Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
August 2, 2008
“I deplore… the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed and the malignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit of those who write for them… These ordures are rapidly depraving the public taste and lessening its relish for sound food. As vehicles of information and a curb on our functionaries, they have rendered themselves useless by forfeiting all title to belief… This has, in a great degree, been produced by the violence and malignity of party spirit.”
Thomas Jefferson to Walter Jones, 1814. ME 14:46
There is a sickness in our nation. A sickness bred in false patriotism. A sickness nourished by our national media. The sickness is acceptance. We accept anything that is spoon fed to us.
What has the media become? No longer is it liberal. No longer is it conservative. No longer does it serve the people. It now only serves itself.
The national media has become so terrified of losing market share that it no longer publishes anything that might offend a viewer or reader.
Why is the following not the headline of every newspaper and on every news channel.
US occupation now being confronted by Iraqi democracy
Reductive analysis: Pullout likely to be fixed but flexible
Iraqi PM demands ‘specific’ U.S. pullout timeline
Why is this not the biggest deal in the world? The Democrats and many republicans have been calling for an exit strategy for years. All the while, they’ve been called cowards, traitors, and appeasers by the Neo-cons. Now suddenly, an exit strategy is OK?
I’m not saying anyone needs to cry sour grapes or complain that we should have pulled out years ago. All I ask, is that the media asks the questions and publishes the answers so the electorate can learn from it’s mistakes and elect someone competent on the next go around.
Apparently the last hope for democracy is in the comments on random blogs.
