Enough Already!

On the way into work yesterday, I was listening to NPR.  NPR is usually pretty good about reporting an unbiased look at politics and other issues.  Even if they feature one position on a story, they end the piece by mentioning when the second one will be on – or that they are awaiting a response from the opponent.  Today, however, I turned the channel.  It was the McCain camp responding to an incident reported over the weekend.  At a rally being attended by McCain, someone in the crowd shouted that Obama was a terrorist.  The question the interviewer asked was if the McCain camp saw any correlation between Palin’s recent speeches where she has been saying “Obama is friendly with terrorists” and this incident.  I believe they went on to mention how many times in the last week Palin has made this statement.  McCain’s camp response: while we do not condone what was said, it was the media making a larger deal out of it than they should.  I felt this was a backhanded apology like “I’m sorry it happened & I don’t like it, but it only happened because of you.”  Nice.
It was only a day or two before when I heard the Obama camp take a similar tact with NPR.  They asked the Obama staffer about an ad that is playing on the airwaves.  They played the ad where they accuse John McCain of not supporting stem cell research.    NPR checked FactCheck.org and found that this ad was only true prior to 1997.  After 2001, John McCain has supported stem cell research.  When faced with this information, Obama’s staffer said “we will let the facts stand for themselves”.  So, they pushed him – like a good interviewer should – and the guy launched instead into a rant where the media was drawn into question, blah, blah, blah…..the interviewer ended it before he could get a full steam.
What is my point with these stories?  Enough already!  I feel like I’m refereeing a fight between two little kids. The only thing missing is a blatant “am not”-“are too” round.  With sites like FactCheck.org & other sites where you can research the truth, I don’t understand how they can even stand behind their messages.  Additionally, this whole “blame the media” thing of the last 8 years has also got to stop.  It’s like trying to win an argument by blaming someone else.  I wish when I have an poorly thought out plan that I could simply blame a 3rd party who had no part in the decision making behind the plan.  Damn…what a great “get out of jail free” card.  And, I’m pissed at the Democrats for taking that tact as well.  I thought that was a conservative argument – blame the media. 
As this election goes on, I am wishing the “election season” was shorter.  I hate the ads. I hate the debates. I hate the interviews.  And, I hate the childish arguments made in the media outlets.  The only thing I’ve been enjoying is the Saturday Night Live skits because they seem to understand the intelligence of their audience better than the presidential candidates.  

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Hubman says:

    I wish the election season was shorter as well…

    I cringe when I think back to our days living in New Hampshire during primary season. Arghh, eff’ing politics everywhere!

  2. garbonzo says:

    I think the politicians are just relying on the fact that far fewer people visit sited like fact checker and just listen to the sound bites on the news.

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