Pundits Run Amok
Media critics and columnists, especially but not exclusively on the right, speak with such authority and bombast that they clearly mean to be taken seriously, expressing ideas for the rest of us to chew on and congratulating themselves for their wit and sagacity.
Dick Morris in The Washington Post (5/18/08) and William Kristol in The New York Times (6/2/08) go through the motions of developing cogent analysis in blithe disregard of urgent national concerns. As has been said about ranch owner Bush - - big hat, no cattle. One might add, about Kristol and Morris - - many words, little substance.
In his piece, Morris advises John McCain to develop a successful presidential campaign by "running to the center." He writes of McCain's "ordeal and courage" in Vietnam and suggests he "draw Obama out" about what he would do if, say, "Islamist terrorists seized control of [Iraq's]...oil wealth", predicting Obama would turn "hawkish" to avoid appearing weak - - question posed and answered by Morris himself.He goes on to say that Bush should "get out of the White House" and tell everyone we are "winning in Iraq" and that "the economy is not as bad as most people think." With the Dow at reasonably respectable levels and relatively low unemployment, he thinks Mr. Bush can instruct a skeptical public he hasn't been able to reach for some time, that electing another Republican president wouldn't be so bad after all.
At least Morris admits "I don't do political science; I do politics." And that of course is the problem. As Scott McClellan points out in his book, "What Happened," Washington, particularly during the Bush years, is a place where every act is calibrated according to partisan political judgments -- examples of which include the selling of the Iraq invasion to the American people, the Valerie Plame incident and the firing of federal attorneys presumably for not making partisanship part of their job description.
Citing a fairly robust Dow and what he describes as the "kinder, gentler war" that has "emerged" in Iraq, Morris argues that war and the economy are no longer political poison for Republicans - - despite home-mortgage failures, a ravaged Iraq and the enormous debt service required to finance our military operations -- a cynical wink past the terrible cost of policies to which McCain has signed on and which define his candidacy.
That "kinder gentler war" we are "winning" is eating away at our military with extended tours and "stop loss" reassignments. And "support-the-troops" McCain, Lindsay Graham and the president don't support Senator Webb's bill to provide educational benefits for vets after three years of service or at the end of their enlistment, fearing that such generosity would discourage re-enlistments -- a mean-spirited vision of what our troops should have to endure before being rewarded for time served.
William Kristol criticized Obama in his column for not including ‘the military option' when he talked about public service during the commencement address he delivered at Wesleyan. Writing that he "failed to challenge...what he must have assumed would be the prejudices of much of his audience..." Kristol strikes the patriotic pose so many neo-cons and others on the right assume. Although few of them have served in the military they take up their mighty pens and direct others to sign up for swords. Or as Daily Kos jokingly queried about Kristol, "He's a member of the Fighting 101st Keyboarders?"
What seems to trouble those on the right about the so-called liberal media is that it often challenges White House spin as well as long-held opinions. As the philosopher William James put it "The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths." Some of our old ‘truths' may need to be re-examined so as to address the problems of a diverse and complicated world. The media's marathon pontificators should be helping to enhance one of our country's greatest strengths - - a free press that serves as a guardian against government excess and corruption - - not using their media access as a forum for political talking points.
No doubt Morris, once Bill Clinton's Rove, and Kristol will continue to be given more credence than they deserve as will others in the media. Rational centrists will have to fight hard to keep from being drowned out in order to protect journalistic integrity from people who "know politics" and little else.
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