The media tried and tried... and failed

By GottaLaff

All week I've been railing about how the so-called "news" media have made the Democratic convention story about anything but the actual convention, but more about manufactured angst. Apparently, some out there agree with me:

Since the party's primaries began, the media have tried to call the election long before the polls even opened, much less closed. They hit a fever pitch in Denver, where cable commentators desperate to fill news hours with anything but what was actually happening talked themselves hoarse prognosticating. James Carville carped that the Democrats weren't taking big enough swings at John McCain, Chris Matthews fretted about wounds that would not heal, Brit Hume dampened whatever enthusiasm he witnessed. [...]

Meanwhile, in the Pepsi Center, a convention of admirable orchestration has been taking place. [...]

Yes, it would have been nice if any of the networks besides KCET had chosen to run John F. Kerry's speech rather than endless analysis of Bill Clinton's speech, but I guess we can't have everything. We'll just have to settle for Karl praising Bill on Fox News for so clearly articulating the goals of his party. And really, that's enough for one lifetime.

What?!! The Democrats pulled it off? Unheard of! How could that happen when everything was going so wrong?

But wait, there's more!

Rejoice, Democrats. After all those months worrying about a train wreck at the Democratic National Convention, you can relax. Everyone in Denver is acting like a normal human being.

Hillary didn't kick Barack in the groin, she didn't try to claw Michelle's eyes out, and she didn't incite a riot among her followers. Breathe a deep sigh of relief.

And there's this pointed, pointy point, as the piece continues:

Democrats should give Obama a break. He's not the messiah -- as his wife has dryly pointed out, he's an ordinary mortal, someone who doesn't always pick up his socks off the floor. [...]

Get over it for the obvious, pragmatic reason: If you want a Democrat in the White House, you've got to stop fretting about your nominee's lack of magical powers and just work to get him elected. Because, as Clinton reminded Democrats on Tuesday night, this election is about more than any particular candidate: It's about "that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids ... that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage ... [and] all the people in this country who feel invisible." It's not about Clinton -- or Obama either. [...]

But get over it for another reason too. Democrats, of all people, should remember that political transformation comes primarily from broad-based social movements, not from transcendent individuals. [...]

So if Democrats want real "change," they need to get out there and organize, give Obama solid backing and not go all wishy-washy when he makes mistakes. And they need to stop griping that his speeches alone don't transform the political landscape. That's their job.

Maybe if the corporate media would cover more pertinent issues, more people could actually become aware of the details of the movement. Or maybe we need to start a another movement to transform the corporate media, too. I could really get behind that one.