Random Rant: One Nation Controlled By The Media?

The worst threat to American democracy that I have seen is the American media. The American media are and have been unreasonable compliant, deferential, and nice to the Bush administration. They refuse to ask the hard questions, put pressure on the adminstration or dig up the dirt. When Barbara Walters interviewed Bush recently, she asked him about his terrier, not about the war in Iraq(which according Gallup, 59% of Americans believe is being handled badly, and 52% believe was a mistake).

Look at the war the media pressured Clinton over a sex scandal! Look at the pressure they put on Kerry? Why haven't they done a similar thing over, say, the Iraq War, Abu Gharib, Guantanamo Bay? Why have they treated Bush so deferentially? He ain't king, you know?

A free, functional press is essential to a successful democracy. Without asking the hard questions, the press can't inform the public correctly, and the public won't be able to make the right decisions. So why is the American media, and increasingly, the Australian media, so complacent?