I think I’m becoming one of those rare people that learn to love their abuse. I’m actually starting to get a kick out of reading assaults on my sensibilities…like the following.
“We’ve been after the vice president since Sunday, as everyone has, and our efforts paid off,” said John Moody, Fox’s senior vice president for news editorial. “I think he wanted to make sure he got a fair interview and a good interview — good in the sense of thorough — and Brit is sort of the preeminent journalist in Washington right now.”
It’s hard to pack so much bullshit into such a short statement. But John Moody got the job done. He’s cleary a maestro of bullshit. I mean, just look at this:
While Fox News is known for its outspoken conservative commentators, network officials reject the idea that partisanship creeps into its coverage.
“What we try to do is not shut out any points of view,” Moody said.
Cheney “wouldn’t have come to Brit Hume if he wanted a softball interview,” he added, calling the criticism sour grapes. “Look, we’re not the only news network in the country, and when you aren’t getting the big interview and when you aren’t winning, you have to think of a reason why.”
I’m not even going to waste my breath rebutting this clownery. I leave it to Princeton’s Harry Frankfurt:
One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern, nor attracted much sustained inquiry.
In consequence, we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us.
Part of the problem, and consultants bear this out, is that we have been so subjected to bullshit that we have come to enjoy the experience. As the media never tires of telling us, their product is finely tuned to our tastes. They wouldn’t give us bullshit unless we were craving bullshit.
But I think this is a bunch of baloney. What we are craving is just a little grain, a speck, an iota of truth.
In this environment, people that step up and say something true get enormous, almost irrational rewards. Dean’s straightforwardness on the phony war in Iraq won him some of the most devoted acolytes in recent political history. John Murtha told the truth about the war, and despite being a DINO, he instantly became a hero on the left. Al Gore gave some fiery speeches and suddenly his past failures were forgotten and people clamored for him to run for the presidency again. Paul Hackett called the President a son-of-a-bitch and a chickenhawk and his blog-o-fame was launched.
Anyone who wants to be the next president should take heed. People are dying for the truth. And FOX News ain’t providing it.
