James Fallows makes a good point. But I want to take it a step further. The anti-health reform tactics are so divorced from truthfulness that I think it is the responsibility of the non-aligned media to come out as a forceful referee. It’s really imperative that the press not adopt their typical he said/she said style of reporting. This morning, David Brooks called Sarah Palin’s ‘Death Panels’ comment ‘crazy.’ That’s the absolutely correct approach to take in reporting on this debate. But it shouldn’t be coming only from partisan journalists from either side of the aisle. Television anchors and print journalists should be reporting these ravings as ‘crazy talk’ as well. And they should do more. They should make a real effort to educate people about what the truth is about health care. Tell people what is and is not in the bills. Tell people what might conceivably be problematic and tell people what might possibly work very well. Explain how the current system works. Explain how the system works in other countries and give an honest account of the pros and cons of other systems.

This is a big opportunity for the non-aligned media to do their real job instead of just milking controversy for ratings and circulation. If they fail this test, the whole country will be worse off for it. I hope Jake Tapper, et. al., take my advice because our Republic is in the process of humiliating itself.

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