Friday, April 25, 2008

The wind, or the weathervane?


Huffington Post's Thomas Edsall sees the press "jumping ship" from "support" of Obama to a favoring of Hillary Clinton.

Given the fact that the press has been so wrong about so much during this campaign, and given the fact that the press has not spent the time to do the hard work of actually examining issues, it's hard to accept Edsall's premise.

It would be foolhardy for Obama and his supporters to deny the fact that Hillary Clinton, abetted by a press who is willing to print what it is fed, has demonized Barack Obama as if he were a bomb-throwing member of the Black Panthers. It would be equally foolish to deny that a white backlash against a black candidate is possible in the dark heart of this nation.

So, if they have jumped ship, it's into a boat that they have built themselves.

The press is supposed to report news, not make it. With a 24 hour news cycle, and non-stop broadcast and web coverage, the most worthless shit gets reported and repeated as if it was worthy of consideration.

Edsall sees a shift in the reporting of Joe Klein (March 19), the New Republic (March 19, 2007) and Politico (June 6, 2007)? When exactly were they supportive of the campaign of Barack Obama?

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