Why I can't be friends with the mainstream media...

So...  If you watch CNN, you will notice the following pattern.

Democratic Spokesperson:  The sky is blue, Wolf, we have been working on legislation that will acknowledge that the sky is blue.

Wolf Blitzer: Ok, now let's hear from the Republicans for their point of view.

Republican Spokesperson:  Well, Wolf, as my colleague certainly knows, the Republicans have been working on legislation that says the grass is green!

At this point one of the guests starts talking over the other, leading that person to angrily insist that he/she be able to finish.  Sometimes Wolf will intervene and restore some sense of order in our television landscape.

What Wolf never does is say anything about who is wrong and who is right or even that the guests are talking about completely different issues.  This means that the only message that the average viewer walks away with this that Republicans and Democrats disagree about things.

This is not helpful.  Sometimes, one side is actually lying.  The other day Barbara Boxer (Democratic senator from California) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (Republican senator from Texas) were on Morning Addition with Wolf...  Their segment ended with a disagreement over John McCain's voting record in the Senate.  Barbara Boxer was saying that he had voted against a bill that would send disaster relief funds to New Orleans.  Kay Bailey disagreed.  Barbara insisted that she was the chairwoman of the committee and was certain of how he voted.

Wolf, I believe, said that CNN would look it up and report back.

Well, CNN never got around to reporting back.

So, what the news networks  have created is a post-fact society.  Everything, even something as concrete as a senator's voting record, is reduced to a matter of opinion.  As long as both sides have a chance to make their case, the news networks have done their job.  They can go home, kick back, and feel good about themselves because they haven't stepped on anyone's toes.

News networks are trying to create a sense that they are "fair and balanced," but it is a false sense of balance.  

In a debate about an opinion, this format is perfectly acceptable, but not everything is a debate about an opinion.  It does not make you biased to point out facts!  If CNN would have told us the truth about McCain's voting record...  that is not anti-Republican...  It is simply doing your job as a journalist - to present the facts.

So, the reason I can't be friends with the mainstream media is that they are ruining our country by confusing the hell out of everyone.  If they report the facts, then everyone will think they are too liberal because everyone knows that reality has a well documented liberal bias.