Dear Media Whores Online,

I'm normally a big fan of KCRW's "To the Point," hosted by Warren Olney (I listen on New York's WNYC). After watching the Wellstone memorial service last night on C-Span (and then watching it again later in the night)--an event so powerful and so moving I found myself nearly bawling--I had all but forgotten my pre-memorial-annoyance, when to my chagrin I saw Lou Dobbs imploring a CNN reporter covering the service to "step back and have some perspective, some balance"--BALANCE!!--meaning that Dobbs was basically ordering the reporter to say that, well, after all, Paul Wellstone's family and campaign were playing "politics" just as much as Newt Gingrich et al bashing Mondale on the Sunday morning talk shows. (Dobbs: "After all, James Carville was on the program too...") And this before the memorial service had even begun!

At any rate, I turned on the radio today expecting to hear coverage of the astounding, rare image of 30,000+ people channeling their profound grief in the only meaningful way it could be channeled--into a massive, unified expression of hope and support for the legacy of Paul Wellstone to be continued, for the fight to go on. Wellstone was a man who LIVED politics--not "politics" as defined by Lou Dobbs and the rest of the media whores, but politics as a higher, nobler, more virtuous human pursuit--a pursuit for which Wellstone, in the final analysis, died. To me it made absolutely perfect sense that Wellstone's family, friends and campaign staff should connect with their audience in this way--and the response from the audience was the most genuine, heartfelt enthusiasm I've ever seen. Those 30,000 people were gathered for a purpose--to honor and remember Paul Wellstone and his life and mission--and every speaker at the memorial honored that purpose in the truest, most honest way imaginable.

So it was with something far angrier than chagrin that I heard Warren Olney giving free, uncritical reign to a woman described as a "Republican lobbyist" from Minnesota (her name escapes me) who blathered on in a shamefully condescending tone about how "over the top" the memorial service had been--about how "the first half was a lovely event," until Paul Wellstone's best friend, two sons, and Senator Harkin had the audacity, the impropriety, to take the podium and turn the service into...OH NO!...a POLITICAL rally! It was so political it drove Jesse Ventura's poor wife to tears! Imagine the horror! The program went on to discuss how naturally George W. Bush would have to be given "equal airtime" on his upcoming campaign visit for Norm Coleman. After all, that's balance, right? If 30,000+ mourners and celebrants and friends and activists and believers get the privilege of having their little partisan "rally" broadcast throughout the state, surely the millions of MN television viewers deserve the "balance" of seeing Bush's incoherent, spiteful nonsense broadcast over the same airwaves?

This "lobbyist" was joined on the show by some editor from the National Review, and Warren Olney listened patiently as the two of them discussed the expected "backlash" against Mondale after such an inappropriate, "over-the-top" display of "politics."

This waking nightmare only grew worse when I went to Media Whores Online and read about the "shocked" reaction of the TV media, no doubt shaking in their shoes upon realizing the wave of protest they'd be sure to receive from their bullying, loudmouthed overseers in the Republican hate establishment.

Republicans like the "lobbyist" on "To the Point" clearly have deadened souls, and I would expect nothing better from them. But to see the media whores--on the radio, in the major newspapers, on TV--eating up this gigantic pile of horseshit is just more than I can take. Did these people even WATCH the memorial service? Did they LISTEN? Do they even know who Paul Wellstone IS?

I can only hope that the people of Minnesota won't be fooled: that they know real grief, real love, and yes, real POLITICS when they see it--and that despite all the "balance" the media whores can shovel out, they will know what to do come election day.

Sincerely,

Blicero

posted by Blicero : 10/30/2003 01:02:00 PM