It is wonderful to see our own MSO 'diaried' by a big city reporter on the front page of the
Washington Post.
But as happy as I was to see that article--to see our friends bubbling up to the front pages of Americans newspapers--reading the article left a terrible taste in my mouth: the taste of that vile ignorance that permeates the mainstream press--a press that once inspired the youth of this nation, that once asked questions of our leaders, that once gazed down the halls of government as if journalism was a partner of the people in a democratic America, but now--now they gobble up whatever is fed to them by those in power while they sit and pass judgement on the citizens of this country.
They have become lazy. Lazy from cocktail parties and jet rides, photo ops and award dinners. Reporters in DC are no longer reporters. They are overweight and docile lapdogs, timid sellouts who blush in the presence of power like schoolgirls worried if they act too brash the boys won't ask them to dance.
The vile laziness of the DC press.
David Finkel's article--in which he paints a picture of MSO as angry and ineffectual--is puerile and ignorant.
The 'angry left' is pictured in gross charicature of MSO as if it she represents some kind of disease, some kind of engineered psychosis. Reading David Finkel's piece, one would think that MSO were no different than the start of the a zombie move, waking up at 5am to terrorize the internet with swearwords and ranting. Finkel's essay reeked of the professional negligence of the 21st-Century Washington DC reporter--a reporter who has long since forgotten how to think for himself.
The article bears all the hallmarks of the vile laziness of the DC press, a chummy club that marinades daily in the toxic stew of White House press releases and GOP 'think tanks' who bombard their offices with slick faxes and perfectly timed phone calls. A world of journalists who used to live and die by their skills in the phone interview and hammer out arguments by the water cooler, now patches together 'thoughts' from other people's PR snippets while trying to choose between light and dark roast at the communal Keurig one cup coffee machine.
The vile laziness of the DC press.
The vile laziness ofthe DC press is embodied in this quote from David Finkel's article--this quote that made me so mad, I almost threw my laptop against the wall:
Do the hundreds of thousands of daily visitors to Daily Kos, who sign their comments with phrases such as "Anger is energy," accomplish anything other than talking among themselves? The founder of Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas, may have a wide enough reputation at this point to consult regularly with Democrats on Capitol Hill, but what about the heart and soul of Daily Kos, the other visitors, whose presence extends no further than what they read and write on the site? (the article is here
Great reporters--real reporters like Mark Shields--would never ask such an arrogant and ignorant question.
What kind of reporter questions the value of a thousands of ordinary citizens gathering each day--for no money--to talk about government and politics and social change? A reporter like David Finkel who is symptomatic of the vile laziness of the DC press.
To all the David Finkels and their editors and their assistant editors, and all their colleagues at the Washington Post who proofread each other's articles and give each other slaps on the back as they laugh and order each other second rounds of small batch bourbon: listen up.
When citizens gather and talk about politics, when they watch the actions of government and ask questions about responsibility and spending and leadership--that is not something you question. That is something you celebrate.
Alexis de Tocqueville, travelling through this country almost two hundred years ago--a foreigner with a good eye for the heart and soul of American Democracy--remarked that the distinguishing feature of America was the tendency of its citizens to gather into groups to achieve their political ends. That those Americans in the 1830s saw their gathering into groups as the key to the success of their Democracy made such an impression on Tocqueville that it caused him to marvel--to admire the accomplishments of a nation not one hundred years old.
There was a time when the press in DC admired the tenaciousness of the American people with the same, disarming honesty as Tocqueville. But that time seems to have past.
Now, when a salaried DC reporter like David Finkel sees a group of citizens gathering to discuss politics, gathering into the same groups and assemblies that so impressed Tocqueville--that reporter scoffs. 'Who are these people, these ordinary people, to think that they can possible have an influence on the great an influential seat of government where we, the mighty DC press, sit? They are nothing but diarists, numb fingered, without a mastead, the un-named, un-awarded, un-faxed and un-invited. They mean nothing to America?' So sayeth the vile and lazy DC reporter.
There is a great tradition in my religion of answering an obstinate child with a stern warning and a core value. And to the vile and lazy DC reporter, I extend that tradition now.
The great value of gathering places like the Daily Kos, My Left Wing, Eschaton, MyDD, Firedoglake and every single web site--big or small, subtle or sloppy, angry or happy, insider or outsider, well-known or unkown, new or old, pretty or ugly, hot or cold, male or female--liberal or conservative--is that these websites are the embodiment of American tenacity, that desire to gather into groups and contribute to the well-being of this democracy.
The DC press used to--at one time--see itself in that light, but no more. Now, the DC press sees itself as part of a rarified list of invitees and a well-dressed club more impressed with their own access to the members of the executive branch than with their ability to formulate their own thoughts in their own words.
Where, for example, was the Washington Post editor who, upon looking at David Finkels article, took out a giant red marker and circled the phrase 'angry left' on page one and wrote 'This phrase is Republican propaganda being used to smear the Democrats--rewrite this in your own words.' Where was that editor? Where was that assistant editor or senior writer or fact checker or office partner or honest colleague? Where? Nowhere.
The vile laziness of the DC press is not hidden in the creases and corners of the back pages. The vile laziness of the DC press is branded on the front pages, above the fold--clipped and framed and given as gifts.
That a senior reporter for the Washington Post cannot recognize in the tireless, unpaid efforts of someone like Mary Scott O'Connor the shining torch of citizenship--is disgusting.
Go ahead: searchthe whole Finkel article yourself. The word 'citizen' does not appear once--not one single time.
Not once does David Finkel grasp the fundamentl point of the entire phenomenon that we participate in each and everyday--the simple act of citizenship. Responsible and engaged citizenship.
The vile laziness of the DC press. Citizenship and its inventions--citizenship in its 5am glory, waking early to catch the newswires and start the conversation anew--to the likes of David Finkel, it is a freakish oddity.
To the vile and lazy DC press, the only think this country needs to function well is a government seat full of aristocrats, and the lazy reporters who eat their free fois gras.
To the vile and lazy DC press, a group of citizens who gather to launch and carry the American conversation forward is little more than a sideshow, a garage sale of oddities.
To the vile and lazy DC press, influence comes only in the form of sandwhich trays on Airforce 1, not in carpool conversations and online discussions.
It is vile, indeed, how so many DC reporters--so many reporters across this country--have lost touch with the very ideals that guard democracy in America. They have become so lazy, so corrupted by the proximity to power provided by the brand names on their letterhead, that they can no longer recognize the spark of citizenship in the heart--and the writing--of someone like Mary Scott O'Connor.
Someday, as a result of so many people across this country--here and elsewhere--gathering together in groups to voice their views and share ideas, a young child will walk up to David Finkel, kick him in the shins and with finger pointing at him in shame, explain what it means to be a citizen in this country. And the value of it. And its influence on us all, every moment of every day.
And I hope I will be there when that happens.
