The Washington press corps should be deeply ashamed of its performance these past couple of decades. I'm sure that comes as no news to them, but so far they seem intent on continuing down their current course, and it's a nearly complete abdication of their responsibility to the country.
I'm not sure where it started, but the first I remember it was the corps' obsession with Monica Lewinsky. That had little, if anything, to do with governing, which is presumably the thing they're supposed to focus on.
I bring this up today because I watched some of ABC's Sunday show This Week today, and the "round table" was pathetic. It consisted of George Will, Clarence Page, Nicolle Wallace and Dee Dee Myers. And instead of talking about issues, they talked almost exclusively (during the part I could stomach) about the electoral impact of issues.
The most stomach-churning moment was when Page was asked about the NAACP's resolution condemning racism in the Tea Party. In his response, Page added the Washington press corps' obligatory disclaimer (and I'm paraphrasing, because for some reason the website's transcript ends right before that conversation): "Of course, it happens on both sides." Well, the fact is, Mr. Page, it doesn't happen on both sides. The Tea Party is what's under discussion, and the NAACP objects to its frank racism because it allows things like signs and posters depicting President Obama as an African witch doctor. That's not people on the left waving those signs. People on the left didn't move to shut down ACORN because it was registering and motivating too many black voters. There's been a resurgence of racism in the country these past couple of years (check in with the Southern Poverty Law Center for details), and where it's politically motivated it's pretty much entirely coming from the right wing.
But even before that, these esteemed members of the press corps couldn't seem to separate policy from politics. They (and this includes host Jake Tapper) turn every question into a discussion of whether or not it'll be good for this party or that one, come November. And they all seem to accept the prevailing "wisdom" that deficits are bad, and damaging.
Again, the facts don't bear that out. The fact, as Christopher Hayes points out in this piece in The Nation, is that during a serious recession, deficits shouldn't even be a concern. Spending is needed to help the economy recover, and a boisterous economy is the best cure for deficits. But do most people understand that? Possibly not--and if they don't, it's because we have a press corps that is focused on the horse races to the exclusion of everything else. Certainly to the exclusion of serious discussions of issues.
Who wins and who loses is a secondary issue, and not one that the politicians in Washington should concern themselves with to such a great extent. They might feel like they don't have a choice--most of them don't actually meet many constituents face to face, but they all know the reporters of the press corps, and they imagine that the questions being asked by that press corps are the things we want to know out here in the rest of the country. The Republicans have taken that belief to new extremes this year, trying to block, or at least water down, every piece of legislation before them. They don't care about Americans, they care about votes. That's the mindset that the press corp's behavior promulgates. And it's dangerous for the country they (politicians and press alike) are supposed to serve.
We can vote for politicians every few years. Maybe if we could vote for journalists, things would be different.
