and they are hoping for the chance to destroy you.

The reason the GOP is a train wreck is they continue to think they can get along with these fanatics. You cannot win if you play by the rules set by these nuts. That’s the first lesson from the Reagan years. He changed the rules on the press corp and was able to discredit them. They hated him for it, but he was not looking to be buddies with fruitcakes like Sam Donaldson.

That’s a the lesson we see in the recent European elections. The successful insurgents have kept the media at a distance. UKIP knows the British press is hostile and plans accordingly. FN has ignored the press entirely. On the other hand, Geert Wilders has been trying hard to look swell, playing by the rules of the mainstream press. The result was a weak showing in the elections.

In America, a guy like Rick Perry, for example, would be wise to pick some fights with the hard thumping loons like NBC. Exclude them by not issuing them credentials to his events or responding to their requests. When they complain, make clear that they are going to be treated as any other advocacy group. When it comes to interviews, avoid the lefty press entirely. Go on talk radio and give time to the alternative press that is friendly to his issues.

There is an example to follow. Black NBA players in the 1990’s would only talk to black reporters like Mike Wilbon and Ahmad Rashad. Michael Jordon was quite clear about it. He wanted to help the black reporters. The result is black sports writers came to dominate NBA coverage. Conservatives, libertarians and the GOP needs to follow a similar plan. Treat lefty as the enemy and seek out friendly media to support.

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