I may have to mark my calendar, but I actually found something I agreed with on the Huffington Post. In this column, David Sirota castigates the inside-the-Beltway mentality of the national punditry which is completely disconnected from how people not living on either coast think.
I've had some time to really ponder the propaganda, and think about an important question: How is it that there is this fake "center" defined by Washington that is totally and completely different from the actual center of American public opinion?
The answer, of course, is that the Washington chattering classes only talk to other Washingtonians or New Yorkers or Californians.
By any honest definition, America's political opinion/propaganda machine is comprised primarily of the Washington Post Writers Group, the New York Times columnists, the LA Times columnists, and Creator's Syndicate. There are certainly others who contribute to opinionmaking. But looking at these institutions is a good way to survey the world that is the Punditocracy, especially because through media consolidation, the Sunday/cable chat shows that nationalize these pundits' message, and the modern wonders of syndication into local papers, these opinionmakers' tentacles now reach into almost every community in America.
These companies, because they claim to represent "national" opinion, could choose to present diverse voices. But when you look at this large group of pundits, what do you know, almost every single one of these columnists lives in Washington, D.C. or New York City.
This is no exaggeration, and unlike most of the commentary in the news, it is not a fact-free opinion: it is cold, hard truth. By my informal count, every single Washington Post Writers Group columnist covering domestic politics lives inside the Beltway or in the Big Apple, except for Ellen Goodman who lives in Boston and Ruben Narvarette who lives in San Diego. Similarly, at least six out of the 8 New York Times columnists live in Washington D.C. or New York. LA Times? Same thing. Every single one of their national political columnists except Meghan Daum and Niall Furgeson live in Washington, D.C. Then take a gander at one of the biggest syndicates - Creators. By my count - which is only an eyeball count - roughly half of their entire stable of columnists lives in Washington or New York. In all, I can find almost none of these people who actually lives somewhere other than one of the coasts of the country - real-life proof that the media Establishment really does see the heartland as "flyover country" to be ignored.
I agree with Sirota, with one rather glaring exception. Virtually every columnist he castigates is a conservative, as though it is only conservative commentators who suffer from the inside-the-Beltway mentality. Why no mention of Maureen Dowd? Or Frank Rich? Or Paul Krugman? Eleanor Clift? Michael Kinsley? David Corn? Or Arianna Huffington?
The unabashed snobbery Sirota is complaining about is as equally evident from reading liberal columnists as conservative ones. It's obvious none of them has ever spent time in a barbeque joint in Amarillo or drunk beer in a dive in Louisville. I agree that these pundits need to get out of Washington a bit more. I just think liberal commentators need the same road trip conservative ones do.
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