Where Has Public Service Gone?

Believe it or not, I do not like railing against the Republican Party every week. Do not misunderstand what I am saying here. I am a registered Democrat, and I would still present arguments. I would still tell you why I think the Republicans are wrong about particular issues. Doing so is a vital part of our system. An honest debate is healthy. Even in an honest debate, however, both sides will exaggerate, embellish, and try to get you to ignore facts that do not support their arguments. That is to be expected. Part of the reason why debates are important is because both sides will point out when their opponent is exaggerating, embellishing or ignoring facts. There was a time when elected officials called themselves public servants. They had an appreciation of our history, and they were concerned about how future historians would view them. They were not overly combative for the mere sake of partisanship, and they tried to avoid telling outright lies because they knew those lies would be exposed. It was, after all, a time when a high value was placed on education, science and knowledge. It was a time when the news media was expected to provide a public service by imparting accurate information and by presenting the facts in a fair and impartial manner. Whatever happened to this concept of public service?

I am not just waxing nostalgic here. I realize our politicians were never perfect. The Republican Party has always had a problem with the lunatic right. We can see it in the witch hunts of Senator Joe McCArthy, and we can see it in some of the extremists who supported Barry Goldwater. The Democratic Party also had its extremists on the left. The difference between then and now is that honest reporters, like Edward R. Murrow, eventually stepped up to the plate to expose Senator McCarthy, and other reporters, like Walter Cronkite, exposed the lunacy of the extremists on both sides of the political spectrum. That seems to have gone by the wayside. Today the main stream media seems to be going beyond all reason to avoid offending people buying the products they advertise, and you have other media types serving up partisan slop without any regard for the facts. The bottom line is that politicians have become so contentious that public service and reason have been forgotten. Why should liberals like me and the good people of MSNBC be the only ones who are pointing out the obvious lies, blatant hypocrisy, outrageous vitriol, and the absurd conspiracy theories that are used to whip up the fears of people who will not check the facts. Where are the moderates who should be demanding public service from their representatives and Senators? And why are they not demanding more information and honest debates of the issues so vital to our country?

I should not have to give you examples, but I will. The Washington Post ran an article by Orin Hatch ranting about the Democratic Party’s use of the reconciliation process to pass health care reform. Mr. Hatch’s rant was obviously disingenuous and hypocritical. We know this because he supported the use of reconciliation to pass bills favored by the administration of George W. Bush. Yet this respected newspaper let the rant stand without even mentioning Mr. Hatch’s support of reconciliation in the past. Ideally, the Post should have run an editorial discussing the reconciliation process and the filibuster rule that is making both parties resort to reconciliation. At the very least, the Post should have pointed out Mr. Hatch’s inconsistency in regard to reconciliation. This example is a minor when compared with what the Washington Times did. The Washington Times ran an editorial by Kerry Picket. In this editorial Mr. Picket stated that the Missile Defense logo bears a striking resemblance to the Iranian Space Agency logo, the Obama Presidential Campaign logo and the Pepsi Cola logo. Mr. Picket opined that even if the resemblance between the Obama campaign logo and the Missile Defense logo was inadvertent, the Missile Defense logo should not be allowed to resemble the campaign logo. What Mr. Picket did not reveal is that the Missile Defense logo was designed and approved during the administration of George W. Bush. The omission of this vital piece of information creates the impression of one more absurd conspiracy theory. I am expecting Glen Beck to embrace that theory at any moment.

The examples I have given are only examples of what the print media is doing. Television is even worse. This contention that there is a liberal media bias is nothing more than poisoning the well. It is an attempt to disparage the source enough to make people ignore the information. If you are stupid enough to indulge in the mind rot of Fox, there is no hope for you. The vast majority of the people in this great nation want the facts so that they can make informed decisions. They should not have to go to liberal organizations like MSNBC in order to get those facts. The facts are what they are. They can be verified and confirmed. Responsible people will acknowledge them and argue over what they mean in regard to our policies and actions. The liberals are presently much better about doing that than the conservatives are. There are still some conservatives who are responsible enough to do it, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find them. Most conservatives are too busy pandering to the Fox noise crowd. You deserve better than that. Regardless of whether you are a liberal, a conservative, or a moderate, you deserve more information and that information must be accurate.

We need to bring back the concepts of journalistic integrity and public service. The facts must be exposed for all to see, and we must base our decisions on what is real rather than on what we merely imagine or are inclined to believe because of some ideology.