That's just it -- both sides want the distraction, because the facts do not serve either candidate. Both guys do better if we're talking about Obama drinking beer or bad speeches by Dirty Harry or the weather or sports. And the media follows along in lock-step formation. Jon Stewart humorously calls them out on their lies, but nobody seriously suggests those in power who lie ought to resign, nor do they order those who are running for the highest office in the land to have their facts checked. The media just accepts these blatant hand-fakes with the sort of "everybody does it" attitude. And everybody does it because we don't have journalists who hold those in power accountable.
Back when I watched TV news programing regularly, I used to laugh that Chris Matthews called his show "Hard Ball." Just because you ask soft ball questions in a loud voice doesn't make them hard. And the late host of "Meet The Press" was often cited by politicians as a tough interviewer, which was openly laughable -- they said that because so few people watched and noticed how bad Russert was, so it made a politician sound courageous to face him. Cut to the present day and Anderson Cooper has a segment -- a f*cking segment -- on his show devoted to "keepin them honest" when his whole show ought to be about that. When you package fact checking and sandwich it between stories about Kardashians and something that makes Anderson uncontrollably giggle for five minutes, nobody notices or cares about who was or wasn't honest. A month ago when everybody talked about eating chicken or boycotting chicken, nobody bothered to report on the number of assaults and murders against homosexuals, nobody reported how many gays committed suicide while serving our country in the military, nobody reported about a child made to feel like his parents are dirty or evil or broken because his parents happen to be the same gender. And it is funny/sad that if you talk to both sides about that day, they both think they won. More harm was done to America that day than by the events of 9/11 -- not just to the gay community, but to those of any group or any issue who value substantive debate. Two sides who have reasons for believing as they do decided, reason be damned, we're gonna put on a minstrel show and dance. And the media ate it the f*ck up. And the upcoming Democratic convention will be just as contrived, filled with just as many distractions, and the media will continue to follow lock-step behind politicians. And the people these politicians claim to want to serve will be left out in the cold, with no voice, no power base, and no journalist to fight for the truth. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
