It wasn't all that long ago that Democrats and liberals were said to be out of touch with "the real America," which was defined as encompassing the states that voted for President Bush in 2004, including the entire South. Democrats seemed to accept this definition of reality, and they struggled -- often looking ridiculous in the process -- to become fluent in NASCAR talk and to discuss religion with the inflections of a white Southern evangelicalism foreign to so many of them.
Now the conventional wisdom sees Republicans in danger of becoming merely a Southern regional party. Isn't it amazing how quickly the supposedly "real America" was transformed into a besieged conservative enclave out of touch with the rest of the country? Now religious moderates and liberals are speaking in their own tongues, and the free-thinking, down-to-earth citizens in the Rocky Mountain states are, in large numbers, fed up with right-wing ideology
This conventional wisdom construct is a product of the beltway media and nothing more.
I remember wondering how a blow job turned into an impeachment. This was accomplished by the gotcha press.
Those on the right will say that this is a sign of media bias, but that's a ridiculous argument. Ask Howard Dean--whom the press treated like a slipup slot machine--if the press only focuses its gotcha guns on the right. The truth is, the press has simply lost its sense of purpose. There are too few members of the Fourth Estate who understand the need to help Americans to make the important choices citizens must make in a democracy by giving their stories context; by discussing the ideas which drive (or should drive) our political debate; and, yes, by crying bullshit when necessary.
The fourth estate is not in the business of assisting Americans in making important choices. The business is creating the choices (usually boiled down to just two) between the romantic winner or the pitiful loser. Just look at the difference in which McCain and Howard Dean are portrayed. Policy discussions are quickly turned into ridiculous food fights that are of absolutely no substance.
Crying bullshit, I think, must be a rallying cry. If the fourth estate is to ever have any meaning again.
So long as the media attempts to parse what Bush did, or did not, say, or worse, what he says about what he said, the further they sink into the categories and environment of Bush's propaganda. They have become involved in a conversation the terms of which are set by Bush.
They might begin their own conversation, grounded in their own cognitive faculties.
A more appropriate question for Bush would extend the line of thought of the BBC reporter of last week: "Mr. Bush, so long as you continue to use language suggesting victory or success, can you convince the nation that you are not still in a state of denial about the situation in Iraq?"
Follow up: "Mr. Bush, what do you intend to do to persuade the American people that you are not in a state of denial about the central issue facing the nation?"
Follow up #2: "Mr. Bush, is there any reason for anyone to believe that a White House in a state of denial about the situation in Iraq can formulate any useful or effective strategy for that conflict?"
A sentient 8th grader could formulate these questions.
Meanwhile, La Hillary has said she's for a "surge" -- whatever that means -- so long as it contributes to the "stability of the Middle East", and it's reported that she opposes a Surge--WhateverThatMeans, whereas Harry Reid says he'd support a Surge--WhateverThatMeans so long as it is part of a withdrawl plan and operation, and he repeatedly clarified his remarks to make it perfectly plain what he means, and it is reported that he favors a Surge--WhateverThatMeans.
Can the Big Important Media be any worse? Of course it can. However the kinds of OppositeLand reportage and headline writing and opining that's been going on recently (oh, at least the last decade or so) represents a fully decadent and corrupt Big Important Media institution -- which realistically is not redeemable from the outside. Corporate consolidation is part of the problem, of course, and it has vastly exacerbated inherent tendencies toward sucking up to power -- and exercising power for corporate ends not public interest. As the Institution becomes more concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, the Media's ability to function as the Fourth Estate evaporates.
Except on the margins. Because we still do have a Free Press (and members of Congress who want to eliminate any hint of it) on the Internets and in print (very occasionally on television). The Insitutional Media has demonstrated over and over and over again that it cannot -- and absolutely will not -- function in the Public Interest except by accident.
The Marginal Media -- Internet blogs, political magazines, teevee/radio/internets outlets , on and on and on -- are filling the gaps in coverage and correcting the Mountain of Errors spewed by Institutional Media. It's not enough, but it is growing exponentially.
At some point, the Public, fed up with Pravda-esque Truthiness from the fully decadent and corrupt Insititutional Media will simply tune it out, much like the citizens of the Soviet Union did with their own mass media propaganda back in the day. Whereas it was difficult to find an alternative in the Soviet Union, it's easy to find alternatives here.
The media has to stay focused on the important questions.
Did Miss USA kiss Miss teen USA?
Are their pictures?
Was their tounge?
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