Sure looks like Senator Obama will be our next president. And that both houses of Congress will be more Democratic than now. And suddenly we will start to feel better about our country’s various situations.

We will feel better because the mass media shape our feelings. They barrage us with news and information, of course. And a high percentage of what they feed us has been feel-bad stuff. Much of what they will feed us after the inauguration will be feel-good stuff.

Please don’t accuse me of being cynical here. I am merely being realistic.

We have seen countless surveys of attitudes on display in our mass media. Virtually all tell us those attitudes are liberal, left, usually in favor of the Democrats.

In the past several years mass media have turned most good news into bad. Examples of this are too many to document. They are abetted in this by an army of academics who openly despise even the Pledge of Allegiance if it comes from the lips of George Bush.

And, of course, vast segments of the media exist to publicize Hollywood-types. Anytime a movie star decides to become an expert on Iraq or the economy our media will feature his or her pronouncements.   

The results of the propagandizing are easy to see. For the past few years a majority of Americans have assured pollsters our economy has been in recession. It has not been, not by a long shot. Most Americans feel the Iraq War has been a military failure. For the number of people and amount of territory involved it has been a military success.

Whether we should have gone there at all is another matter. You can debate that for years. My point is that as a military campaign it has been one of the most successful we have ever undertaken. If you want an easy comparison, try Korea. There were over 4 million military and civilian casualties there.

Most of our media have ignored our successes in Iraq. Those lenses they wear can darken everything they look at.