How are people this stupid allowed be journalists? How, Lord, how is this possible under your merciful care?

It's passages like this that make one realize that actual journalism is no more a valid form of communicating important ideas about the public good than using Mad Libs to pen up fart jokes.

I swear to God. Observe the journalist ask the freaking Senate Leader if he's pandering by scheduling votes on flag burning and gay marraige during an election year.

No, genius, that's not pandering. It's something else. Even though it looks exactly like pandering. Smells like pandering (bullshit, in other words). Tastes like pandering (ewww...). It's clearly not pandering.

Hey, I have an idea: instead of maybe asking Bill Frist whether the Senate doesn't have other business than gay marraige and flag-burining, perhaps point out to him (gently, if it helps you feel better about yourself) that the Senate clearly has more important goddamn things to worry about.

Shitheads.

Jamison Foser has a great long rant up on this subject over at Media Matters for America, but the nitty-gritty of it is that while Democrats are often imputed to have shallow motives dictated by triangulating over the latest poll numbers, Republicans are somehow above all this. Witness the way John McCain makes people weak in the knees, for no goddamn reason whatsoever.

If we had a media that was somehow more useful than a refrigerated igloo, these things might be commonly known. As it is, we get extensive coverage of the between-the-sheets-action of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Prime information real estate like the New York Times wasted on this kind of drivel.

It's pathetic, really.