The Democrats are in charge now, yet the Sunday media gasbags interview not one, not two, but three very bitter GOP has-beens. Where's my bong when I need it?

Will someone please explain why Cheney is getting so much air time? The Prince of Darkness was a virtual recluse for eight years, and now we can't escape his presence.

look at what passes for a media in this country.

wait till they have their plans in place and come after the internet.

no one will stop them because 98% of the politicians are corrupt and the honest ones are made fun of so the dumb people dont pay them attention.

sites like this, moderate, will tilt far to the right to stay online.

all progressive sites will disapear and the net will become the new talk radio.

I guess ratings and advertsing revenue don't mean a thing anymore to MSM.

So much for that free market capitalism thing when it comes to journalism.

Does that make our MSM a bunch of Socialists??

It would be difficult to get more partisan than this. They don't even pretend anymore. How disgusting!

Aren't there only 21 percent Repubs in America? Then WHY IN THE HELL is it only Repubs on the sunday shows?

This Sunday lineup is just so bad for the Republican party. Everybody in the WH must be getting a good laugh out of this.

The only way we're going to get clowns like Cheney and Rove off the air and out of the media is to finally investigate, prosecute, convict and sentence these horrible manipulative suppressive fascists. They do not deserve a public audience. The only audience they should be in front of is a jury of their peers. Their criminal acts are an affront to this country and to the world. Its time to clean house, and regain our moral compass.

I don't know what people are complaining about. After his smashing victory last November, it's perfectly reasonable for President McCain to be on TV, and the appearances of Secretary of State Gingrich, UN Ambassador Petraeus, and Co-Vice-President Cheney are likewise unremarkable. I'm just puzzled why they've restricted Co-VP Sarah Palin to NASCAR appearances and QVC.

"Liberal Media" my ass.

dik cheney PICKS his venues. Several years ago,(less than 5) bob scheiffer referred to dik cheney as 'my old friend', and this lameass nostalgia for russert makes me gag. During the libby trial is WAS IN SWORN TESTIMONY, that mary matalinreferred to russert as a 'go to' guy. It was on mtp that cheney did that reference to the NYT story that libby and judy miller planted, and russert didn't challenge the whole Atta in Prague story, when dik refloated it with him. These guys on sunday are still quislings for bushco. nbc are owned by ge, abc has four conservatives + 'steph',
and faux, Idon't get what happened to cbs that made them turn right but one their top brass referred to Obama as 'dangerous'. View critically.

I'd like to point readers to this Columbia School of Journalism essay by the Washington Post's esteemed journalist Walter Pincus, and his take on what's wrong with journalism. This upshot of this is that 1) Journalism is dying due to bad business decisions, not the Internet; 2) Newspapers (and television) aren't informing viewers and readers, but are instead propaganda outlets - thus the audience has left; 3) thus, the solution to this American Pravda machine is to turn your damn television off (he does not recommend that, mine). I have. And buy a subscription to the Economist or some other news outlet that actually hires reporters to cover world events personally instead of covering bullshit PR announcements and printing that as if it were news.

http://www.cjr.org/essay/newspaper_narcissism_1.php?page=all

"We have also failed our readers in the way we cover government. The First Amendment not only guaranteed freedom of the press from government interference, it also gave American journalists the opportunity—I believe the responsibility—to find and present facts on issues that require public attention. Our press is not protected in order to merely echo the views of government officials, opposition politicians, and so-called experts. Too often, though, that’s what occurs.

One of my basic concerns is that American journalism has turned away from its own hard-won expertise, and at the very time when readers are looking to us to explain the context of what is happening and what will happen next. "

[...]

"Meanwhile, we have turned into a public-relations society. Much of the news Americans get each day was created to serve just that purpose—to be the news of the day. Many of our headlines come from events created by public relations—press conferences, speeches, press releases, canned reports, and, worst of all, snappy comments by “spokesmen” or “experts.” To serve as a counterpoint, we need reporters with expertise."

[...]

"But when it comes to editorial content, meaningful news about government, politics, and foreign policy is only one of the saleable elements. Good newspapers have to go back to delivering a daily product that our mass audiences want, and which provides to advertisers a unique means to reach consumers. Like supermarkets, newspapers must deliver quality in all departments.

