Long Media Season

Posted Thu, 10/23/08

This will be a long blog entry, so bear with me…

I've decided that if John McCain wins the election, I will create another blog which will be purely political in content. I understand that some of my friends and family want to hear about my writing and other personal anecdotes, but during this election season I find myself moved to rage and incredulity – so much so that I have to get it out of my system. Pardon to those who find American politics boring, but I have always been fascinated with the process, the real facts and the elections. This year is especially important because whichever candidate reaches the Oval Office will inherit problems of massive proportions left behind by perhaps our worst president in history, George "W" Bush.

At any rate, if McCain is elected the reason for a second blog will become a dire necessity unless I want to turn Irish Eyes into my own purely political forum, which I do not. A few weeks hence will tell me whether I have to scrape together another workable web design to launch yet another blog, but I promise after the election Irish Eyes will return to normal.

On that note, after the voting is complete and we all know who will reign supreme for the next four years, I will miss the following political analysts, party strategists, campaign advisors, journalists and other commentators' et al for their insightful yet fair-minded observations during the long election stretch:

  • Paul Begala (political consultant, commentator & former advisor to President Bill Clinton): He always has a ready smile but drives his point home nonetheless.

  • Patrick Buchanan (political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician, & broadcaster, currently appearing on MSNBC): Pat's ultra-conservative and misguided view is not always welcome to my ears, but I feel he is an honest and fair man in the general sense – like John McCain used to be.

  • James Carville (political consultant, commentator, attorney, media personality and pundit): I just love this guy. He's well informed and funny to boot.

  • Karen Hughes (appears frequently on Larry King Live): Although a Republican and friend to GWB, Karen appears to be an honest person. She may champion the GOP but she has common sense and never goes over the line as many of her contemporaries do.

  • Eugene Robinson (newspaper columnist & assistant managing editor for the Washington Post): Eugene appears frequently on MSNBC. I find his steady demeanor, combined with an unassuming intelligence and keen observation skills, very reassuring.

  • Joan Walsh (editor-in-chief of Salon and a frequent guest of Larry King Live): She is a very likable woman with a quiet intelligence and a rational approach to the issues.

  • Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Congresswoman from Florida): I really like this woman – she is reserved yet tolerates no bull. She appears on the MSNBC shows frequently. I think she has the potential for a bigger future in politics.

  • Richard Wolffe (journalist, political analyst & senior White House correspondent for Newsweek and MSNBC News): Very cool and measured, he never loses his head.

Other anchors I've enjoyed but will see again because they report news for a living are: Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Campbell Brown (CNN), Anderson Cooper (CNN), David Gregory (MSNBC), Larry King (CNN), Don Lemon (CNN), Rachel Maddow (MSNBC), Chris Matthews (Hardball-MSNBC), Keith Olbermann (Countdown-MSNBC), Rick Sanchez (CNN), Joe Scarborough (MSNBC), David Schuster (MSNBC), and Chuck Todd (MSNBC).

On the other hand, there are several people I never, ever want to see or hear again as they are obvious fanatical zealots who have no sense whatsoever and who always warp the truth to their twisted mind-paths:

  • Michelle Bachmann (Congresswoman from Minnesota): I wrote about this person a few weeks ago, and my opinion of her remains unchanged: she is an apparition in Stepford-wife form. Her latest nonsensical ramblings on Hardball inspired her constituents to donate large sums of money to the campaign of her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg.

  • William Bennett (neoconservative pundit, politician & political theorist): I cannot believe CNN allows this horribly pompous man on television. Are he and Lou Dobbs (see below) related?

  • Brad Blakeman (former lobbyist & Republican strategist): This imbecile is the definition of a flaming hypocrite. He brushes aside questions about Palin's recent $150,000 shopping spree while sneering at Barack Obama for returning to Hawaii on his campaign plane to visit his seriously ill grandmother. Blakeman is another example of current Republican desperation.

  • Tucker Bounds (Republican political spokesperson & staff member for the McCain-Palin 2008 presidential campaign): This man is a complete idiot. He has the look of someone who has been brainwashed and programmed from the cradle.

  • Lou Dobbs (CNN Anchor): There is only one phrase for this self-proclaimed "independent." He is nothing more than an overblown windbag with a pink face and up-in-the-air-Republican nose who cannot hide the fact that he hates Barack Obama.

  • Sean Hannity (TV host for Fixed News – or is it Fox Noise?): Who is this moron? I had the misfortune of hearing about sixty seconds of his radio program in the car the other day, which resulted in an incredible urge to smash my fist down on the dashboard. The only plausible explanation for his continued existence on the airwaves is he must be the bastard son of Rush Limbaugh.

  • Georgette Mosbacher (Republican fundraiser who frequently appears on Larry King Live): God, this flame-haired woman really rubs me the wrong way. She speaks rubbish, just like her counterparts listed here throughout and who give women in politics a bad name. She's plastic, unreal, with a creepily fixed smile.

  • Joe Pagliarulo (conservative radio & television commentator): He seems likable at first but then he opens his mouth and interrupts others on various discussion panels I've observed, whereupon I quit listening. I'm not really sure where he stands on the issues, but it's apparent he has blind obedience to the GOP.

  • Nancy Pfotenhauer (senior advisor to John McCain): Every time I see this woman on the television, I mute the sound. She is another warbling conservative who sounds like all those before her, as if she is reading from a script yet she never quite gets around to answering the valid questions put to her. No wonder McCain looks pained and confused most of the time.

  • Heather Wilson (Congresswoman from New Mexico): Nancy Pfotenhauer's birth mother, perhaps? They speak so similarly and with the same glaze-eyed intensity they must share the same DNA somewhere along the line.

Over all others, I prefer CNN and MSNBC as reliable news sources. I tried listening/watching to Fixed News (or is it Fox Noise?) several times, but could not stomach the heavily biased reporting. As the election winds down the anchors and commentators at Fixed News seem to be increasingly irresponsible, earning their reputation as a "right wing propaganda machine." It reminds me of the Republican Party as a whole – if individuals lean to the left even slightly then of course they must be anti-American, socialistic or an outright communist. If you doubt my word, then read this: Fox News Channel controversies. Needless to say, I don't consider Fox Noise a legitimate news source.

As with every election cycle, I have learned a great deal more about the American process. It's not perfect by any means, but it is a damned sight better than any other. I only wish that partisan nastiness wasn't part of it, and that the popular vote was the bottom line rather than the verdict of the Electoral College.

Thanks to all those who have been patient with my predominant political writings of late. On a brighter note, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The election is only twelve days away, and I'm sure for many it cannot come soon enough.

I have already voted, so naturally I'm on pins and needles as the big day approaches.

Tags: Politics

Send Comment