A Tale of Two Three Stories (Update)

There's been a lot going on in the last few days. We've had Obama win 10 in a row over Hillary. We've had Obama accused of plagiarism. We've had Michelle Obama ridiculed by the right wing for saying that she is finally proud of America. We've had John McCain trying to weasel his way out of his campaign financing pledge. We've had the Republican nominee accused of some sort of affair with a lobbyist by a story in the NY Times and followed up by nearly every media outlet in the world. We've had the routine indictment of Republican members of Congress. And then we have Fox News doing a gerrymandered poll about who bin Laden and the terrorists want to win the American presidential election.

I wan to focus real quick on the NY Times McCain story and the Fox News poll. Both are perfect examples of what's wrong with American media.

The Times runs a story all but alleging an affair in 2000 between John McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman. Even if there was no affair, the story makes no secret about some inappropriate behavior and too much closeness between then, and now, presidential candidate McCain and the lobbyist. There are strict ethics between lawmakers and lobbyists. So even without a sexual affair, political favors is just as bad. The Times just hangs all that out there and in my opinion does a very sloppy job of investigative journalism. For a story they worked months on, it's full of loose ends and vague reporting.

On the opposite end we have Fox News. The first people to come to McCain's aid was the neocons running FNC and talk radio. They cried foul, calling the story a political hit job and constantly referenced the NY Times as the most liberal paper in the entire world. Whatever one's views may be concerning FNC and the NY Times what takes place simultaneously as FNC defends McCain from the evil liberals is just as shotty and just as unethical and just as wrong as anything The Times did. FNC conducts a poll and then runs a story stating that the terrorists prefer a Democrat, preferably Obama, to win the American presidency. Then as expected, the right wing neoconservative Weekly Standard, where neocon William Kristol is editor and also writes for the extremely liberal and dangerous NY Times, picks up the FNC poll and runs with it. Now come on, how can Fox News even begin to claim any sort of high ground or objectivity whatsoever in any of its media outlets while calling the NY Times' McCain story a hit job? It wasn't that long ago Fox News ran a story claiming Obama attended a madrassa, which is not true at all. Never did Fox back away from that story and they are still trying their hardest to relate Democrats to terrorists.

One media outlet references a sort of affair and some unethical conduct with a lobbyist, the other media outlet relates the Democratic front runner, along with his entire party, to terrorists trying to destroy our country. If I had to choose which story I would rather be part of, I would pick The Times story because at least then I'm not portrayed as an anti-American, terrorist sympathizing, bin Laden brother Democrat. And that is exactly the effect Fox News wanted from their skewed poll. It's exactly the sort of story Bill Kristol's Weekly Standard wants to circulate and it proves Fox News has no room to call out any other media outlet for political hit jobs.

The Times' story was crappy. I'm not sure how many more times I can go on record saying that John McCain has every right to be mad. But what Fox News is doing is worse. You're either an adulterer or a terrorist. Which one is easier to forgive?

That sadly is the current mode of American media. Meanwhile we still have troops dying in Iraq. We still have $3 gasoline. We still have Bush as president. And we still have no accountability from anyone.

*Update:

The Associated Press picks up the widely circulated false email about Obama having a patriotism problem, hence an insurgent terrorist problem, and runs it as news. To top off how archaically unethical this whole thing is, the AP's source for their internet chain letter "news" is none other than Republican Roger Stone. "Stone you'll remember is the guy who got caught making threatening phone calls to New York Gov. Spitzer's (D-NY) elderly father and last month set up an anti-Hillary group with the acronym C-U-N-T." Surely their's no bias in that story, surely.

This is the state of American media and sadly American politics. Internet chain letters are used as sources for journalists and disgraced Republican psychopaths are used as credible serious sources to back up very credible and very serious email chain letters.