At Home On Piety Hill

UPDATE!
10/27/2008   This just in: The Obama-O’Biden campaign blackballs a CBS affiliate for asking tough, pointed, fair questions — treatment that conservatives routinely and courageously respond to daily!!! It seems like just yesterday that the jackbooted thugs silenced an Orlando FL station for asking appropriate questions that, frankly, should have been asked of Obama and O’Biden throughout the campaign. 

I haven’t seen a news anchor treat a Democrat like a Libertarian or Republican in a long time. It was kind of refreshing for a change, but it seemed odd to see someone with all the trappings of the progressive media asking O’Biden tough questions. Though the depth and thoughtfulness of the interview was surprising, the Democrat response was predictable:

Biden so disliked West’s line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate’s wife.

“This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election,” wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

Get ready for at least four years of this sort of Stalinist retaliation against any dissenting voices. By the way, I once heard someone say “dissent is patriotic.”

I think this Washington Post story puts its finger on the problem of declining network viewership, plummeting newspaper circulation and ad revenue.

Lured by an offer of interviews with the Democratic presidential candidate, Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric will make the overseas trek, meaning that the NBC, ABC and CBS evening newscasts will originate from stops along the route and undoubtedly give it big play.

John McCain has taken three foreign trips in the past four months, all unaccompanied by a single network anchor.

The US has devolved from a representative democratic republic to a two party system with a press that has a cult-like fascination with only one party and philosophy. From the many to the one. Yes, we get one perspective. That’s all. That’s it. One right way to think. One portrayal of how normal people ought to view current events, culture and public policy. 

It’s not as if I don’t understand their strategy. It’s all about being relevant and close to the power people. It’s not about profit and objectivity is definitely out of fashion. When you’re aiming your product to the lowest common denominator and the other guy is indistinguishable from the hip candidate, except for age and ethnicity, follow the buzz and go with the winner! 

One word from a serious news consumer — boring!