Paul Begala Has it Right

This is an excerpt from Paul Begala's thoughtful piece in the Huffington Post that I commend to your attention, titled: The McCain-Palin Lies and the Neil Armstrong Principle.

I fully agree with his points. The media have to stop reporting on how the campaign is bring waged and, instead, help guide the public to the Truth of ads and statements. Intelligent liars like the Republicans can really do a number on public perception and the issues are rather confusing. It would be great if all ads were vetted through an independent Truth squad.

That squad is supposed to be the media. But the media have devolved into entertainment. And the Republicans and Democrats know that. So everyone is playing the silly game of politics, and even smart guys like Paul Begala have been paid political hacks; he and Tucker Carlson co-hosted the ill-fated show Crossfire on CNN until 1974 when Jon Stewart panned the show so badly that it was canceled. Still he makes a great point with his blogpost.

The Republicans are telling lies. Lots of them. They're propelling lies at us at hyper speed and reducing debate to political theater. Those are simply diversionary tactics for them. Just recall the lead up to the Iraq War, and all the lies Bush Administration threw out as cover so they could bomb Iraq for 9/11 and get the War machine going in full swing.

Yes, we're all happy to be gone with Bush/Cheney. But do we really think McCain-Palin will renew the American Spirit? I'm hoping McCain strategist Steve Schmidt forgets to wind Sarah Palin up after she repeats her talking-point lies another 400 times and then winds down. Or he'll maybe write her a new mythology for next week.

Anyway, my gut tells me that Palin is going to trip up. And so is Schmidt. They are skating on thin ice. Reality is Palin is incapable of approaching the offices of Vice President or President and so we all need to come to our senses here.

BEGALA SPEAKS: "The media have an obligation to point out when a politician is lying about a matter of fact, but the right-wing attack machine has so cowed some of them you can almost hear them moo. Steve Schmidt, McCain's top dog, is a brilliant and audacious strategist. His candidate has had the most favorable press coverage of any politician of the last century -- fawning, adoring, sycophantic press coverage. And yet he is brutalizing the press, waterboarding them into pretending that whether Gov. Palin supported the "Bridge to Nowhere," or hired an Abramoff-connected lobbyist to secure massive earmarks are somehow debatable.

The real debate is over whether the media will be vigilant watchdogs, sounding the alarm when McCain and Palin lie, or fall back to the role they've played for most of McCain's career: lapdog."