I recently got an email from my mom, who has been under assault by some conservative friends who are deeply worried about the downfall of the empire. These emails have grown more common of late, and in her latest missive, she asked for my two cents on the recent news from The Drudge Report that President Obama has enlisted ABC news to help him with a massive PR rollout of his health care plan on the evening of June 24th. Her conservative friends warn that this is evidence that “The Liberal Experiment” is upon us. I think that makes them sound petty and bitter. Her email (re-printed with permission), and my three cents follow:
Adam,
Hi. Any comments on this? My conservative friends are “terrified that the liberal experiment has begun.” Hmm.
Hope your day is going well!
Mom,
1) Obviously the president has no obligation to present the opposing view to his plan and cannot be faulted for successfully convincing ABC to cover the issue thoroughly.
2) Since Ronald Reagan abolished the fairness doctrine in 1987, no broadcast entity is required to present equal time to opposing opinions. Is this a good example of journalistic integrity? I’d say no, but it is certainly ABC’s prerogative to cover the issue however they please. If the RNC has a problem with it, the proper recourse is the one they appear to have chosen, which is to take it up with ABC.
3) None of the above can be interpreted as anything other than a very media savvy president doing whatever he can to get the message out on a very important issue. I’m not even sure what “The Liberal Experiment” is, but maybe the folks worried about it could find some more constructive ways to lend their voice to our national troubles.
The “Socialism” argument was bunk, and so is this.
Republican campaign tactics have seemed to lack a certain gravitas of late, but it wasn’t until they began to resort to outright mockery that said tactics began to look particularly desperate. It honestly seems as if McCain’s camp has been able to find so little with which to hang Obama, that they’ve opted, instead, simply to employ easily refutable arguments premised, apparently, on the hope that no one will watch or read the news. Ever.
“The passing of Tim Russert throws into high relief this country’s lack of steadfastly reasonable and fair reporting.”
I got home from a show at Glasslands late last night and ended up watching an in memoriam show for Tim Russert featuring Tom Brokaw, James Carville, Mary Matalin, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Gwen Ifill, Mike Barnicle, Betsy Fischer (Executive Producer of “Meet the Press”) and Maria Shriver (who, I’m sorry, is one of the scariest-looking people alive today).
Obviously, I never knew Tim Russert personally, but my sense of him from his show and from what others have said about him is that he was truly an exceptional person, immensely respected and hugely influential. Russert was principled, curious, intelligent and unafraid to ask real and difficult questions and to expect real and complex answers.
Few journalists demand accountability from politicians or press them for answers instead of evasions, but Russert’s genuine interest and faith in politics and in people garnered him not only respect from people all over the political spectrum, but also goodwill and trust. According to his friends and colleagues, he was fiercely loyal and rejoiced in other people’s successes.
“Meet the Press” drove the news cycle and set the bar on reporting. If a fraction of news sources in the U.S. cleaved to that level of integrity, research and honesty, I wouldn’t have to watch the BBC World News to find out what’s happening in my own country.
James Carville did not actually cry (on camera) but he got very choked up. So did Brokaw (I’m pretty sure he cried when the camera cut away). So did Mike Barnicle. Mary Matalin was definitely teary-eyed, and at one point you could see a crumpled tissue in her hand, but what got me the most was how James Carville, one of the craziest, hardest, wiliest consultant-pundits ever, held onto her hand so tightly looking simply devastated. The outpouring of emotion Tim Russert evoked, who he was, what he did and what he stood for, was really moving.
I always scoffed when people mourned the death of Princess Diana with near-religious fervor. I suppose they identified with her or felt sorry for her. I do know she did a lot of good work towards eradicating land mines and with AIDS patients, but honestly people, she was not exceptional, because other people have done the same or more. She was famous for her pedigree and marriage, and the attention she received for her admirable charitable work has been inaccurately remembered as the impetus for the adoration lavished upon her.
Tim Russert was truly a force for good in this country, an example of civility and meaningful dialogue in a country overrun with pre-packaged sound bytes, empty rhetoric, macho posturing, pissing contests and shouting matches. I know this entry may seem overly effusive or exaggerated, but if nothing else, the passing of Tim Russert throws into high relief this country’s lack of steadfastly reasonable and fair reporting.
Tom Brokaw called Tim Russert “authentic” and in this day and age, that’s one of the highest compliments a person can receive.
Tim Russert, most beloved host of “Meet the Press”, died this morning of a heart attack at age 58. He will be sorely missed as his was one of the few voices of reason in the media.
Here’s a stellar clip we found on The Huffington Post of a Fox News reporter trying to ambush Bill Moyers. The backlash from his fellow journalists is priceless:
This is, hands down, one of the great moments in punditry. And since we’re gonna keep hearing about this subject of appeasement at the hands of plenty more talk radio buffoons and 527 groups targeting our man Barack, a little refresher course seems timely:
“If the O’Reilly Flip-Out video is not longer available it’s because CBS took it down.”
This video has been making the rounds, but it really sums up Bill O’Reilly in his entirety for me: inflexible, unpoised, afraid of change and insecure to the core. In the clip, he’s supposed to say that a Sting video will play them out, but has no idea what that means.
This may be the first time I have had even the tiniest inkling of respect for Geraldo. I believe this more than atones for the Al Capone’s vault debacle:
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