I have just tossed my old Dennis Miller "Rant" books in the trash, after reading the lede to
this story. I repeat: if 9/11 caused you to want to be pre-emptive, you
still should be anti-Bush, because he's diverted nearly all our resources towards an enemy that didn't exist. Sheesh.
Really, I remember liking lots of people that I'm just disgusted with these days. I remember thinking, "Candy Crowley, you go girl. Making Congress fairly interesting while beating back the CuteReporterChick wave singlehandedly -- I salute you." Now? She's been reporting on the Democratic primaries as though she's The Queen Mother and every candidate is peeing on her shoes.
And David Brooks. I know I'm not the only person who used to watch him on The NewsHour and think, "Well, thank goodness they've got a rational conservative on this show. At least I can watch the political segment without hurling things at the TV." Now, with his op-ed assignment at the NYTimes? Sloppy, snide, partisan-to-the-point-of-being-stupid writing. What happened?
I remember thinking similar kind thoughts about David Broker. Does anyone else remember David getting out on the road a lot, trying to get outside the DC bubble -- and thereby having some clue in his columns about what people were actually thinking? Was that an illusion? Or is he just too old and tired to travel now? Maybe he has family obligations and doesn't have time to consider things as thoughtfully. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Also, Cokie Roberts. Back when she and Linda Wertheimer and Nina Totenberg were kicking ass on ATC, she was someone to pay attention to. Then, slowly, she was sucked into the ABC morass and these days I have no idea what she's talking about. When she does appear on NPR, she's a shadow of her former self.
I think it's a combination of two things. The immediacy and frankness of the blogosphere has made me less patient with cautious columnists and condescending pundits. And, of course, the disintegration of the press into headline-grabbing, ratings-crazy 24-hr-news-cycle talking heads and sheep-like stenographers for politicians and each other has made most media coverage worthless.
The closer we get to the day when all Americans can see things for themselves (all hail C-SPAN), without editing, without commentary -- and that's what the internet can bring if the corporations don't take it down -- the better off we'll be.