Ive been watching CNN all day, and I am in absolute awe

[ComerPerro]

They have been talking about Bush and the Republicans, how they are playing politics all over the place.

They discuss how Bush's "secret, dangerous mission" to Iraq was a great political move, how they are really smart for dividing Democrats over what to do with troops in Iraq and how long to leave them there, how Republicans are shoring up their base with a push to ban flag burning, and how they rallied fundies for trying to get a marriage amendment.

And, even though they are pretty much admitting that its all partisan BS and that the Republicans aren't really accomplishing anything, they seem so sycophantic about it.

My question is:

If these people were real journalists, would they give so much air time to positive coverage (or even any time or debate at all) of such obvious, transparent political ploys?

Moreover, shouldn't they be angry or outraged that the Republicans are using millions of dollars and thousands of lives for political gain?

[sinkingfeeling]

1. They aren't journalists...they're pundits, who somehow, some think

have better thinking abilities than they do.

[tom_paine]

2. Answer: They ARE NOT journalists

They are television talking-heads, which in modern Imperial Amerika is a species lower than the paramecium.

[shadowknows69]

14. How dare you insult

the noble paramecium like that. What did one celled life ever do to you?

[grytpype]

3. This won't last, don't go nuts.

Bush didn't win the war this week. Once that sinks in AGAIN, Bush will be right back where he belongs.

[ComerPerro]

5. But its just alarmnig that they can admit GOP actions are political

and nothing more, and then they spend hours talking about it.


A few weeks ago, they openly admitted that the marriage amendment was just a political effort to rally conservatives.

So, if that's the case, why even start "debating" it and giving the bigots even more exposure?

[BuelahWitch]

23. Yes, playing with people's lives for political gain

It won't ever affect them or theirs and they have no compassion for those it does affect.

[Avalux]

4. They're Republican groupies, at least it seems that way.

Yes, they are admitting that all of this is purely political, but they're making it seem OK, and even brilliant. Admiration and high fives all over the place. If Bushco was a rock band, these teleprompter readers would be in the audience screaming and fainting while Bush and his buddies spit all over them.

[EVDebs]

6. More Operation Mockingbird/military 'psyops' pump-the-prez

Relax. The fantasy media MSM have destroyed what little street cred they once had.

[smokey nj]

7. I understand your frustration.......

IF they were real journalists, the discussion would be that the only problems the administration deals with are the political ones, and they do it at the tax payers expense. I'd love for Cafferty to do a rant saying that the RNC should be responsible for reimbursing the American people for these publicity stunts. Will it happen? I don't think so. Bush wouldn't be where he is without the complicity of the "press".

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. Pump-the-prez

LOL, sounds like a new Pez dispenser.

[Rex]

8. Paid to play BFEE propaganda 24/7

Before 24/7 news channels, we had real journalist doing real news. Today it is Romper Room with Wolf "I Whore 4 $$$" Blitzer. Hey did you hear, Bush might be getting his mojo back! :puke:

[SmokingJacket]

9. If people stopped watching their shit, maybe they'd stop!!!

For one thing, it's *much* cheaper to sit there and spout non-news than it is to hire reporters to actually report -- and it's to their benefit to shore up the fucking administration. So... what's stopping them from continuing what they're doing, aside from integrity, which they obviously don't have?

They only thing that WOULD change the way they do things is a dramatic loss of viewership. How about cancelling cable? That would be a very positive step.

[debbierlus]

28. AMEN! That is what I did!

[SoCalDem]

10. The "media" we have these days are not "into" news

They are into conflict. For every YIN, they simply MUST have the YAN..

This is the heartbreak of a two-party system.. Every time one party goes "up", the other one just has to be "down"..

The media should be educating the people about HOW each part manipulates people, and they should simply present the issues as they apply to ORDINARY people, but no one out here ever thinks of themselves as "ordinary", so many that wouldn't get big ratings..

To get ratings, the media needs the "in-your-face" confrontation we have all come to expect.. Everything in the US simply MUST be a contest.:puke:

There are days when I almost wish that ole George washington had not prevailed.. Would we have been a gigantic Canada, with French people in the south and Russian people in the Northwest??

[burythehatchet]

11. Its all about the horse race, who wins who loses

devoid of substance

[Mist]

18. Off topic, but love the sig line animation, SoCalDem! nt

[SoCalDem]

19. Thanks.. It's funny.. I am planning on changing it soon

and in the last few days, a lot of people seem to have just noticed it :)

[blm]

12. CNN is just one big APPLAUSE sign for GOP hubris.

They act bemused by it, not critical.

[bullimiami]

13. my advice, always. SHUT IT OFF. you will rot your brain.

turn on aar, du or something sane and independent.

[spag68]

15. Wolfie

All these things you say about these talking heads are true, but when the dems. get into office, watch haw fast they turn into investigative reporters.

[emulatorloo]

17. Wide-eyed wonder at all things republican, steely skepicism for all things

democratic. We have seen it time and time again.

[UTUSN]

16. Here are the secret, dangerous missionaries

[TreasonousBastard]

20. Doesn't bother me a bit...

because for years they have been more interested in the mechanics of politics than the substance. It's far more difficult to put a story together about the history of Iraq and the current war than it is to put one together about who's arguing over it. Besides, they've found out no one watches real news anyway, and hard stories are a ratings and circulation killer.

Should it bother me? Yeah, it should, but there never has been a "golden age" of "real reporters" no matter how we might like to mythologize over it. Journalism schools do teach the ethics and the machanics of getting the news and most media is reasonably diligent about reporting it, but there have always been limits to how much they publish, and spin and slant have always been around.

Should they show their outrage? No, not really. They should report that Republicans are using this for gain, but only if they have hard proof. Otherwise, just lay out the facts and let us decide. News and opinion have always been separate things. Or should be-- calling spin pundits and mouthpieces "reporters" is a problem.

Who's really to blame? The need for profit is a large part of it, with the consolidation of media hard on its heels. And the constant lambasting the press gets for being "too liberal" when it merely reports the facts has gotten them into fear mode and overreaction.

But the real villains are us, the consumers, who pick up a paper or watch the news to check the scores, weather and traffic reports, see who got murdered today, and catch up on celebrity gossip.

If we wanted news, like any merchants they would sell it to us.

[Hubert Flottz]

21. I firmly believe that...

Wolf Blister would suck the boogers out of Bush's mother's nose, on coast to coast TV and give CNN two weeks notice, to draw a crowd!

[fooj]

22. They aren't journalists...

They are traitors to our country.

[watercolors]

24. just following the WH script!

nt

[izzybeans]

26. They are not even pundits they are cheerleaders.

Rah Rah Politics Blah!

[debbierlus]

27. It is the CORPORATE media - they own Bush & they own the journalists

Here's an idea....

Turn it off.

Get rid of cable and stop subsidizing the MSM to LIE to you (or severly distort facts or omit huge chunks of truth).

Why are you surprised? This is the MSM that covered the Swift Boat Lies when they made UNsubstantiated and UNprove claims about Kerry. The MSM who hounded Clinton over Monica, but ignored Bush lying to start a war. The MSM that IGNORED a homosexual male prostitute being planted in the White House press corps, and didn't raise an eyebrow when it came out he visited hundreds of times on days there was no press meetings and didn't sign out.

C'mon.

What do you expect?

Stop watching it. People here say they want to know what the enemy is saying, but you don't even NEED to watch to know how they will spin any story.

SHUT IT OFF

[RPM]

29. if iraq was safe, why did fucktard fly in on a secret mission

oh - 'cause its not fucking safe, stable or secure...