The Journal

Issue date: 2/23/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial

Don Miller

The film "Good Night, and Good Luck" chronicles the courageous 1950s battle fought against the hysterical communist witch-hunter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. Journalist Edward R. Murrow bravely battled the ruthless senator who targeted a wide variety of American citizens with accusations of communist ties and threats to our national security. Rather than stooping to McCarthy's smear tactics, Murrow fought him with facts - many times using transcripts of the senator's own remarks - to expose him for the vicious and loathsome individual that he was.

In our current political climate, the importance of this film and its message cannot be ignored. The tone of political debate, especially that of pundits on talk radio and TV news shows, has reached deplorable depths over the past few years. Anyone who has heard the asinine rants of Rush Limbaugh or watched the juvenile and uncivil antics of Bill O'Reilly on Fox News has witnessed the human trainwreck that passes for political commentary these days.

While I am not arguing that this behavior is limited to the right-wing, I feel that they have set the tone and agenda for an environment in which facts and fairness take a backseat to screaming and personal attacks. If you feel that this is debatable, I have two more words for you: Pat Robertson. For an individual who claims to be a representative of God, this man spews forth more venom than most pundits do on either side combined. And make no mistake, he is a political pundit first and an evangelist second.

I recently saw part of a C-SPAN interview with journalist and author Michelle Malkin in which she promoted her new book, "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild." Among her many observations and criticisms, Malkin feels liberals have gone too far with their vicious attacks on conservative media figures. To support this claim, she cited instances where right-wing authors such as Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly have had pies and containers of salad dressing thrown at them while making appearances at various college campuses.

For those who are unfamiliar with Ann Coulter, this is an individual who stated that the United States should nuke China "… just to show them that we can" and observed that, while some Republicans are bad, there is no such thing as a "good Democrat." Well, I certainly can't imagine why statements like that would anger people so much that they might feel the need to pelt her with a dose of honey-mustard dressing.

I won't even begin to detail Bill O'Reilly's history of offensive behavior, but do keep in mind he routinely tells his guests to "Shut up!" when they say things he doesn't like. He has even cut the sound on at least one guest whom he didn't agree with on an issue related to Sept. 11. The guest's father died in the Sept. 11 attacks, and the son made some allegations against our president that apparently enraged the thin-skinned O'Reilly.

What bothers me more than this is the sheer arrogance and self-righteous nature of many of our right-wing media pundits. When questioning the motives of Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war mom whose son died in Iraq, Michelle Malkin made a statement that infuriated me. She told the interviewer she was sure Cindy Sheehan's son wouldn't want her making all of this noise about the war and questioning the president and his decisions. Unless Malkin is a close friend or relative of the Sheehan family, I really don't think she has any idea as to what Cindy Sheehan's dead son would have wanted her to do or not do. The unbridled arrogance and insensitivity in a statement like that should give all rational individuals cause for concern.

While I would like to believe our country is capable of resolving some of our political differences in a constructive manner, the popularity of people like Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly and a host of others makes me think that it might be too late for us. Their approach is like that of a school bully: they seek out those whom they feel superior to and proceed to torment them by whatever means they deem necessary. Facts and logic don't matter as long as the bullies are bigger and louder and can incite others who have an equal disregard for civility, respect and a sense of fairness. When these types of individuals have power and a loyal following, the histrionics and personal attacks trump logic every time.

The kind of courage demonstrated by Edward R. Murrow is rare these days, and the recent departure of Ted Koppel from "Nightline" doesn't bode well for the future of network anchors. Koppel was straightforward and relentless on the issues, but he was always professional and fair. We can only hope his legacy motivates a new generation of young advocate journalists to promote civility and fairness in a culture where both seem to be diminishing rapidly.


Don Miller, a graduate student in media communications, is a guest writer for The Journal.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools