Stop the Feeding Frenzy

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I was doing what I do best (that would be working and reading blogs – simultaneously), and I happened on a blog entry by The Blogger Formerly Known as NCSteve on TPM. I think Steve’s blog post is one we should all read and consider – long and hard.

Some choice snippets from his blog entry follow, but do read the whole thing.

For those of us who followed Bob Sombersby’s (and Glenn “temporarily dead to me” Greenwald’s) critique of our political press these last several years, the pattern is depressingly familiar. Our empty-headed, corporate ass – licking, majored – in – speech – communications – learned – the – news – biz – at – a – local – teevee – station – an – wouldn’t – know – the – Columbia – Journalism – Review – if – you – smacked – me – upside – the – head – with – a – copy mainstream press only has four political stories that it knows how to write in election year summers. Just four:

1. “The Democratic nominee is a big phony, lying, flip-flopper homo.”
2. “The Democratic nominee is the most liberalest politician in the whole history of the these United States!”
3. “John McCain is a straight-shootin’, straight-talkin’ maverick and if he says something, you can take it to the bank! No checking necessary. He bravely endured torture, you know.”
4. “Oh, those silly, squabbling, disorganized, backbiting Democrats! Har har har!”

Number one, we get before the convention with a few seeds of number two planted. After the convention, the harvest of number 2 is reaped and a few stray flecks of number one waft through the fetid air. They’ve always loved ol’ Johnny Maverick, but number 3 really only broke through into national prominence back in ‘99. They’ve been running it continuously, ever since. Number 4 has been a perennial favorite of the U.S. Political press for as long as I can remember, certainly since Carter’s presidency.

Make no mistake, every campaign season will bring facts that do fit easily and accurately into frames 1, 2 and 4. Every politician with a functional cortex will change his or her mind from time to time. Of course Democrats will vote and act liberally from time to time—duh! And yeah, Democrats can be some whiny-ass self-absorbed, tunnel-visioned assholes from time to time. Some of them never saw a good that was good enough to justify letting go of their Platonic ideal of the perfect candidate.

(snip)

These facts are the chum that send the sharks into the predictable frenzy.

Of course, there is much more to this blog entry, and again, I suggest you read it, but I will end with NCSteve’s final paragraph which, I think, should behoove us all to consider:

And oh, finally, here’s a last idea, directed specifically to frame number four that others have been trying to get across in more polite fashion. Could I please trouble some of you to kindly REFRAIN FROM THROWING ANYMORE GODDAMN CHUM INTO THE WATER?? Not forever. Just four more months. Just hold it in, make a list for later use and just put a damn sock in it for four more stinking months. It would be appreciated. Thank you.

Four more months of holding it together, of not throwing chum into those political waters. Four more months to ensure that we do not have a President McCain for another four years of Republican rule and their signature style of stopping everything relating to you and me while everything goes to their corporate rulers. Four more months to stop the insanity of eviscerating the rule of law. Four more months to stop the ultra secret, no oversight, SO? lowlifes in our government from continuing to steal our treasury and our and our children’s futures.

Four. More. Months.

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Tags: MsJoanne @TPZoo