When it comes to selling bars, trucks or even politicians, you can wave the flag or you can drape one over a coffin. You can’t do both.

- David Carr, NYT, 10/31/06, in an article on advertising.

*****

I know it's the "silly season" in journalism ... an election nears.  But it's also more a "mean season" (Thanks, John) these days.  There increasingly seems no limits to the sleaziness.  Lordy, Tommy Kean is now running ads saying that Menendez will give away "your social security" to illegal aliens!  What?!  That's not rascist?  No end to it.

Journalists happily report it.  More happily reporting the latest polls (remember the claims of avoiding the "horse race"? hahahahahahaha).  Lazy stuff that sells newspapers and commercial minutes and, I guess, makes voting your predilections easier.

Sadly, it's no longer just the crappy, low-rent outlets doing the sloppy news coverage.  Just last week I was listening to Susan Stamburg on NPR interviewing the political editor of the Nashville Tennesseean about an allegedly inaccurate element in a candidate ad and the editor says something like "we'll just have to wait and see whether it has any impact at the polls."  And Stamburg cheerily says thanks and signs off.  Wrong!  Why hasn't the damn paper called the phone company and gotten the correct answer?!  I mean, this is basic Journalism 101 ... on both parts, NPR and the Tennesseean!  AAARRGH!