partisan hackery

i love jon stewart. and stephen colbert, too. just youtube either name and you'll have hours of must-see tv at your fingertips. their "political" talk shows succeed simply because they offer viewers an alternative, a parody of anything they could find on cnn, msnbc, or fox news (always fair and balanced). an entertaining, funny alternative at that. a breath of fresh air from the blowhards and talking heads that litter every media outlet.

and yes, i'm going to pick on liberals, too.

o'reilly is simply unwatchable, but his brethren aren't much better. what unfolds on each show, whether it's a debate, an interview, or simply a self-righteous monologue, is, as jon stewart would say, partisan hackery.

hannity (from hannity & colmes, fox news) stated in an interview on his show today that barack obama's tour through iraq is simply a photo op. obama's stated his stance on the issue of the iraq war and anything he sees on his trip will be disposed of after its brief stay in short-term memory. in other words, he never went over there with "an open mind."

does this guy prefer throwing pebbles or boulders from the safe confines of his glass house? seriously? is a talking head from a media news outlet actually going to call someone out for lacking an open mind on an issue? isn't that why talking heads exist in the first place? real debate is one thing. these guys (and gals) simply spew their opinions as fact and expect us to buy into it.

this is why i avoid political discussion on most accounts. i'm guilty of the same things i'm accusing the talking heads of. i have my political beliefs and i doubt anyone could change my mind at this point. any conversation i would have would most likely end up an argument.

but the place these partisan hacks have in the general political landscape is frightening to say the least. hopefully, more voters will consistently turn to comedy central for their daily news. it provides every person with the daily percentage of sarcasm needed to maintain a healthy state of mind.