Gannon: Why It Matters

There are those who say that GOPUSA/Talon News reporter Jeff Gannon's softball questions are simply that: non-challenging questions, and nothing else. So what? And that maybe the press shouldn't have so adversarial a relationship with the President. Allright then; let's look at that.

The President is the single most powerful person in the world. He is surrounded by folks whose main job is to give him what he asks for. In this particular president, his party controls the House of Representatives and the Senate. Turns out, people from his philosophical viewpiont also control the Supreme Court.

Power looks after itself. While the holders of Power may well have a philosophical viewpoint, Power doesn't tend to look at issues as right or wrong, but as "what we want VS what they want." So it's philosophically counterintuitive for power to give ANY of itself up. And when a President's party also holds the House/Senate/Supreme Court, it's the perfect setup for corruption to flourish.

Your first thought may be that GW Bush is an incorruptible man. I think you're quite wrong, but let's not argue about that. Instead, let's push this outside of GW Bush and into those with whom he surrounds himself. Bush is not too interested in details. He always wants the executive summary, not the laboriously-detailed reports. This is not my opinion; this is widely known.

Imagine shrewd, top-of-their-game folks who also have almost unimagineable power reporting to a guy who cares little of detail. This is the perfect combination of elements for corruption to thrive. Think Cheney/Halliburton and their swoop into Iraq, followed by overcharges by the tens of millions. Just an accounting error you think? Why do these accounting errors always benefit those who make them? It never goes the other way.

Our government consists of three arms: the executive (President), legislative (House-Senate), and the judicial (Supreme Court). Then there's the press. The press is the unofficial 4th leg of the stool of Democracy. The press is usually allowed unusual access to the halls of power, and this is by design. Without the press, the three other arms of government are only accountable on election day, and even then the judicial has no accounting. If the two other arms are able to effectively fool the electorate, then that accountability amounts to nothing.

The press is uniquely positioned to look after the rights of the people. During Presidential news conferences, and on editorial pages and political television programs, the press can raise questions, can ask for accountability...for the people. It's an important function, and given the dynamics of the President having more power than ever, the press has never been more important than it is now.

And suddenly, there's Jeff Gannon. He doesn't just lob softballs to the president. He specifically positions the administration as right and those who might question them silly. The question that got the most attention was when he asked "How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?" Had Gannon asked what Bush's plans to work with the Democrats are, or if it's going to be hard to get through to them, or does Bush feel they'll be receptive to their ideas are perfectly legitimate questions. But what he did ask is not journalistic. If he were actually a journalist, he'd know that. But a 2-day how-to does not a journalist make.

But why stop with just that question? Wouldn't it be neat if someone had compiled a clip of all the Jeff Gannon questions one after the other so that you could judge him as a journalist by all of what he said? Guess what? Someone did. And This is it. Thanks to Bruce in Austin for sending it to me. Give it a listen and see if this sounds like a journalist. 'Til next time...