A couple of weeks ago I read this post over at Orcinus, Media Revolt: A Manifesto:

We still treat our national politics like a combination sporting event and gossipfest. We're still demeaning the national discourse with a steady diet of propaganda/spin souffle served up on a platter of triviality, with a side of slander.

In the process, we keep the public (a large portion of it willingly) in the dark about the very real politics and policies that directly affect their security and well-being, both here and now and for the long haul.

It is a great read on the current state of the media in this country and the Manifesto is plan to fix it. At one point it mentions the, "degradation of the national discourse into trivialities and prurient speculation will be the focus of the revolt. When reporters insist on covering politics as a horse race, replacing serious analysis of policy and its effects on the real life of citizens with gossip columns and talking points, and especially when they engage in fraudulent journalism that twists and conceals the truth, they will be exposed for the untrustworthy miscreants they are". That's where Chris Matthews comes in. The last two nights I've watched Hardball. I swore off this program, and others like it, a while back but have started watching it again because of a point made in the above post that we have to keep tabs on the media and hold them accountable for their lies and lack of coverage on the important issues.

The last two nights Chris Matthews has been mentioning a poll question:

8. Who would you rather have a backyard barbecue with - John Kerry or
George W. Bush?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Prot Cath

Kerry 39% 6% 74% 37% 37% 41% 36% 34%
Bush 50 89 16 49 54 47 55 54
DK/NA 11 5 10 14 8 13 9 12

The first problem with this is that Chris said (transcript) it was a Zogby poll, in truth it's a Quinnipiac poll:

MATTHEWS: OK. What about this personality problem, where people don‘t want to go to a barbecue with this guy? What‘s that about, this new poll? My way of asking it is, who do you want to be on an airplane next to for 10 or 15 hours? But this poll question by Zogby was, who do you want to be at a barbecue with? And everybody hands down says Bush. So do you overcome—and that was the Gore problem. Nobody really wanted to saddle up to Gore, but liked Bush.

Minor detail but still wrong. Not to mention can you imagine 10 or 15 hours on a plane with Bush!? The other thing to notice in what Chris said is it the same tactic form 2000 all over again, personality. Better known as the Goring of Kerry. Now in the Quinnipiac poll in the intro, before you get to the minutia, it references the barbecue question along with two others:

* Voters say 45 – 43 percent that they would rather have Kerry teach their children;
* By a 50 – 39 percent margin, voters would rather have a backyard barbecue with Bush;
* Voters say 46 – 41 percent they would rather have Bush run their business.

The other two questions Chris never mentions favor Kerry. Does it seem odd to anyone else that more people would want a Lawyer to run their business than an MBA/CEO? It would seem to me that just for the sake of journalistic integrity not to mention fairness he would at least mention the other two. By the way who the hell are the 43% of people that would rather have Bush teach their children. That is really disturbing!

In the end what we are left with from the last two nights of this show is no more than discussion of who would be better to hang out with. Not a meaningful discussion of the issues facing this country. Just barbecue talk.

Let's see if we hear anything about these stories in the near future:
The War and Tax Cut Dividend
2006 Cuts In Domestic Spending On Table
The White House put government agencies on notice this month that if President Bush is reelected, his budget for 2006 may include spending cuts for virtually all agencies in charge of domestic programs, including education, homeland security and others that the president backed in this campaign year.
More Good News From The War
Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at early as Spring 2005 -- just after the 2004 presidential election. The administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections, so our action on this is needed immediately.
How Sick Is This?
SO-CALLED LIBERAL MEDIA, E-mail Kelli Arena
Yesterday, CNN Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena spread the unsubstantiated myth that al Qaeda has a preference in the upcoming U.S. elections. Arena, who is supposed to be an objective journalist, claimed, "there is some speculation that al Qaeda believes it has a better chance of winning in Iraq if John Kerry is in the White House." Arena's comment came on the same day Kerry called for 40,000 more troops in Iraq. E-mail Kelli Arena at kelli.arena@turner.com and tell her to stick to the facts.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 7:25 AM