What to do when the media template doesn’t fit: What is Massa? Hero, Lunatic, or Evil Genius

Eric Massa really stirred the hornets nest yesterday as comments he made over the weekend circulated through Washington and the news networks. Massa claimed that the democratic leadership pushed him out to pass health care. Massa had previously been a big nutroots golden boy and an ardent supporter of single-payer healthcare. Tonight, he is going to appear on Glen Beck’s Television show. So today, the brilliant, elite personalities in the media are out spinning whatever story about Massa they think fits best with their political philosophy. The three predominate templates that are out today are Hero, Lunatic, or Evil Genius. You be the judge, but here are my thoughts.

Rich Klein of ABC is ready to put Massa in a straightjacket:

Self-contradicting, borderline paranoid ramblings need not necessarily be taken seriously, even when uttered by someone who, until now, held a seat in Congress -- or who was part of Rahm Emanuel’s crop of “Fightin’ Dems” back in 2006. (They got the fighting part right.)

But the difficulty for Democrats is that Massa’s conspiracy theories take on just a whiff of believability after deals so famous that they instantly earned nicknames.

That right folks, Massa, the big leftist nut, must be a tea partier.

Bob Lonsberry, the man who reported new sexual harassment allegations after Massa’s ethics probe was made public, has Massa pegged as an Evil Genius, duping the conservatives:

I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody offers him a TV commentator job somewhere. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps getting away with it. If Limbaugh and Beck say he’s OK – and they will have to now, to save face – then millions of people will think he’s OK too.

Eric Massa is a brilliant, audacious snake.

But he is still a snake.

Hardly news here Mr. Lonsberry since Massa is a politician.

John Bresnahan has Massa as a conservative media hero:

Meet Eric Massa, conservative media hero.

The New York Democrat’s weekend radio rant against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has his star rising on the right even as he resigns from Congress under an ethical cloud.

Nice try John, but he’s one of yours. The idea that the right is somehow embracing
Massa is ridiculous.

The truth is that none of these templates really fits Massa. The real Massa is a man who has lived two lives almost since he started a career in the military. He is a family man who has spent much of his time away from his family. He had a family life and a military life and then a family life and a Washington life.

Massa’s past is one that is hard to nail down thanks to the gushing, liberal loving media who until recently spent countless newsprint pages promoting Massa as the most respectful, honest, and honorable freshman congressman to ever have beaten a Republican in a Republican leaning district. He was their mold for Blue Dog Democrats, someone who could whip up the nutroots, but still seem hometown enough to be embraced by mom and pops back in the country. However, given recent claims that have surfaced, it would appear that Massa is a much more complicated man.

We’ve been sold one life of Massa’s his entire political career, but TPM was busy doing the media’s job over the last few days and composed a fairly complete article regarding Massa’s second life. This second life includes sexual hazing and allegations of sexual abuse while occupying a commission as a Commander in the Navy. It’s a life that shows a hard, rigid, and lonely man. One without honor, or respect, and given Massa’s long battle with keeping this life a secret, we can hardly come to the conclusion of honesty.

Massa’s actions are consistent with those of a man trying to reconcile the life of lies with the life of truth. It’s not multiple personalities; it’s the double agent in the spotlight. This assessment doesn’t shock anyone. I just described every Democrat on the hill and most Republicans as well.

So when you shift gears as to whether Massa or the White House or Steny Hoyer is telling the truth about why Massa was pushed out of office, Massa’s past is irrelevant. The media is trying to convince the public that out of the gaggle of compulsive liars in the Democrat Party, we are to trust Massa least because his lies were the most recently exposed.

When Massa tried to leave quietly by citing health reasons, Steny Hoyer threw Massa under the bus. Why point out Massa’s sexual misconduct when it would obviously hurt the Democrat’s election chances in a district they were hard pressed to hold? It makes no sense unless there was some political tactic in play. Either way, I think Power Line had it right; this story is fresh and if we keep Massa in the spotlight, the truth might come out.

Via Memeorandum