Script blindness

The Daily Howler:

Let’s return to that term here—script-blindness. Yes, Cohen challenged McCain to explain his stand on the war in Iraq (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 5/16/06). But Cohen did something else in his piece—he recited the press corps’ fundamental script about Saint McCain, the fawning script which will send McCain to the White House if it isn’t effectively challenged (starting now). What did Cohen do in this piece? He praised McCain’s “stunning” character traits (along with his humor, his modesty, his honesty and his decency). He said McCain’s campaign bus, the“Straight Talk Express,” had been “aptly-named.” And he seemed to say that McCain has “always talk[ed] plainly and candidly to the American people.” While we think McCain is a perfectly decent sort, these are the childish, hyperbolic claims the solon is planning to ride to the White House. The press has recited these childish claims for years—and we liberals still can’t spot this script as the source of our coming problem. Indeed, we praise a column which extends this script, without saying one word about it.

In 1999 and 2000, the press corps invented a Demon Liar named Gore (inventing his “lies,” since he wouldn’t tell any). Now, they’ve invented a Saint named McCain—and Matt and Ezra still don’t see the pattern. In early 2004, we were surprised when liberal writers failed to react to the gathering pieces of spin which eventually took down the Kerry campaign (by paving the way for the Swift Boat attacks). But in the case of the sainted McCain, how obvious (and foolish) must a script be before liberals are willing to stand and confront it? As far as we know, McCain is a perfectly decent guy—but he isn’t the Sun God returned to the earth, and a long string of major Dem figures are perfectly decent people too, every bit as decent as McCain. (More—much more—to come on this topic.) But so what? A childish press corps keeps calling him saint—and script-blind liberals across the spectrum seem unable to spot this.