Disappointing Politics

You can hear in the background the Queen song, "Another One Bites The Dust," dah-dah-bump-bump-bump.

The sharks are in the water after Anthony Weiner and his ridiculous penis tweets. When will politicians learn that once you hold a press conference, your private life is pretty much gone. Especially now, with big brother not being some nameless government organization, but a nameless mass of people bouncing info off each other. Weiner should have been especially careful, since he is the liberal attack dog in Congress, his target is bigger than most. When the Republicans have an organized and well funded attack structure that has taken down such liberal institutions as NPR, ACORN, Planned Parenthood, and with such simple tactics as creatively edited video, it behooves every liberal politician to be alert. When will they learn?

Still, my biggest disappointment isn't that Weiner isn't smart enough to avoid weiner jokes. After years of watching the political landscape I've come to expect them all to fall. If it isn't money it'll be sex. Or like John Edwards, money and sex. Scrutinize them long and hard enough and eventually they all fall. The bastion of conservative politics, Ronald Reagan, at least let the Iran-Contra deal happen, if he wasn't involved directly, and the icon of New England liberal policy, Ted Kennedy, drowned a girl once.

No, the disappointment comes from what I considered to be the last best hope for honest journalism, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Considering that Stewart and Weiner are friends, I expected a strong response from The Daily Show, when after a week of defending Weiner,  the truth about the penis pics finally came out. Instead there was tepid comedy that didn't reflect the betrayal that Stewart must have felt. When even The Daily Show can't retract a week of reports that defend their liberal standard, it becomes clear once again that whether liberal or conservative, all reports are biased. I had given up on mainstream journalists. First TV reporters and then print journalists failed to be unflinchingly honest. It could be that since Don Bolles got blown up, and the pay started to disappear, that the idea of leaving the building for something other than going two blocks for a press conference, or up on the roof for the weather report, became more than it was worth. As conglomerates come to monopolize the media, I weep for my daughter. Her options for responsible journalism are nil. And my last hope, a comedy show, has blinked in the face of scandal. It is all too bad.

Update: After returning home and watching Jon Stewart on yesterdays Daily Show cut himself trying to make fun of Anthony Weiner, I am sated. I still feel he is not demonstrated the full impact of his friend's betrayal, but at least he's trying. Maybe there is hope yet!