Politics as Pop Art

The Dayton Daily Democrat's editorial board seems to think it is pretty cool that politics has hijacked pop culture.

They foray in to this field with a mention of OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, a "documentary" about how "fair and balanced" Fox News really is. The problem with this sort of film is that, like the Michael Moore propaganda, if the film maker comes in to the documentary with anything less than an open mind, the film suffers.

Of course, everybody who cares already knows that Fox is out to serve conservatives. The charge that it is serving a conservative White House is not much of a leap.

Here is the thing about FNC: when they do the news, it is about the news; when they do commentary, you know that it is commentary. You can't say the same thing about ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC. Bias in the media wasn't invested by Fox, nor is it being practiced by Fox. You can't tell when Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw stop delivering the news and start serving up their own liberal ideology. Neither of those guys stack up to a Brit Hume when it comes to delivering unbiased news. I'd compare them to the likes of Bill O'Rielly, who's job isn't to deliver the news but rather his commentary on the news. And I'd love to see a Hannity and Colmes-type show on the alphabet networks, but I won't hold my breath.

People apparently love to watch people they hate squirm.

I don't know about that. Moore's latest crockumentary didn't really do all that well when you compare it against other movies. Shrek 2 had a higher box office take for crying out loud. Moore plays the victim card very well and so his "victory" at the box office comes off as much more impressive than it really is.

On the other hand, I'm really kind of looking forward to Michael Moore Hates America so there might just be something to that after all.

Contrary to what the editorial board would have you thinking, the broadcast networks are not meeting to decide whether or not they are going to be "fair and balanced." They have decided to be liberal a LONG time ago and I don't forsee any change in the near future. The echo chamber has resonated their garbage for so long that they have become deaf to reality. Hence Fox is the highest rated news station in the nation.

Hollyweird will never portray Ronald Reagan with the dignity and respect that he deserves. Conversely, Bill Clinton will never be played as the pathetic human being he actually was either. And as for "conservative and liberal crime shows" I don't really see a difference there: a conservative crime show would persue any kind of crime be it corporate or welfare fraud. That's the main difference between liberals and conservatives: liberals care about the social ramifications; conservatives just want the criminals caught and justice served.

The interesting question posed in this editorial is whether or not all this politics injected into pop culture will effect voter turnout. Like the editorial board, I don't believe so. At this point all the bomb-throwing is merely firing up the people who were already partisan.

The best hope is that as intensely political Democrats and Republicans file into their adjoining theatres, they will begin to realize that their interest in politics gives them more in common than they thought.

Yeah, right.

With an attitude like that, peace will never get a chance, man! I know, I know...it's the thought that counts. But really, does it?