All the News That's Fit to Obfuscate

I must admit to a certain malaise in the last few days. Nothing to do with the bronchitis that turned me into the worst kind of hack, hack, hacking invalid last week; penicillin and codeine took care of that. No, this had more to do with subjects in the news bringing me down. Mostly the Newsweek debacle, but also stories out of Kansas and the impending filibuster debate. And trust me when I say melancholy makes for very bad posting. Every time I started, I'd whine, I'd whinge, I'd kvetch; it wasn't pretty. But today, somewhere between reading the George Galloway tirade and the following editorial, I felt empowered again. Blogging is a drink best served bitter!

So where to begin. First, if you haven't read Bill Moyers speech on the goings on at the CPB, now is the time, we'll wait.......worth the read, wasn't it.

Now go read the Sun-Tribune editorial I mentioned earlier. It certainly hits the nail on the head concerning the aftermath of the Newsweek correction and how the Bush administration jumped on it to discredit yet another MSM outlet. The similarities to CBS and Rathergate are infuriating. Many in the blogosphere were quick to point out the Orwellian 1984 connection as well.

Free speech is a wonderful thing and the blogosphere is a great venue for those of us in love with the sound of our own voices, but as dear Bubba says, it's preaching to the choir. Our freedom depends on a free and independent press. We can hold their feet to the fire when they fail, as in the case before the invasion of Iraq. We should praise them when succeed, like the Houston Chronicle's recent coverage of Tom DeLay's troubles. What we cannot do is ignore or forsake them. Our futures are mutually united.

And so I end with a plea to the NYTimes from Media Matters, information we should all take to heart.