Clinton Haters Never Underestimate, Rather Exploit the Stupidity of the General Public

Journalistic integrity, having become an oxymoron long since they started labeling any controversy some form of -gate, has one of the most exciting general elections in history shaping up to be the most...

Incredibly... boring... sleeper... ever.

At least with the Clintons on their game, the press had a grand old party beating a dead horse - until Bill and Hillary were finally forced, kicking and screaming, to exit stage left.

And now they're left to contend with Obama, who having been "vetted" as an elitist black Muslim by the Clintons, is now seeking reparations from his own party. Wow, the first African American candidate. And he's just too cool for school, right?

So here's your basic softball preface for the press pool: "Dearest Obama, I know this isn't fair - and it's okay if you don't answer, we'll understand, but..."

And so the question is lobbed and either batted down, bunted, or the switch-hitter opts to dish out some self-serving spin. Next question.

But seriously, what does an earnest reporter do, faced with an agent of change who's completely revamped his mantra, opting to shroud his campaign in old school Chicago style politics?

Apparently, you praise the Emperor's new clothes. He is the Emperor after all - and given most journalists are registered Democrats, you can't very well expect them to turn on their newly anointed ruler. Particularly given his historic stature as the first black nominee to freely absolve them of their white guilt.

In marketing, Obama would be suffering at this point from extreme over-exposure. He's been in the spotlight now for months on end - and I suppose he'll be granted the right to extend his hard-earned victory lap all the way to the convention.

And in the meantime, we can expect to hear more about less.

With Tim Russert's passing, we turn to Tom Brokaw - a man who's dedicated his retirement to praising "The Greatest Generation" - a not so subtle jab at the Baby Boomers, aka "The Worst Generation". I haven't caught him yet on the program - but my guess is that the revered old broadcaster is definitely out to pasture.

The odd bit is - had it not been an election year, I doubt Obama would have even been granted a pass to Russert's funeral. I don't keep count on these things - but I can only recall one encounter between the two. And following the brutality of the Clinton campaign, even Russert felt obliged to "play nice" with the kid.

So what to do? If there were to be a debate, with Russert's untimely passing, who could be expected to moderate? And will Obama debate at all? Lacking his pat opening "I agree with..." followed by some vague "call for change" - what new debate style would the press expect him to adopt? Or will he just agree with McCain, referring viewers to his website for details (ie eliciting donations)?

Given the passing of Tim Russert, I've read quite a few tributes to the man - but the horrific subtext of it all appears to be that there is absolutely no one who could take his place. The rest of the pack have apparently proudly owned up to rampant bias, most commentators having built their success based on outright pandering to liberals or conservatives. Hey, it's all about the ratings, stupid.

And so there you have the remnants of a Free Press, so far skewed from the founding father's interpretation that the right might as well be revoked at this point. Corporate is as corporate does, Forrest Gump's box of chocolates - only they're just chocolate covered pieces of dung, wrapped in gold and tied up with a pretty ribbon for public consumption.

So I guess it's back to the Colbert Report for me. When journalists unwittingly mock their own profession, you might as well embrace the folks who drop the facade and have some fun with it. Heck, maybe Meet the Press could draft Stephen once the glory days of an election season cease to appeal to Mr. Brokaw. Jon Stewart's okay - but following his monkey tantrum, it appears his "big head" inflated self-importance has gotten in the way of the humor.

As for me, I'm just glad I dropped out of of journalism school when I did. At least as a marketing guy, the general public receives advanced warning that I'm just another corporate whore.

My guess is that the only reason journalists can drag themselves out to the "pool" is so they can brag to their friends that they have access to politicians. And I guess their friends are polite enough not to push the issue of ethics, integrity, or responsibility to inform the public.

Or maybe all of the smart ones just went into marketing, comedy - or took the more respectable route of becoming a used car salesman. Or do they prefer to take the elitist view that the general public is just too ignorant, placing more faith in those shysters than in their... uhm... highly respectable profession?

And if anyone dares toss out the question - "Well, who caused them to be so ignorant?" Hey, have another piece of yummy chocolate-covered dung... proudly brought to you by Mighty Media MegaCorp Consolidated, Inc.!