Great concept, great article. Arianna was especially upset with the way CNN's John King couched his "hardest" questions for Cheney in terms like "some people say" that the economy was better before Bush took office (those people would be called "economists.") Here's Arianna:
"There are people..." "They would say..." "And they have some numbers to back up their case."Okay that made laugh.
These are not some numbers that belong to some people being trotted to make their case. These numbers are actual data -- empirical evidence. It would be as if King were interviewing a flat-earther and asked him: "There are people on this planet, watching this interview right now, who would say that the earth is round. And they have some pictures taken from outer space to back up their case. So what would you say to someone out there who is saying that?"
King's desperate attempt to distance himself from the question would be laughable if it weren't so repellent. It's not him asking Cheney why we should listen to him. It's not him putting forward objective data. It's some strawman viewers, so please don't hold it against him. And please, please come back. And tell your friends.
This is the problem with King and too many in the Pontius Pilot traditional media: They are so caught up in the obsolete notion that the truth always lies in the middle, they have to pretend that there are two sides to every issue -- and even two sides to straightforward data.
Someone needs to kidnap King and take him to a deprogramming center -- preferably one run by Jon Stewart and his team.
