Green’s article amplifies the basic point Stewart makes: that the Washington press corps has completely given itself over to the political establishment to the extent that they no longer function in even the slightest way as independent journalists. Honestly, I think it’s a bit telling that the Stewart clip is so effective that Greene’s supporting written arguments end up having that “tl;dr” vibe about them, but maybe that’s part of the actual problem.

Frankly, I think it’s incredibly sad that this is how Helen Thomas’s career closed out, and hopefully the transitory nature of these sorts of news items means that this will be seen for the dross that it really is. I hope they do give Jon Stewart a Pulitzer Prize, and, if they do, that he dedicates it to her.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

The third clip is one for the ages. If Jon Stewart ever decides that he’s tired of his pretend news show and wants to host a “real” one, I would watch it every night. The screaming meemies of the media need to be cut down to size just like this every single day until they figure out that they are part of the problem, not the solution, and begin to amend their ways.

Several times in the last few days I’ve seen this quote from British press baron and first Director of Propaganda for the British government during WWI, Lord Northcliffe:

News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.

I think that very neatly sums up these clips. Please watch them.

Toward the end of the clip, the current mayor of Wasilla demonstrates that she doesn’t have any better grip of what her own job is than Sarah Palin does. But she probably shouldn’t expect any help from her predecessor, who still really doesn’t have any idea what the Vice President does except spend a lot of money on clothing:

I had to throw this one in. The Dems should just play this on air every day from now until November to show what a bunch of bullshitters the Republican mouthpieces really are.