What Would Uncle Walter Say? McCain and the Media!

Cronkite might recuse himself

When he was anchoring for CBS Walter Cronkite never injected the news with any inkling of a personal opinion. So how would he cover today's presidential race?

He wouldn't. The application of today's religious views to politics would have forced him to defer to another anchor. The man who covered Viet Nam and the assasinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK would have loathed today's politial scene - too much to appear unbiased:

(In his endorsement of InterFaith Alliance)

When I anchored the evening news, I kept my opinions to myself. But now, more than ever, I feel I must speak out. That’s because I am deeply disturbed by the dangerous and growing influence of people like Pat Robertson and James Dobson on our nation’s political leaders. Like you, I understand that freedom of speech is a founding principle of our nation, and I respect people with the courage to speak their minds. As a concerned person of faith, however, I have watched with increasing alarm as Religious Right groups manipulate religion to further their intolerant, political agendas. Over the years, they have gained considerable influence at every level of government...on local school boards, in the Administration, the courts, and in Congress. They have shrewdly twisted the traditional healing role of religion into an intolerant, political platform.


He wouldn't have thought much about John McCain's reversals either, from "agents of intolerance", to speeches at Liberty Uniersity and endorseents by televangelists. McCain even did an about-face yesterday involving the press itself:

Think Progress: McCain Hosts His ‘Base’ for a BBQ: The ‘Maverick’ and the Press Are Back Together Again (3/3/08) by Benjamin J. Armbruster

When the New York Times reported on John McCain’s "unethical relationships with lobbyists, McCain banished reporters... to the back of his campaign airplane." But in an attempt to "woo the reporters" back, McCain invited campaign journalists to "a 'thank you' cookout on Sunday... at his vacation home." According to Armbruster, his "latest 'charm offensive'... may have paid off."

The senator always chalks his reversals up to "not holding a grudge." But who else is he pulling off a "charm offensive" on (or for)? Key words in his speeches and communications to watch out for: Bible, apocalyptic, sinful, grace are just a few. And for the hawks our country there will be more military rhetoricc than could ever possibly hope for.