Is the worm turning?
For once, (agreeing with Kevin Drum) I almost would have liked more people to have tuned into the Republican convention. I watched Zell Miller's speech in full along with a good deal of Cheney's speech. Wow. Between those and Alan Keyes' comments about homosexuality being selfish hedonism (attacking Cheney's daughter directly!), the Republican party showed off some of its worst qualities, and for the world to see. I'm noticing also a good deal of panning of Miller's speech.
For those interested, the relevant portions of his appearance on Hardball last night where he challenged Matthews to a duel and the transcript for his other appearance on CNN last night where he appears to have been extremely confused and incoherent is here (registration required). I seriously recommend reading through, it's quite an amazing set of interviews.
A few weeks ago, the Daily Show in its usual mode of providing the most insightful commentary on tv through satire, had a great exchange between John Stewart and Rob Coordry (copied from atrios):
Last night was one of the first times in a long time I saw the press start to disprove the Daily Show. The genesis of Miller's breakdowns is that finally journalists started questioning the ludicrous spin, half-truths, and out-right lies of his speech. They correctly pointed out that Cheney also voted or was generally against several of the same weapon systems that Miller accused Kerry of being against. They questioned his tone, and his overall contribution to the American political process that his vitriol would make.
He became apoplectic exactly because he was totally unprepared for this. Conservative pundits haven't been called on their lies in quite a while. The Swift Boat Veterans group has largely been allowed to give "their side" of the story about John Kerry's service in Vietnam when there is scant evidence (ok, really no evidence) that supports any of their claims. Indeed, most claims are either completely refuted, are impossible to prove or disprove, or are entirely opinion. Yet, these people up through this point have been given equal credibility as the official record which has stood for 35 years.
Did the Daily Show get the press tougher? Probably not. Maybe as others have hypothesized, the press is getting fed up being the whipping boy of the RNC. Maybe they suddenly remembered their mission to report the truth as best as they could. Maybe this is temporary (indeed, that would be my guess). However, for this moment the press has done its job, and the Republicans have exposed their worst tendencies, and were called on it. Yesterday was pretty good. Now let's see what Bush does tonight.
As a note, I think the one exception to the rule of the press generally being passive has been Fox.... why must it be Fox though?
For the record, I'm guessing Bush will be about 2-3 points up after the convention. (I'm sure some polls will show more, some less) I'd love to be overestimating on that.
For those interested, the relevant portions of his appearance on Hardball last night where he challenged Matthews to a duel and the transcript for his other appearance on CNN last night where he appears to have been extremely confused and incoherent is here (registration required). I seriously recommend reading through, it's quite an amazing set of interviews.
A few weeks ago, the Daily Show in its usual mode of providing the most insightful commentary on tv through satire, had a great exchange between John Stewart and Rob Coordry (copied from atrios):
STEWART: Here's what puzzles me most, Rob. John Kerry's record in Vietnam is pretty much right there in the official records of the US military, and haven't been disputed for 35 years?
CORDDRY: That's right, Jon, and that's certainly the spin you'll be hearing coming from the Kerry campaign over the next few days.
STEWART: Th-that's not a spin thing, that's a fact. That's established.
CORDDRY: Exactly, Jon, and that established, incontrovertible fact is one side of the story.
STEWART: But that should be -- isn't that the end of the story? I mean, you've seen the records, haven't you? What's your opinion?
CORDDRY: I'm sorry, my *opinion*? No, I don't have 'o-pin-i-ons'. I'm a reporter, Jon, and my job is to spend half the time repeating what one side says, and half the time repeating the other. Little thing called 'objectivity' -- might wanna look it up some day.
STEWART: Doesn't objectivity mean objectively weighing the evidence, and calling out what's credible and what isn't?
CORDDRY: Whoa-ho! Well, well, well -- sounds like someone wants the media to act as a filter! [high-pitched, effeminate] 'Ooh, this allegation is spurious! Upon investigation this claim lacks any basis in reality! Mmm, mmm, mmm.' Listen buddy: not my job to stand between the people talking to me and the people listening to me.
Last night was one of the first times in a long time I saw the press start to disprove the Daily Show. The genesis of Miller's breakdowns is that finally journalists started questioning the ludicrous spin, half-truths, and out-right lies of his speech. They correctly pointed out that Cheney also voted or was generally against several of the same weapon systems that Miller accused Kerry of being against. They questioned his tone, and his overall contribution to the American political process that his vitriol would make.
He became apoplectic exactly because he was totally unprepared for this. Conservative pundits haven't been called on their lies in quite a while. The Swift Boat Veterans group has largely been allowed to give "their side" of the story about John Kerry's service in Vietnam when there is scant evidence (ok, really no evidence) that supports any of their claims. Indeed, most claims are either completely refuted, are impossible to prove or disprove, or are entirely opinion. Yet, these people up through this point have been given equal credibility as the official record which has stood for 35 years.
Did the Daily Show get the press tougher? Probably not. Maybe as others have hypothesized, the press is getting fed up being the whipping boy of the RNC. Maybe they suddenly remembered their mission to report the truth as best as they could. Maybe this is temporary (indeed, that would be my guess). However, for this moment the press has done its job, and the Republicans have exposed their worst tendencies, and were called on it. Yesterday was pretty good. Now let's see what Bush does tonight.
As a note, I think the one exception to the rule of the press generally being passive has been Fox.... why must it be Fox though?
For the record, I'm guessing Bush will be about 2-3 points up after the convention. (I'm sure some polls will show more, some less) I'd love to be overestimating on that.
posted by Jim Casaburi at
10:00 AM
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