I sincerly hope that Mr. Russert deviates from the current media narrative regarding Reverand Wright and discusses issues of importance to the American electorate. Senator Obama has been recounting his denounciation of Reverand Wright's comments ad nauseaum but Tim Russert and others in the media elite continue the same narrative - "Why didn't he leave the church? Why didn't he walk away? Well, many of our media elite continue their associations with the likes of Pat Bucanan and Don Imus. Why didn't they "walk away"? Were they unaware that Bucanan's comments were offensive? If not, are they deserving of their positions since they are not sensitive to the topics that concern Americans?
In addition, as the NY Times stated in an editorial this week, why is the minority candidate responsible for everything that his supporters state (although many have questioned Wright's support for Obama)but other candidates, namely McCain, aren't held to that same standard. The media has basically ignored McCain's association with Hagee despite the fact that he actively sought his endorsement as he did with many other radicals such as Pat Robertson.
I'm sure that many of you are aware of Pat Bucanan's recent screed, "A brief for Whitey". I've read many diarists objections to this racist propaganda but for some reason, PB is still on MSNBC's payroll. I'm sure that they are aware of their audience's discontent because many of us have written to voice our discontent. So if the so-called media elite can bellow self-rightous indignation at Obama at his association with Wright, we can certainly call them out for their associations. Gwen Ifill called them out on this "amnesia" when Imus' comments were made public. Many in the media claimed at the time despite the fact that he basically stated that she was a "white house cleaning lady". On an appearance on Meet the Press, Ms Ifill stated the following:
"There has been radio silence from a lot of people who have done this program who could have spoken up and said, I find this offensive or I didn’t know," Ifill said. "These people didn’t speak up." She then turned Russert and Brooks, frequest guests on Imus’s show. "Tim, we didn’t hear from you. David, we didn’t hear from you."
Ifill added, "A lot of people did know and a lot of people were listening and they just decided it was okay. They decided this culture of meanness was fine — until they got caught. My concern about Mr. Imus and a lot of people and a lot of the debate in this society is not that people are sorry that they say these things, they are sorry that someone catches them."
These so-called insightful reporters, are the same people that are furthering the narrative that Obama is an out-of-touch elitist when he is the poorest man in the race. My goodness, he just finished paying off his student loans. Hillary Clinton was born middle-class but she is currently worth over $109 million dollars and is married to an ex-president. John McCain's wife's fortune is well above the Clintons but they are the champions of the working class. Did we all forget the Keating 5 and the impact that the scandal had on the American taxpayer?
Despite our current problems - the recession, food crisis, war in Iraq - our media always seem to assist the republicans in providing us with the proper distractions - Reverand Wright 24 hours a day.