What Liberal Media?

Couple of items that went down the memory hole the moment they were birthed, because the SCLM is too busy covering missing white women who were attacked by sharks and child molesters in the middle of a hurricane.

Item #1 is a Zogby poll released on June 30, tracking the benefit (or lack of) accrued by Himself from his momentous "Hey, you elite commandos mind if I use y'all as props for my bullshit?" speech of June 28. (Perhaps you recall flipping away from that speech in utter disgust.)

President Bush’s televised address to the nation produced no noticeable bounce in his approval numbers, with his job approval rating slipping a point from a week ago, to 43%, in the latest Zogby International poll. And, in a sign of continuing polarization, more than two-in-five voters (42%) say they would favor impeachment proceedings if it is found the President misled the nation about his reasons for going to war with Iraq.

At the absolute minimum, I would have thought that a truly liberal media would have found that second sentence particularly newsworthy. Clearly my notions of what is and is not news differs with the bozos at the Clown News Network.

One expect Faux News to ignore any and all anti-Dear Leader facts, but it would nice -- or at least, interesting -- if there actually was a network entity that was half as liberal as Rush Limbaugh insists they all are.

Really, it is unconscionable that, as more and more information mounts indicating that this team of buffoons did not look at all information with a clear mind, but cherry-picked the things they wanted, a significant statistic like 42% favoring impeachment in the event of absolute proof goes completely ignored. Did you see such a statistic mentioned anywhere in the mainstream media? Me neither.

We may have to wait until after the midterms to even dare hope for chimpeachment, but Rove is the (butt-)plug on this leaky SS Minnow of an administration. Once he and Scooter Libby fall on their (or each others') swords, the whole boat's gonna take on water with a quickness. Not even Dick Cheney's Skipper beating Bush's incompetent Gilligan with his skipper hat will fix things.

Too bad they don't have a Mary Ann with the knotted top, eh?

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Item #2 is this article about a private visit that Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, had with Dear Leader last year.

So when Sheehan received an invitation to meet privately with President Bush at the White House two months after her son died, the least she could have expected was a bit of compassion or a kind word coming from the heart.

But what she encountered was an arrogant man with eyes lacking the slightest bit of compassion, a President totally "detached from humanity" and a man who didn’t even bother to remember her son’s name when they were first introduced.

Instead of a kind gesture or a warm handshake, Sheehan said she immediately got a taste of Bush arrogance when he entered the room and "in a condescending tone and with a disgusting loud Texas accent," said: "Who we’all honorin’ here today?"

"His mouth kept moving, but there was nothing in his eyes or anything else about him that showed me he really cared or had any real compassion at all. This is a human being totally disconnected from humanity and reality. His eyes were empty, hollow shells and he was acting like I should be proud to just be in his presence when it was my son who died for his illegal war! It was one of the most disgusting experiences I ever had and it took me almost a year to even talk about it," said Sheehan in a telephone conversation from Washington D.C. where she was attending a July 4th anti-war rally.

Sheehan said the June 2004 private meeting with the President went from bad to worse to a nightmare when Bush acted like he didn’t even want to know her name. She said Bush kept referring to her as ‘Ma’ or ‘Mom’ while he "put on a phony act," saying things like ‘Mom, I can’t even imagine losing a loved one, a mother or a father or a sister or a brother.’

"The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting, designed to intimidate instead of providing compassion. He didn’t even know our names," said Sheehan. "Finally I got so upset I just looked him in the eye, saying ‘I think you can imagine losing someone. You have two daughters. Imagine losing them?’ After I said that he just looked at me, looked at me with no feeling or caring in his eyes at all."

Sheehan said what really upset her about the meeting is that Bush appeared to become annoyed and even angry at her daughter Carley, 25, who also attended the White House get-together.

"My daughter said to him directly ‘I wish I could bring my loved one back’ and he said something like ‘so do we.’ Later she told me that after he made his remark he gave her one of the filthiest looks she had ever had gotten in her life.

"I just couldn’t believe this was happening. It was so surreal and bizarre. Later I met with some of the other 15 or 16 families who were at the White House the same day and, sure enough, they all felt the same way I did.

"It’s interesting that they put us each in separate rooms. I heard this was done to prevent any type of group outburst and since it’s easier to control a situation when people are separated. Looking back, all I can say is that the meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences in my life."

Hadn't heard about that one either, had you? Would it kill just one of the networks to pull just one of their correspondents off the Florida Panhandle, and have them talk to Cindy Sheehan, and let people decide for themselves? Is anybody really enthralled with incessant hurricane/shark attack/child abduction/missing woman fare? Does anyone who isn't just a complete vegetable think that shit is anything more than marginally newsworthy, certainly not meriting repeat coverage?

I'm incredulous at the notion that people actually watch Nancy Grace, or Dancing With The Stars. It's appalling that finding an oxymoronic "entertainment news" show, an infomercial, or a home shopping channel, are all infinitely easier than finding one (1) actual news channel that isn't little more than a mindless feedback loop of non-issues and non-stories.

Neil Postman, sadly, was far more right than even he could probably have imagined. We are bound and determined to amuse ourselves to death, and take it all down with us.