The episode of Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy spilling out their true thoughts on the McSame campaign as if they were exhaling after holding in their stomachs while an attractive person walked past clarified something I have been trying to crystalize in my mind for a while. The punditry and old world media are merely playing roles as if in a scripted drama. I know this is no great epiphany for any of us but I have never seen it so blatantly on display as then.
Each player, be they right OR left wing talking head or the media, knows their role well and they are judged by each other based not on how incisive or astute they are but rather on how well they perform in that role (Tweety especially will hoot and holler about the performance while ignoring the content). I have lost some respect for Chuck Todd because he was obviously aware of Noonan's and Murphy's genuine opinions and did not call them out when it was relevant.
To be fair, both sides of the political divide are aware of this but the repugs base their entire election strategy on this dynamic while dispensing with substantive issues altogether. They know that when they 'play the refs' by questioning the honor/patriotism/bias of their potential questioners the media will dutifully naval gaze and openly wonder if they themselves will fall for the ploy yet again (answer: of course or they may not be invited back to the barbecue).
This is just the latest example (see Rev Jesse Jackson). I find this far more offensive than a 'gotcha' moment, gaffe or Freudian slip since this is intentional and akin to intellectual fraud.
I think this is also why it is so stunning when one of them steps outside their designated role and openly shows independant analysis based on what they have experienced (see Pat Buchanan - Obama acceptance speech).
And to think, most of the old world media wonders why more and more people are searching for their news sources elsewhere (blogs, Jon Stewart/Steven Colbert, Bill Maher, etc) and trusting them more.