Merit-bound Alley

In related news, I’ve used “sanctimonious” in a sentence!

Bob Franken wrote a story for the Huffington Post where he details the relatively unbalanced political coverage in the campaign correspondents. I’ve talked about this before. He then, however, waxes righteous about the power of the press:

Sooner or later we realize that and try to get back into balance. That’s what we’re seeing now, or at least beginning to see.

That helps explain all the negative stories that popped up about McCain in the last few days. There is a collective consciousness in journalism that causes all of us at pretty much the same time, to try and knock our icons off the very pedestals we created for them.

So, according to Franken, the media makes them then capriciously rips them down. Interesting. I remember a time when the media was supposed to present a balanced view, reporting only the facts. I also remember a more recent time where they at least still pretended to do that.

What about Obama? So far he has been this campaign’s easy rider. But you can bet that all of my profession’s proud social misfits are looking very hard for chinks in this Lancelot’s armor… anything that might knock him off his horse. That explains why we swarmed when he was knocked off his stride by the charges of “plagiarism” Frankly, he recovered his balance fairly easily, but it was a reminder we are just looking for an excuse to pile on.

Oh yes, the few, the proud, the men and women who report with gleeful egocentricity according to the whim of their calling! Warrior-poets, they are!

Too much of this election race is manipulated by the marketers we call political consultants. They’re hired to try and control every facet of the candidates’ image. Unless the wretches in media are willing to withstand the election peer pressure and be true NON-believers, we might elect someone who has no business being our national leader.

Yes,  ye nobles of hearty constitution! Resist the pressure enacted upon you by the political consultants… unless it’s negative sotries or outright rumour, of course. Then, let the pressure wash over you and drown in it’s moist embrace!

That lesson is that journalism in the United States is supposed to be about skepticism. It’s time for us to help make sure we don’t neglect our obligation to try and make sure voters avoid placing a fraud at the highest level of government. The candidates for the most powerful job in the world need to withstand a tough challenge not just from their opponents, but from us.

Oh, and the voters.

John Heilemann of New York Magazine wrote a great article entitled “The Meme Prisoner” which explores the media bias that slants favorably towards Barack Obama. I will say that I have noticed this myself on the Feb 12th primaries, where every speech was clipped except Se. Obama’s. On MSNBC, coverage for Senator Clintons speech ended early for results stats, coverage of McCain’s didn’t begin until well into the second half of his speech, but only a brief 10 seconds was clipped out of the thanks portion of Senator Obama’s speech..

 Now, I support Obama and will vote for him when he wins the nomination. On the other hand, media bias is what has me reading news almost constantly, trying to find a kernel of truth in a mountain of excrement. Media bias is unfair and manipulative and their favor of Barack Obama will have no bearing whatsoever on my support of his candidacy. It is merely a mundane roadblock that makes me work a little harder to educate myself.

My guess is that the MSM favors Obama because he is new and inspirational. He is piles of unwritten pages of something positive that they can write about, even if they have to filigree it a little bit. On the other hand, you have the Clintons, who have been in the news for almost two decades, with little of that being positive or motivational towards respect for politics.

The MSM has heard the call for inspiration, and have followed their wallets to Barack Obama and high paper and magazine sales. It’s telling that in all the media’s coverage of Sen. Obama, little attention has been given to his stands on important issues. Anyone who is serious about investigating a candidate will have to find his voting records and stances on Obama’s website. This also allows the slacker voters imply that he’s all talk, no substance. This is a double-edged sword.

The important thing is that the media’s treatment of Barack has no bearing on where the man stands on the issues or his ability to get the job done right. Sen. Clinton was able to overcome her unethical, hardass, etc. reputation to win a Senate seat. She’s just having more difficulty in this election because of the comparison to Barack Obama, whose reputation as “untouched by the Washington grime” has held remarkably well.