Former Reagan and Bush 41 official Bruce Bartlett in a conversation with Steve Benen:
…the media don’t treat Republicans as if they are discredited. On the contrary, they often seem to be treated as if they have more credibility than the administration. Just look at the silly issue of death panels. The media should have laughed it out the window, ridiculed it or at least ignored it once it was determined that there was no basis to the charge. Instead, those making the most outlandish charges are treated with deference and respect, while those that actually have credibility on the subject are treated as equals at best and often with deep skepticism, as if they are the ones with an ax to grind.
As Bartlett so convincingly points out, on cable news we tend to get a liberal (if we’re lucky) talking about the actual reality of healthcare reform faced off in a window against a wingnut who thinks President Mao Hussein Hitler hates white people so much that he’s going to send Palin’s white Down Syndrome baby to a concentration camp (if President Obama is Hitler, then white supremacists and neo-Nazis must love liberal black leaders). Even if the liberal entirely debunks and humiliates the crazy wingnut, the crazy wingnut has still been given equal time to inject this obvious horseshit into the discourse.
Why is this? Clearly because the corporate press doesn’t want to offend wingnuttia and be accused of liberal bias, even though the liberal view in this case was the truth. So consequently what we tend to see are debates where the truth faces off against total Cuckoo’s Nest wankery. If there’s one silver lining in this month’s spike in crazy, it’s that this fake balance dynamic has come into critical focus considering the degree of crazy from the right.
Adding… Speaking of crazy, Rick Perlstein documents the history of Republican crazy and President Obama covers some similar territory in his weekly address. Also, if you have a copy of my book, take another look at the chapter titled The Great Fear of 2008.