Yet at the same time, owners, editors, and reporters should push issues they believe government is ignoring. They should do it factually and in articles short enough to read daily, but spread over time. That is how Americans absorb information—by repetition.

They should remember that “newsmakers” are intent on using the media to influence readers, listeners, and viewers to take up their ideas. The electronic and print media today probably have more power over public opinion—and thus government—than they had fifty years ago. But I fear they turn much of that power over to those who create news events to get coverage. "

So here's a remark for a War Crimes Tribunal:

"But you don't understand! We got some information from torturing those extremists!"

"Isn't torturing okay if it works?"

Sadly, murders, rapists, torturers, thieves... everyone doing inhuman acts ALWAYS have good excuses... if only the one that says, "They deserved it!"

Also sadly... those folks considered important people are getting away with it...

The rest of us would already be sitting in jail... without bail!

At first glance, this looks insane, partisan, obstructionist and all the rest. Well, that's probably pretty accurate. And let's look at why this makes sense to TV bookers.

I saw recent statistics indicating that the median age of a Fox News viewer was 65, and that Limbaugh's median age was 67, white and male. And here we are on the Intertubez, bewildered.

We're not the target market!

We're into the two-way discussion, critical analysis, humor, new voices, deeper understanding of a changing world. I would venture a guess that most people reading this get less than 5% of their political news from television. This leaves the old, the infirm, and the stubborn sitting around on Sunday morning for Dave Gregory to define the debate for us. The rest of us are taking in information all day long in our modern knowledge economy jobs. More and more people on all sides of the political spectrum are joining us on the Interwebtubenets - whether at RedState, TownHall or here.

What's left to capture a TV audience? The producers are probably guessing, rightly, that the average TV viewer will only stop for an existing political celebrity. This assumption is borne out by statistics, as is their assumption that hotter news anchors make people linger before switching channels. If they start putting people on TeeVee who aren't from the Good Ol' Days, they know the techno-cultural dinosaurs will keep surfing until they hit the Home & Garden Channel. Stop for Ezra Klein, Josh Marshall, Simon Johnson, Andrew Sullivan, Megan McArdle? Who are those jokers? Turn on billiards on ESPN 7!

But that insightful scamp Newt Gingrich? The oh-so-trenchant analysis of George Will and Cokie Roberts? It's like catnip for the intellectually obsolete.

The finally thing we can do to the TV networks is not criticize them, but simply, finally, to walk away.

I was once an avid fan of the Sunday morning news shows, but with the advent of the lameass Dick(!) Gregory and the puzzling presence of Cokie Roberts along with George Will and the ever-scintillating Peggy Noonan (not), I now silence my TV after CBS' only interesting news-related show, Sunday Morning, and read my Sunday paper. I am convinced that the media consolidation has resulted in a homogenious conservative (and fiction-filled) atmosphere because all the rich owners in communications are Republicans. During the era of The Fairness Doctrine, at least there was some diversity. Now all we get are worn out Republican hacks and shills from Faux Noise. If I see McCain, Cheney or Newt one more time on a national pundit show, I am going to throw up. Who gives a rat's ass what they think? They're dinosaurs and have no new ideas except TAX CUTS, TAX CUTS, TAX CUTS! Guess I have to switch to Comedy Central to get some real hard-hitting political news.

glogirl, i total agree

dick gregory is so depressing, i have tried to watch for the guess but his outlook is never positive or even a maybe, it just gloom and grim. it as though he's a FNT talking point for the week. how i miss Russ.

One other thing Dick Cheney should be ashame of himself As a soldier I see now he never care about us and still does not! WE STILL HAVE SOLIDERS (MY FRIENDS) IN HARMS WAY...What part of TALKING OF TORTURE, AND THE SAFETY OF OUT TROOPS DONT MIX DON'T HE OR THE MEDIA GET....WE ARE OUT OF SITE OUT MINE, AS USUAL, I GUESS. I UNDERSTAND THE NEED TO KNOW BUT DO WE HAVE TO DO IT IN THE PUBLIC EYE, WHILE TROOPS ARE IN IN TWO WARS?
IN THE PUBLIC EYE IS THE ONLY THING NEEDED TO SPUR HARM AGAINST OUR SOLDIERS IN HARM WAY, AND TO RAISE THE CHANCES OF AND ATTACK.
But I guess that the point, it not him. Again