He Said, She Said Media

There is something wrong when Jon Stewart and the Daily Show staff are doing much superior work to the mainstream media. Why can't anyone in the media (besides the pundits) just make a declarative statement without attributing it to someone else? Why can't they fact check a claim rather than just tell us what both parties, or opposing sides on almost any issue, say? Why can't they seem to deconstruct the lies we hear every day, even when a fifth grader could do so with three minutes and access to google on his blackberry? These are the questions that try men's souls -- or at least mine. The latest example comes from the Washington Post today and this brilliant reporting, regarding the unexpected retirement of Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, "Many Democrats blame Republicans for the partisan polarization in this Congress, citing in particular the GOP's near-unanimous opposition to the Democrats' health-care legislation. That presents Obama with his biggest near-term challenge." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021605974_pf.html) Um, yeah, thank God they found someone to make that claim, as there would be no other way to prove that it's true. In case you haven't heard, the say no to anything strategy is now really paying off as a new ABC Poll finds that only 44% think Obama should have a second term while 52% think no. (http://slatest.slate.com/id/2244975/?wpisrc=newsletter)