Michael Kelly and David Bloom deserve better from their profession

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:49 pm by Elizabeth Scalia

Michael Kelly and David Bloom deserve better from their profession 2015-03-13T20:49:20+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So, there I was, two days away from news, battling the mother of all stomach flus. I will spare you the details, although none spared me, and I come back to the keyboard to find that the mainstream press has finally co-ordinated their perspectives on the Kerry/Swiftvets story.

Apparently, they’ve decided that they needn’t ask Kerry anything at all about fitness reports, after action reports, medal citations signed some years after they were issued. Nah. They aren’t even going to discuss the Kerry ADMISSIONS that the Cambodia story was a lie, the first purple heart WAS a self-inflicted wound…nah. All of that is to be roundly ignored and removed from the public record wherever possible.

They don’t even seem to be the least bit concerned that under the thousand dollar-hair John Kerry seems to be a highly disturbed, sleepwalking, nightmare-afflicted, over-conflicted walking banana.

The problem with journalism is that it is equal parts nobility and ignobility. It needs a good disaster in order to show off its own diamonds…absent a real disaster, it will create a thousand conflicts so that it may keep shining…but it’s a tinsly shine with no depth. And when it is over-run by agendas, well, it becomes nothing more than propaganda. So far, the mainstream press in America is nothing for Goebbels to write home about – they’re still taking too long to form their collective on each story – but they are getting there.

I am sad to inform you of this, readers, but all of the heroes of journalism are gone. Even those last few you might have counted on to do the right thing, including the Mighty Russert, have tarnished their halos in this brutal and vicious campaign season. Russert is the biggest disappointment, to me. I used to love watching him move those Kennedy-esque jowls in righteous indignation or Irish merriment. Now Russert, no matter how boppy his cheeks, cannot move me with his work.

As a child I loved Chet Huntley and David Brinkley and Nancy Dickenson. I was an adolescent who ate up every word Woodward and Bernstein wrote. Sadly, it seems even the best journalists are succumbing to the same virus that has created a truth-deficit within the whole news industry, and the dirty little host, or vector spreading the viral disease is nothing honorable – it’s just plain old, ignoble and ordinary hate. Political hate, which is less noble than any other sort.

When one is blessed with a gift, it is unwise to misuse it, and you folks are misusing your gifts. When a gift is misused it ends up being perverted into a grotesque parody of itself. Look at Bill Clinton, a breathtakingly gifted man who has so squandered his abilities that he now comes off, even at his most serious, like the bastard child of P.T. Barnum and Mae West. Something like that is happening to the craft of journalism.

When Sandy Berger shoved topsecret documents down his drawers, (whatever happened to that story, anyway?) I was horrified, but I was hopeful, too. I truly thought: the mainstream press can’t ignore this – this is too big, too serious an issue for them to underplay and spike…I was wrong. I’m rather heartbroken, and I have talked to enough people to know that I am not the only one grieving the state of American journalism. . I don’t think either Michael Kelly or David Bloom would much approve of the way the people in their profession have – particularly over the past year or so – completely lost the moral compass.

I believe that if Michael Kelly were alive today, the Berger matter would undergo a withering and truthful investigation by the man, and his beam of light would shine on everyone involved in the thing, for as long as it took to tell the whole tale. I know he would damn anyone trying to get in the way of the truth and, like Shane in the wonderful Gary Cooper film, he’d inspire others to clean up the profession. He would return Honor to the Town of Journalism, and save it, and Bloom would be his deputy.

Michael Kelly and David Bloom are not around, anymore, and the behavior of the journalists who survive them does their memory no honor. The news industry as a whole appears to be happy to slap back some red-eye with the fellers in the black hats, to look the other way as the big players slip some aces from their sleeves, and chuckle while the bad guys shoot bullets into the sky in appreciation (or not) of those purdy wimmin with the red feathers in their hair. You can’t do that when the good guys are still around.

I want to believe there are still some good guys left, that there might be one or two journalists out there who could still become the reluctant heroes who clean up the town. But it gets harder, every day, to keep the faith.

Shane, come back! Come back and make John Kerry sign a standard 180 and finally answer some real questions!

rants

The Fourth Estate

Previous Post

August 14, 2016

How Does Science Back Up a Theological Dogma? Like This:

Next Post

October 2, 2004 My brother is dying by inches...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group primarily follows the teachings of Martin Luther?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Lutherans Methodists Presbyterians Baptists