Proof The Media Care More About Sleaze Than Substance

The big story this morning, despite the sputtering economy, painful unemployment, a presidential campaign, and multiple foreign wars, is of course, Anthony Weiner’s announcement that he is resigning from congress. The blatantly twisted priorities of the media were demonstrated when Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi commenced a press conference and immediately stated that she would be talking about jobs and Medicare, and not Mr. Weiner. On hearing this, all three cable news networks cut away.

Just to recap, Weiner is a congressman from New York who is not a member of the Democratic leadership. He was caught up in a “scandal” that involved embarrassing and inappropriate personal communications on Twitter, but no illegality or sexual conduct. He was never accused of misuse of office and his constituents overwhelmingly support him and do not want him to resign.

Nevertheless, the media has hammered at this salacious triviality while underplaying far more important matters that the public wants and needs to know more about. And when offered an opportunity to engage a leader in the House of Representatives on issues critical to our nation, the press turned away as if it were a distraction.

To those who spin this story as being about lying and not about sex, please inform me as to when a scandal about lying ever produced this much attention from media. What’s more, if we are going to start ejecting politicians from office because they lied, we are going to have a nearly empty Capital Building. And for those who recognize that this is about sex or broader issues of morality, then let’s commence the calls for the resignations of Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), both of whom have been caught violating the law with prostitutes.

The Weiner announcement itself was turned into a circus by a heckler from the Howard Stern Show (whom Fox’s Martha MacCallum characterized as the “anger in the room”). But the embarrassment that is the American press corps is no less a clown act when you get down to it. Perhaps the Stern heckler is a poignant symbol of what the press has become.

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