Category Archives: Media

Gonad-less Girls At TNR Gun For Jim Webb

Barack Obama, Democrats, Elections 2008, Media

The New Republic smeared rightist Ron Paul. Now it has turned its attentions to Virginian Senator Jim Webb, whose name has been mentioned as a possible VP for Obama. Webb is no lefty.

Richard Just’s windy piece is pure crud. The man needs the discipline of a good editor. (He is the editor!) And how girlie is it to open with the exasperated, “I’m amazed.” This is a manipulative strategy to prime the reader for outrage. If only popular writers were a little less banal; would that an original idea popped into their noggins now and then.

(I’m psychologizing here—something I avoid–but I can’t help think that Webb’s unabashed manliness irks the new breed of “girlie boys.” Webb has defended his country and can defend his family. Juxtaposed to a guy who can handle guns—Omigod!—we have boys accoutered in trendy eyewear who carry on in fussy falsettos. Webb is fierce and passionate, and simply does not resonate with the “whatever” generation.)

I’ve tracked Webb’s recent political moves in a few blogs. (Here, here and here.) I like him. We had a personal exchange during the ramp-up to war. Webb would send me his pieces against the invasion, and voice his approval of my own WND ones. The man has the kind of ethics the gonad-less girls at TNR ought to envy and emulate.

Also curious is the emphasis in the Just piece on Webb’s worldview. Touching is the sudden concern about philosophy among the liberal left. Where was the “in-depth” worldview evaluation when it came to Obama’s adopted philosophy of two decades? I refer to the Black Liberation Theology preached at the church in which Obama worshipped for 20 years.

Navel-Gazing Nation?

America, Journalism, Media, The Zeitgeist

The coverage of Tim Russert’s untimely death is obscene. Can you imagine the BBC lamenting for days on end the passing of one of their broadcasters, or even the head of the BBC network? Never. It would not happen. You’d hear a curt, solemn announcement to the effect that, “Our colleague has passed away tragically. We mourn his death and extend our condolences to his family. Now to the news of the day.”

This pathological coverage, once again, is of a piece with the childish, self-centered, deeply silly American media, which knows not what its proper mandate is. Has such impropriety afflicted the national psyche? You tell me. I suspect most Americans are preoccupied with other matters. I hope so.

Mature, normal people know when to grieve, how publically, how loudly, and how long. When the president of the US pauses, on an official visit abroad, to declare to the world how sad he is about the death of a man his audience doesn’t know—you know what a naval-gazing nation we’ve become.

This kind of coverage applies with spades to the elections: Since 2007, cable networks have focused exclusively on the elections to the exclusion of most other new and certainly world news.

As I asked in “Elections Fatigue”: “America’s pathological, election-time self-absorption makes a mockery of the idea that the US is suited to lead the world. Shouldn’t a world leader take an interest in the world?”

I suspect that Mr. Russert would have been appalled by the choice of broadcasting his colleagues have made.

Update II: Tim Russert Dead At 58

Journalism, Media

When a relatively young–presumably healthy–person like Mr. Russert dies suddenly, it is a reminder of one’s own mortality.

Tim Russert seemed a genial, if unremarkable, gentleman, which is more than one can say about most other media personalities.

Update I: I must say I was never able to detect the telltales of an interesting mind in Mr. Russert, but as his friends eulogize him, I will say this: He was objective and I never made out his political preferences or biases.

In the arid journalistic landscape of today perhaps that is in itself remarkable.

I find the instant eulogizing media has launched into a little distasteful. It’s too soon, too loud, and too self-referential—each personality making sure his relationship vis-à-vis Russert is front-and-center.

The man is not yet in the ground. Some quiet grief seems in order–a time to ration speech for a change.

Update II: Russert did prepare extremely well for all his interviews. Again, that’s rare in journalism nowadays. He was also a devout Catholic and devoted father and son. What’s not to admire about that?

Here’s what I find ironic: Keith Olbermann has been leading the tribute to Tim on MSNBC. Although there are aspects of Olbermann’s show that are appreciated—his coverage of the war and the demise of civil liberties under Bush—”Countdown” is pure advocacy, not journalism. I read recently, moreover, that Russert was deeply disturbed about this development—the turn against journalistic objectivity MSNBC had taken with “Countdown.” If this is the case, how does letting the Obamacentric Olbermann lead the network’s extolment honor Russert and his mission?

‘Colorectal Crusader’ Couric Cries Foul

Ethics, General, Hillary Clinton, Journalism, Media

What never fails to amaze me about the anointed Idiocracy of America (Peggy Noonan comes to mind here) is that, no matter how evil and erroneous their way, they always get curtain calls; they retain their status as philosopher-kings. Or queens.

Colonic Crusader” Katie Couric said this at an award ceremony for her cherished self:

“However you feel about her politics, I feel that Sen. Clinton received some of the most unfair, hostile coverage I’ve ever seen.”

[Note the grating “I feel” locution]

Rewind to February this year:

Sly Katie recently interviewed Clinton while intoxicated—drunk with love for Obama. Couric’s below-the-belt barbs and blithe probes about Obama—but not the issues—made Hillary appear elevated by comparison. The Senator was courteous where Katie was cruel.

‘Someone told me your nickname in school was Miss Frigidaire. Is that true?’ Couric asked. ‘Only with some boys,’ Clinton said, laughing

The answer was quick, and, I must confess, classy. The question was base and bitchy. (It’s of a piece with another iconic ‘journalist’s’ cruelty—that of Barbara Walters. She prefaced an interview with Celine Dion by pronouncing: ‘you are not beautiful.’ Tears welled in Dion’s beautiful eyes.)

Excerpted from my “Militant Mama Obama.”