Role Reversal

I don't mean this to be a defense of Fox News or an attempt at validating the attacks brought against the company, rather an explanation of my confusion on the subject. It seems to me that the same short sightedness, advocacy and opinion based reporting that appears to corrupt this organization is prevalent in the entire realm of journalism. The idea that one pundit is over the top while another acts within the constraints of decency seems to be directly related to the political affiliation of the administration in office.

Liberal host Keith Olbermann often called former President George Bush a Nazi or any number of other pejorative expressions while conservative affiliates such as Bill O'Reilly labeled Olbermann as unpatriotic or a threat to the American way of life. This idea has been the subject of role reversal as of late: Republican talking heads spout McCarthy era rhetoric while Democrats degrade the necessity and sincerity of protesters.

So why the double standards? Shouldn't political dissent be valued regardless of the administration and their party affiliation? I have addressed the issue of advocacy before in this blog and the topic does not appear to be waning, just simply changing costume. If the government is to be leb by the will of the people, we must identify the information that is rooted in fact and remove all others from our conscience.