The Game Radio
Posted on
Sunday, August 24, 2008
by Gary A. Ballard
Watching the coverage of Obama's vice-presidential selection this weekend has left me with an even lower opinion of the mainstream media establishment. As the peanut gallery of Washington pundits, strategists and talking heads like Wolf "the Beard" Blitzer pored over and over the choice of Joe Biden, I was constantly reminded of sports talk radio. While I enjoy sports talk radio almost as much as I enjoy sports, a corollary between election coverage and discussion of hot stove trade talk is hardly a flattering comparison. In fact, the comparison leaves the mainstream media only one step above propaganda broadcasts on the depravity scale.
All of the discussion of the vice-presidential pick was focused on the strategy of the pick. Would the pick win Obama a certain state? Such a pick would play well with the elderly demographics. Poor white voters in Pennsylvania would respond well to Biden. Biden could be used as an attack dog, keeping Obama above the fray. Biden would mouth off, saying something stupid that would damage Obama's campaign. Biden's previous comments about Obama's lack of experience disqualifying him for the Presidency would hurt Obama. It was all everything about the tactics of the GAME of politics, and nothing about the actual policy inherent in the politics.
Is this what we've become? Is this the coverage we deserve? It isn't just the Biden coverage that has fallen into this trap, it's been the whole goddamn primary coverage and everything in between. The Pennsylvania primary was a wretched example, a continual spin cycle of Rev. Wright soundbites and Hillary Clinton doing shots at a bar she'd never darken if she hadn't been courting blue-collar votes. There was and has been and is no discussion of the candidate's actual platforms, of their proposed policies, of the proposed solutions to this country's problems, just dogwhistle politics casting aspersions on each candidate's bona fides. Experience, religion, whether the candidate eats arugula or who would drill for oil in their backyard, all of these consume hours and days of coverage, while the actual policies proposed are left to the candidate's respective web sites with absolutely no actual television analysis and discussion.
Perhaps the media establishments have been beaten so soundly about the head and neck by Rovian shit-peddling that it has reached the status of cynical battered housewife. The editors must believe that their viewers accept all campaign promises as bald-faced lies, and with cynical laziness discard all discussion of policy proposals as useless. After all, if the proposals are nothing more than lies the politician has no intention of following through on, why cover them at all? Instead, they focus on the sensationalistic, the he-said-she-said reality-tv backbiting. Obama suggests proper inflation of our tires to save gas mileage and instead of covering his entire energy policy, the media chooses to cover the McCain campaign's mocking of said proposal, even though all experts and the McCain camp itself agrees that proper tire inflation would alleviate the need for the amount of extra oil we could drill for domestically. But rather than examine and contrast the details of both side's energy plans, the focus is on who can get the best dig in.
Even the coverage of the McCain "how many houses" gaffe has gotten entirely too much coverage. Yes, it shows McCain to be more out of touch with normal Americans financial difficulties than Obama, but it's a trivial bit of playground snaps. How about examining what McCain's policies about mortgage company bailouts as opposed to individual homeowner assistance? The media spends thousands of words repeating outright lies like "Obama is the most liberal Senator in Congress" without ever critically examining where that "statistic comes from - even though the exact same thing was said by the exact same people about John Kerry in '04. How can Obama be the "most liberal Senator" when John Kerry is still serving in the Senate, and both were serving in the Senate in '04?
It is the responsibility of a moderator like Wolf Blitzer to challenge such ridiculous assertions by his guests when they are demonstrably false, but most of these programs allow their guests to spew such horseshit ad nauseum. It seems they feel that as long as they have someone from the opposite side to spew equally ridiculous fabrications, it's ok because both sides are represented. I'd like to say we can blame the Fair and Balanced propaganda-rich FoxNews for that, but really at least they are consistently blatant about where their allegiances lie. I have news for you media organizations about there. Objectivity does not mean allowing both sides to lie through their teeth, and it doesn't impose on you the restriction of being blank-faced ciphers to the most ludicrous shitheel liars on the planet.
The election isn't a game, though the media seems to want to treat it as such. Sports and games are great fun, but when we are on the cusp of the most important election since Nixon was impeached, America needs a media establishment that is willing to fight for truth. We don't need bobbleheaded sports broadcasters discussing the strategy of getting elected, we need honesty and integrity and the ability to critically challenge policies. Give it a try, guys. Spend 1 fucking hour a day just picking apart each candidate's platforms. Start with each candidate's energy policy and move on from there. Don't just toss out "he's pro-life" platitudes without really looking to see the leash you're being dragged along with.
