I was up quite early - 6 or 6:30. That early on a weekend meant that MSNBC was covering jail instead of news. I must have still been groggy because I decided the best course of action was to turn the tv to CNN.
After some coverage of Isaac they start the morning out by airing a day-old clip of Dinesh D'Souza, director of the latest hatchet job of a 'documentary' spreading ridiculous right-wing talking points.
Rachael Maddow and other journalists have tried to make a point that the 2012 election is a litmus test for our media; a test to see if they'll function as reporters who ask follow-up questions instead of broadcasters who read canned responses without even the pretext of probing inaccuracies. While I approve of any attempt to hold the media accountable I feared the results to be a forgone conclusion.
Anyone who still thinks the media will call out even the most brazen, the most ridiculous, the most easily debunkable lies need only watch this interview to have their hopes dashed.
CNN's Randi Kaye does the latter - she goes down her list of questions without seeming to even notice how utterly absurd the responses are. Given free reign D'Souza wastes no time spewing the most vile and stupid talking points - namely that Obama wants to intentionally weaken America and strengthen China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia instead. In response to this absolutely mind-blowing accusation our intrepid CNN anchor patiently waits until he's finished before simply moving on to another point raised in D'Souza's 'documentary'.
These are conspiracy theories that make Glenn Beck look sane and rational. Yet they don't even get a single line of push-back.
I'm actually quite impressed with my self-control. I wanted very badly to smash the tv instead.