McCain's press more adoring than ever

...And here is a great example of it. I caught this over at C&L this past week, and it's pretty telling. In the past, I've harped how the powers that be over at The Politico seem to be closet right wingers, even though the site presents itself as largely bipartisan. Arrrrrnt!

(Credit to Glenn Greenwald at Salon for picking up on this - I got it via C&L) At a recent BBQ at the McCain's ranch, Politico reporters brought McCain's wife flowers, according to her daughter Megan in the YouTube video above. At first glance, I realize that this might seem like nitpicking. It's not. Objectivity must be the name of the game, but the press has certainly been falling down since before the '00 campaign, and definitely since 9-11. And it sure looks like during this campaign, the press is more than willing to roll over like the obedient dogs they are, and I mean that on both sides of the political campaigns. I don't want to see either side let off the hook regarding tough questions, nor should they be.

Easily the most asinine quotation from Megan McCain's video is this:

"The guys from The Politico brought her (Cindy McCain) flowers, which I still think is the most adorable thing ever, so thank you soo much! I just thought it was so cute that they decided to bring my mom flowers because that is rare and they are journalists. *Giggle*"

Note to Megan McCain -- they aren't functioning as journalists if they are bringing your mom flowers.

If Politico "journalists" are that eager to swing from John McCain's jock, I'm sure there are openings at Fox News for semi-competent writers who want to spend the next 7+ months kissing John McCain's ass, coupled with a side order of looking for any and all dirt on Barack Obama and/or Hillary Clinton.

I lay much of blame on President Bush regarding the press' coverage (or lack thereof) of his administration over the last eight years. Why? Because whenever he receives negative press coverage, he simply stops giving that medium any access to top administration figures. This also goes for many others in his cabinet, most notably Cheney.

There are many examples of Bush and Co. slamming the press, sometimes publicly; most notably when a stray microphone caught Bush and his Dick (Cheney) a number of years back calling a columnist for the New York Times a "major league asshole." I think it was Dick who said it, but Bush obediently chimed in, "Yea, big time."

On another occasion, Cheney barred anyone from the Times from getting on his airplane.

The press deserves some blame, too, because they fall for Bush's adoration so easily. Watch any Bush press conference and it'll take you about five minutes to see Bush's MO when it comes to the media: cracking jokes, giving people nicknames in the jovial and frivolous manner in which Bush approaches almost everything. The self-described War-time President should be taking things a whole lot more seriously than he is, but by now, no one should be surprised that he isn't.

This type of behavior on the part of the press and a presidential administration should not be tolerated by the American public, and I don't care who is in power.

Not to over dramatize the situation, but really, if we don't have a responsible press doing it's job, it's the beginning of the end for our democracy as we know it. Without the possibility of the press serving as an overseer and watchdog, I shudder to think about what over government can and would do. Even with pseudo-press coverage these past eight years or so, the Bush administration has pulled off some whoppers.

It's up to all of us to hold the press accountable, because no one else will.