Turn off the Game Radio and turn on the Truth Machine.
All of the discussion of the vice-presidential pick was focused on the strategy of the pick. Would the pick win Obama a certain state? Such a pick would play well with the elderly demographics. Poor white voters in Pennsylvania would respond well to Biden. Biden could be used as an attack dog, keeping Obama above the fray. Biden would mouth off, saying something stupid that would damage Obama's campaign. Biden's previous comments about Obama's lack of experience disqualifying him for the Presidency would hurt Obama. It was all everything about the tactics of the GAME of politics, and nothing about the actual policy inherent in the politics.
Is this what we've become? Is this the coverage we deserve? It isn't just the Biden coverage that has fallen into this trap, it's been the whole goddamn primary coverage and everything in between. The Pennsylvania primary was a wretched example, a continual spin cycle of Rev. Wright soundbites and Hillary Clinton doing shots at a bar she'd never darken if she hadn't been courting blue-collar votes. There was and has been and is no discussion of the candidate's actual platforms, of their proposed policies, of the proposed solutions to this country's problems, just dogwhistle politics casting aspersions on each candidate's bona fides. Experience, religion, whether the candidate eats arugula or who would drill for oil in their backyard, all of these consume hours and days of coverage, while the actual policies proposed are left to the candidate's respective web sites with absolutely no actual television analysis and discussion.
Perhaps the media establishments have been beaten so soundly about the head and neck by Rovian shit-peddling that it has reached the status of cynical battered housewife. The editors must believe that their viewers accept all campaign promises as bald-faced lies, and with cynical laziness discard all discussion of policy proposals as useless. After all, if the proposals are nothing more than lies the politician has no intention of following through on, why cover them at all? Instead, they focus on the sensationalistic, the he-said-she-said reality-tv backbiting. Obama suggests proper inflation of our tires to save gas mileage and instead of covering his entire energy policy, the media chooses to cover the McCain campaign's mocking of said proposal, even though all experts and the McCain camp itself agrees that proper tire inflation would alleviate the need for the amount of extra oil we could drill for domestically. But rather than examine and contrast the details of both side's energy plans, the focus is on who can get the best dig in.
Even the coverage of the McCain "how many houses" gaffe has gotten entirely too much coverage. Yes, it shows McCain to be more out of touch with normal Americans financial difficulties than Obama, but it's a trivial bit of playground snaps. How about examining what McCain's policies about mortgage company bailouts as opposed to individual homeowner assistance? The media spends thousands of words repeating outright lies like "Obama is the most liberal Senator in Congress" without ever critically examining where that "statistic comes from - even though the exact same thing was said by the exact same people about John Kerry in '04. How can Obama be the "most liberal Senator" when John Kerry is still serving in the Senate, and both were serving in the Senate in '04?
It is the responsibility of a moderator like Wolf Blitzer to challenge such ridiculous assertions by his guests when they are demonstrably false, but most of these programs allow their guests to spew such horseshit ad nauseum. It seems they feel that as long as they have someone from the opposite side to spew equally ridiculous fabrications, it's ok because both sides are represented. I'd like to say we can blame the Fair and Balanced propaganda-rich FoxNews for that, but really at least they are consistently blatant about where their allegiances lie. I have news for you media organizations about there. Objectivity does not mean allowing both sides to lie through their teeth, and it doesn't impose on you the restriction of being blank-faced ciphers to the most ludicrous shitheel liars on the planet.
The election isn't a game, though the media seems to want to treat it as such. Sports and games are great fun, but when we are on the cusp of the most important election since Nixon was impeached, America needs a media establishment that is willing to fight for truth. We don't need bobbleheaded sports broadcasters discussing the strategy of getting elected, we need honesty and integrity and the ability to critically challenge policies. Give it a try, guys. Spend 1 fucking hour a day just picking apart each candidate's platforms. Start with each candidate's energy policy and move on from there. Don't just toss out "he's pro-life" platitudes without really looking to see the leash you're being dragged along with.
Turn off the Game Radio and turn on the Truth Machine.
Labels: Biden, Mainstream Media, McCain, Obama, Politics, Presidential Campaign 2008
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 3:15 PM
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