Skeptics see a certain irony in an administration that has always been at odds with the Fourth Estate turning into a farm team for the nation's punditocracy. Karl Rove, who wasn't shy about criticizing the press, recently became a Newsweek columnist. Nicolle Wallace was hired as a CBS News commentator shortly after stepping down as Bush's communications director. Michael Gerson signed on as a Washington Post columnist shortly after resigning as Bush's chief speechwriter, while a fellow speechwriter, Matthew Scully, published a long Atlantic Monthly article accusing Gerson of taking credit for others' work.
Irony? Is that what you kids call it today? Some of us call it “controlling the message.”
I know, this influx of Bushies into the MSM is supposed to make up for all the liberals already in the media. People like Lou Dobbs, Joe Klein, and David Broder.
Oh, wait.
This whole thing is just so wrong. As the fabulous Madamab pointed out in yesterday's blogpost, news coverage of something as vitally important as who will be our next president has deteriorated into lame “color commentary.” I don’t know if I’m watching a football game, or trying to get informed so I can pick the next President.
Why is this? Because our lazy-ass media hires people like Matthew Dowd, Karl Rove, Michael Gerson and yes, even Markos Moulitsas to do its work. Why would you hire partisans? Whatever happened to, you know, reporters?
This is priceless:
Dowd, 46, was generally accessible to reporters and logged plenty of camera time as a Bush strategist in 2000 and 2004. He was often armed with the latest polling data, a specialty Dowd says will come in handy.
"I have a pretty good handle on the public's needs, wants, desires and dreams," he says.
No, you don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t be on freaking ABC News trying to spin the current events of the day. We don’t want spin. We want facts. And we know we won’t get that from you.
I’m sick of polling data, trends, horse race coverage of the election, and strategy talk. Does anyone on the TV talk about what any of the candidates actually believe? Their policy positions? No, they don’t. Because, like Matthew Dowd, they’re armed with “the latest polling data”--and little else.
Pffft. I’m finished with all of them.
