Jewish World Review Jan. 17, 2005 / 7 Shevat, 5765

The Real Problem with American Journalism

By Tucker Carlson

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | This week CBS News finally admitted that the bomb Dan Rather tried to drop on President Bush during the election was in fact a pathetic dud. A columnist conceded that the White House paid him $250,000 to repeat its propaganda. And a debate broke out about debate. There's just too much of it on television for some people, for the smart people, anyway. Their paper, The New York Times, opined that television news is, "a wash with primal screams." It resembles, the Times said, "a pre-game show for professional wrestling." In other words, it's vulgar, in bad taste, or just plain bad.

Well all of this reminded us of the wars, Tipper Gore and an army of professional scolds used, to wage against rock musicians. Music is good, but Twisted Sister and Frank Zappa, well they're obscene. The children must be protected, and so on.

Well this particular strain of elite American opinion knows exactly what's good for you. These days the consensus is that political debate on television is fine, but only when it is, as the Times suggested, cool. All light, no heat. Well in fact we got to see a handful of those cool debates during the presidential campaign. No one had to stray from the script or think on his feet, or actually answer his opponent's questions. And it turns out that was bad for America.

Informative debate does not have to be loud or nasty, as it sometimes is. Watching people yell at each other may be uncomfortable. But it's not the worst thing. Some opinions lurk behind a pose of objectivity. Others are paid for. Our response ought to be, more exuberant debate, not less.