29 March 2007

Campbell Brown Exposed, Pt. II

Several weeks ago NBC's Campbell Brown regurgitated the tiresome neocon talking point that "It's difficult to say that you're against the war and at the same time not say that you're against the troops." This prompted me to expose Campbell Brown's solid neocon connections and question her journalistic objectivity.

MediaBistro has a recent interview with Campbell Brown which makes it even clearer that she is part of the mainstream media's culture of incompetence. Here's what she says about how Iraq has changed the way the White House is covered:

In the wake of 9/11 -- I don't want to say 'free pass,' but journalists were in the same boat as so many Americans in wanting to support a wartime president.

Translation: Yeah, we kinda sucked donkey balls... but wasn't everyone sucking donkey balls?

Legitimate explanation or pathetic excuse? I'd say the latter. My recollection is that everyone went back to work after 9/11 and did their jobs in the same professional manner as before, perhaps even better. The firefighters stepped up. The police stepped up. Pat Tillman stepped up. Even Cantor Fitzgerald, decimated by the attack, picked it up and got it together.

Seems to me the only profession that DIDN'T step up was the mainstream media.

And then she adds:

There was an undercurrent of that, and that's certainly turned.

Translation: We're the mighty Fourth Estate once again, as Anna Nicole Smith can tell you.

The best part:

What is frustrating for me... is that you can't look at the war in Iraq or our options on how to deal with the war right now without politics playing a role.

You mean like when journalists parrot partisan talking points on the air?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's telling that neocons use sports metaphors to address the war ("Saying you're for the troops but against the war is like saying you're for the Reds but hope they lose opening day.")

A more appropriate comparison might be "Saying you're against the war is like saying you're for the Reds but don't want them dropped in a pit full of crocodiles."

Thinking outside of tightly ordered social roles seems beyond them.

WestEnder said...

That reminds me of this post about the psychology of conservatism.

ohdave said...

sorry I ruined the game for you, buddy!

WestEnder said...

I learned my lesson. From now on I'm only going to read Republican blogs because even if they tell me the result there's no way to know whether it's true or not.