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April 15, 2008
Obama, Clinton, Arugula and Mindless Entertainment While Rome Burns
Guest blogger Michael Weiskopf writes:
Last Friday, Obama fed the media machine a sound bite that they have milked for five days with no immediate end in sight..Okay, so the talking heads are just doing their job...what a commentary on the state of public discourse and the game that politics is. Patraeous and Crocker testified last week but that wasn't where the prime time ratings were, nor where the highly charged emotional issues that drive ratings and sadly, elections as well.
On the Sunday morning talk shows, only Bob Schieffer ignored the Hillary Bosnia, Obama elitist story and attempted to have some kind of meaningful discussion with Gates and Pelosi on the war.
The question of whether Obama peaked too early or whether his recent loss of momentum and the resulting pile on of pundits is going to ruin his candidacy has yet to be answered..but it is a pretty good bet that the politics of Willie Horton and the Swift Boat strategy is what is driving a desperate Clinton campaign and regardless of success or failure, the democrats are on the brink of blowing it again.
More than 1.5 billion dollars will be spent on this election before it is over....the media industrial complex is the winner as long as the process continues. As long as meaningless incidents and "insensitive statements" by any candidate are distilled into entertainment continue masquerading as news, thoughtful voters yearning for meaningful discussion of issues of real consequence are the losers.
Posted by Charles Warner at April 15, 2008 10:33 AM
Comments
Jesse Kornbluth ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mediacurmudgeon.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 16, 2008 08:09 AM writes:
Mr. Derrough has a point. And so does Justin Frank.
If it's legitimate journalism to probe Obama about "elitist" views, then it surely is legitimate to dig deeper about the Administration's top-level gutting of the Geneva Conventions.
One happened. The other didn't.
Perhaps Mr. Derrough could explain why.
Media Curmudgeon at April 16, 2008 12:20 AM writes:
Chris Warner writes:
"If they are swayed by profit driven populist media, are they thoughtful voters? I feel that thoughtful voters know who they will vote for, and the undecided wafflers in the margin are the focus of the ratings frenzy. Most of the country does not want to hear that that the Red Sox beat the Yankees again, or that there is a climate crisis and we are addicted to coal and oil. It amazes me that anyone could take seriously the absurd notion that Obama is an elitist, especially coming from the other candidates, who are both truly elitists. What a joke on media for falling into that trap.
Media Curmudgeon at April 16, 2008 12:18 AM writes:
Noted psychiatrist and author, Justin Frank, who in a move for solidarity against prejudice changed his middle name to Hussein, writes the following insightful comment:
"One other news item missed last week - or ignored by media - is the complicity of all White House staff - from Bush to Condi to Colin to Cheney to Ashcroft - in torture. What happened to that bombshell? And why doesn't Obama talk about that and ignore all this bitter and elite stuff?
Elite must stick in his craw, as he is anything but - in terms of looking down on people. But intellectually he is in the very elite group of people, and we need someone better/smarter than we are (at least than I am) to be president.
Finally, projection is such a dominant factor in political life: It is the elite calling Obama elite.
Best,
Justy Hussein"
Media Curmudgeon at April 15, 2008 05:00 PM writes:
Neil Derrough writes:
"The guest blogger who wants to dismiss the recent coverage of the Democratic primary as “meaningless incidents and insensitive statements” misses the importance of vetting the candidates. I have also been critical of much of the frivolous coverage of this election. But, I can’t call the Bosnia and elitist coverage frivolous. Both incidents provide real insight into the candidates. This is not a Swift Boat campaign. It’s not to just entertainment. The repetition of “talking heads” of these stories may be annoying but it should not trivialize the importance allowing this information to be brought forward."
Jesse Kornbluth at April 15, 2008 10:45 AM writes:
And it will continue until audiences vote with their clickers and leave.... 'twas ever thus.
The difference between then and now: thoughtful readers now have an alternative.
It seems to me that, in our own lives, we should encourage friends and family to flee TV --- and not just cable.
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