Some Interesting Admissions By WaPost's Kurtz

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- By Warner Todd Huston

In his Washington Post column, for August 25, Howard Kurtz sounds exasperated, fed up with those moron Americans that dare to have an opinion against Obama's socialist take over of the country's healthcare system. Oh, and he felt the need to slam Governor Sarah Palin, too... but what's new about that? What is unusual, though, is the admission that Kurtz thinks that the Old Media should influence public opinion instead of merely inform readers about the news.

Of course he led with a laugher that is hard to take seriously. His very first few words makes of him a laughing stock.

For once, mainstream journalists did not retreat to the studied neutrality of quoting dueling antagonists.

For once? For once? And, what's with the claim of studied neutrality? He's kidding, right? Does Kurtz really expect to be taken seriously with that first line?

Next he goes on to attack Palin for her "death panels" line.

They tried to perform last rites on the ludicrous claim about President Obama's death panels, telling Sarah Palin, in effect, you've got to quit making things up.

But it didn't matter. The story refused to die.

Well, it refuses to die because it is easy to believe that this president would be first to demand death panels. After all, he was always a consistent vote for infanticide and death panels for babies. Not only that, but we know that Obama has brought back the "death panels" for our military veterans, policies that were stopped by Bush. Palin is far more believable than Obama in this debate.

And now for Howie's unusual admission.

The crackling, often angry debate over health-care reform has severely tested the media's ability to untangle a story of immense complexity. In many ways, news organizations have risen to the occasion; in others they have become agents of distortion. But even when they report the facts, they have had trouble influencing public opinion.

The media is supposed to "influence public opinion"? I thought the media's job was to report news so that readers could come to their own conclusion? I thought a journalist was in the just-the-facts-m'am business?

I have to say, though, that Kurtz might be finally realizing the truth about his profession.

Perhaps journalists are no more trusted than politicians these days, or many folks never saw the knockdown stories. But this was a stunning illustration of the traditional media's impotence.

At last a little sunlight is breaking through his dark world of self-imposed ignorance. You bet no one trusts you and your cohorts, Mr. Kurtz. In fact, there is little reason to do so as your comrades have been caught over and over again in lies, obfuscation and omissions not to mention your sycophancy for the Chief Death Panelist, The One, your Obammessiah.

And, speaking of the media's sycophancy, Kurtz covers for the messiah even in this piece.

In fact, after the president convened a low-key town hall in New Hampshire, press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters: "I think some of you were disappointed yesterday that the president didn't get yelled at." There was a grain of truth in that.

No, Mr. Kurtz, there is no "grain of truth" in that. After all, one would not expect Obama's manufactured townhall, the one he and his staff carefully arranged and stocked with a friendly audience, to have any "raucous" behavior. Would you think Obama's stocked audience would be so vocal?

In any case, this Howard Kurtz piece is one of the most laughable, yet revealing, columns I've seen by a denizen of the Old Media for quite a while.

- WTH