The conservative media machine

The conservative media machine still chugs along, even as Bush-brand neoconservatism has fallen into disfavor.

That's the message of "Why are they trying so hard to distract us?", the latest piece by Larisa Alexandrovna. (Also see here.)

Instead of editorial pages demanding to know why Cheney's friends, handpicked to serve in top positions at the Pentagon, would have lied to their dear chum about something as serious as a war (they likely lied to the President), the major papers were busy making fun of Nancy Pelosi's state - California - as though it were some strange evil appendage without any right to have representation or the ability to produce a savvy diplomat.

Let's not forget (I will never let you forget) that CA residents pay more to the federal government than they receive in goods and services -- as is not the case in most states that went for Bush.

The bottom line:

The national media continues to self destruct under the weight of its politically purchased editorial pages. Not content to simply slink away quietly after leading the nation into a disastrous war of choice through negligent and even highly corrupt reporting practices, the editorial boards of all of the major newspapers - still apparently strapped collectively into a mission accomplished payola flight suit - continue to play political attack dog for their paymasters.

Even with the rise of the blogosphere, newspaper opinion sections carry weight. How can we reclaim the editorial pages? They were relatively fair back in the 1970s. How can we achieve true balance once more?

(Side note: I once toyed with the idea of becoming an editorial cartoonist. But it's very hard to break into that field if you cannot please the right-wing editors who control most newspapers. Truth be told, that's a hard nut to crack under any circumstances.)

Paul Krugman sounds a theme similar to Larisa's:

Now there’s Ms. Pelosi’s fact-finding trip to Syria, which Dick Cheney denounced as “bad behavior” — unlike the visit to Syria by three Republican congressmen a few days earlier, or Newt Gingrich’s trip to China when he was speaker.

Ms. Pelosi has responded coolly, dismissing the administration’s reaction as a “tantrum.” But it’s more than that: the hysterical reaction to her trip is part of a political strategy, aided and abetted by news organizations that give little lies their time in the sun.

Fox News, which is a partisan operation in all but name, plays a crucial role in the Little Lie strategy — which is why there is growing pressure on Democratic politicians not to do anything, like participating in Fox-hosted debates, that helps Fox impersonate a legitimate news organization.

Also see (if you have not already seen it) this important bit of videoblogging by Josh Marshall.

The Pelosi trip constitutes but one example of the larger phenomenon. For another example, scroll down a couple of posts and read our discussion of the Reuters story which was rewritten (either by Reuters or by the Washington Post) to conform with the White House worldview.

The Bushies have discredited themselves, yet BushMedia is still there -- like a kicked-out roommate who still insists on parking in your driveway. What to do?