By Carol Davidek-Waller
October 20, 2006
To the Editor,
It's no secret that American media are not doing their jobs.
The consensus is that they don't report accurately or at all on critical issues and are content to print White House mendacity as fact.
Many have speculated on why this is so.
Is it the promise of increased media consolidation held out by the Bush administration? Have they been persuaded that they are part of the ruling elite who "run the world? Perhaps it's something more banal like the Seattle Times endorsement of Republican Dave Reichert (R-WA) over his opponent Darcy Burner.
Reichert supports the failed foreign policy that has the US embroiled in another Viet Nam. He tolerates the unparallel fleecing of taxpayers by war profiteers. He votes to mortgage our future by irresponsible spending today. He supports the exportation of high paying jobs and the war on the poor and the elderly. He has taken dirty money from convicted criminal David Abramoff and disgraced former House member, Tom Delay (R-TX) and does not repent.
A little over 30% of the country approves the direction the Bush administration is taking the country yet the Times casts its highly influential vote for more of the same.
Even if Burner, a Democrat, were not a young, talented, energetic person with high ethical values, (she is), a vote for the Republican Party at this critical juncture is a vote against America and the vast majority of Americans.
A look at Reichert's House voting record gives us some insight. Dave Reichert voted yes to the repeal of the Estate Tax. The Times is a family owned paper that would profit from the passage of yet another tax break for the ultra wealthy. Did Reichert buy his endorsement? Reichert clearly cast his vote in the paper's interest rather than those of the majority of his constituents.
The Times was not content just to endorse; they repeated Reichert's twisted mendacity regarding his opponent, as fact. Lies like the ones Reichert is campaigning on generally die a merciful death, if the press does its job. They only gain credence if they are trumpeted by a lazy or corrupt media.
The sad situation in Seattle is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with our system; petty, self-interest trumping the common good.
Tragically for America, our most vital democratic institutions have turned their backs on the very people the US Constitution gives them the responsibility to serve.