Today on NPR (KUOW in Seattle) they were talking politics, specifically the polarization of this year's election. I don't know why everyone's surprised at this. No one should look at it as Bush v Kerry, it's Bush v Not Bush, with Kerry simply filling the roll of the shaven side of the ticket.
And if you really want to see the difference between the parties, check this out.
Anyway, some guy calls up and starts talking about how he thinks Kerry's a "phony", how he only served four months, and how he was trying to imitate Kennedy by serving on the swift boats. He goes on about it, and then they move on in the show without saying anything.
I almost cut myself shaving. I mean, how can the media let that go?
To wit:
Kerry's a phony? Bush was born and bred on the eastern seaboard, went to the same college as Kerry, was in the same fraternity as Kerry, his family vacations in the same place (Kennebunkport v Martha's Vineyard) and only bought a ranch in Texas to create an image of a Texan so he could run for office.
Let's digress to Cheney for a moment. After the Gulf of Tonkin, when it became apparent that the draft was coming on strong, Cheney gets married. Good thing, since married guys move down the lottery list. Later, it became known that even married men without children would start getting drafted, and nine months and two days later they have a child. Can you imagine those first 48 hours after he found out he was no longer in the clear? Poor Lynne probably couldn't walk for a week.
Anyway...
Kerry volunteered for Vietnam, served a full tour, then volunteered again, serving four months until he received his third Purple Heart, at which point he was then forced to leave active duty.
What a pussy.
Oh, and I can just see Kerry on the bow of the swift boats like Bill Murray in What About Bob?, yelling "I'm sailing! I'm sailing, just like John F Kennedy! Viva la France!"
And they just let. it. go.
I actually called in to rip them a new one, but another lady got on before me and explained everything.
That led to a discussion of the media, he said/she said, etc, and the argument was that since Old Media has to compete with New Media, ie the internet, they don't have the time to fact check like they used to.
What a bunch of bullshit. Every reporter for every paper has internet access, which is where New Media gets its information to begin with. The real issue that the journalists are lazy and unwilling to do the research.
It's is wholly unacceptable that the citizenry has to do the investigative journalism for the media and call in and inform the public. It's even more egregious that, as a user-support station, KUOW and NPR aren't setting a higher standard for themselves.
I'm an investor in this enterprise, in that I contribute to NPR. If I'm not satisfied with the return on my investment - which in the case of NPR is a higher standard of journalism than Big Money Radio - I'll stop contributing. I'm very close, and I can only assume that I'm one of hundreds, possibly thousands, that feel the same way.
