It is the casual attitude that there is nothing particularly extraordinary about the Bush Presidency. The largest terrorist attack in our history, a ginned up, unnecessary war, allowing New Orleans and New Orleanians to drown, the constant drumbeat of assaults on the Constitution and our rights, the trashing of basic beliefs like those that prohibit torture, and none, none of these things has the slightest effect on them and how they view and report Bush and the news. Fatuous, complaisant, co-opted, oblivious, I don’t know how to describe it.

I was reading Glenn Greenwald this morning and he had a long piece on John Harris and the Politico in which he expresses similar frustration.

None so blind as those who will not see.

Amen! Amen!! Amen!!! As succinct an opinion as I’ve ever read on this topic. Thanks, Hugh.

Keith Olberman is the only trained journalist on any kind of TV (the media most Americans prefer) to speak loudly and clearly in pointing the total lack of honor or integrity these people display.

For me, seeing Gregory backup-dancing for Rove’s rap the other night removed all doubts that he is an empty suit.

Yep, totally agree. I was undecided about him until that point. There is no way an unbiased reporter should be doing that. Imagine Jack Anderson in Gregory’s shoes….or Walter or Dan or Peter.

Thanks for the post, Hugh. I think, though we on the left have been talking about the fact that the media have let us down, I don’t think we analyze it as far as it needs to go.

What good is the blogosphere alone when most of America is not a part of it?

I don’t know about you, but most of the people in my life are not umbilically attached to a computer like I am. The majority of Americans do not get their information from the Internet. Most folks manage America Online, and that’s the extent of their computer use. Even many people who use a computer all day long at work don’t come home and go onto the computer – they’ve spent enough time on it at work. And with our economy shipwrecked by the Pirate-in-Chief, most people work longer hours than ever before, many with more than one job (how ‘uniquely American’) and still deal with home, kids, or elderly parents on top of this – sometimes all three.

And when they come home, they turn on the Channel 7 news. Or read the newspaper. They don’t go to FDL or Raw Story or Buzzflash. And the mainstream news outlets are abnegating their responsibility to these people. Whether it’s from fear or from laziness, from the publishers on down, the major media have abandoned not only the obligation but the privilege of telling the independent truth to America. The Fourth Estate has the honor and civic duty of defending America’s freedom by telling the truth, by digging below the surface and between the lines of what it hears. If it takes everything disseminated by the Administration (any Administration, not just this one) at face value, and merely repeats what it’s told by the powers-that-be, then it ceases to be journalism and becomes propaganda. And that’s criminally negligent, as far as I’m concerned. You are actively injuring American freedom when you become a mouthpiece.

Sure, it’s easy to say to Americans, “Get informed! Go on the Internet! Look it up for yourself!” But the sad truth is, most people don’t have the time or energy to do that. Yes, the people have an obligation to pay attention to what’s going on in the country. But if real, unbiased information is too difficult to find, it’s not fair to expect all Americans to become computer sleuths in addition to everything else.

In order to stay informed, we are having to become investigative journalists ourselves. And today’s world is so complex and multi-faceted that it is a full-time job just to separate the sh** from the Shinola, so to speak. Journalism is a profession, or it used to be. One aspect of a profession is a matter of trust. If you go to a doctor or a lawyer, you are putting your trust in them, since we all can’t spend years in med school or law school. You are literally putting your life into their hands. And we put the life of our democracy in the hands of our press.

Alicia: great..great post.really insightful.
In a few years I believe you’ll reflect back on your words and consider them ‘out of date’.
The newscycle and technology in general is approaching light speed. Channel 7 and it’s brethren had better change with the times fast.
It’s exciting we think about how we will experience political views in 10 years hence..
Great post though….