It can easily be argued that much like an automobile that begins to depreciate the moment it has been driven off the lot, the debate that is the bread-and-butter of the modern-day, American, two-party political system began to deteriorate the moment the wheels of the very first reelection campaign were set in motion. But boy, how far we’ve come. That’s the message given by two former Presidents. In just their latest in a series of bipartisan lovefests, former Presidents Clinton and Bush lamented the increasing harshness in recent media coverage of politicians, particularly the office of the President.

In a recent speech at the CTIA wireless industry conference, the elder Bush said that the relationship between the press and politicians is even uglier than he remembered, while his successor Mr. Clinton berated the uneven coverage of blogs and cited their tendency to “bad mouth” politicians as evidence that media coverage has taken a turn for the worse. This is America. Over the years Bill Clinton badmouthed numerous women, the military, his Secret-Service detail, The elder Bush’s son and countless others. He should leave well enough alone… Mr. Clinton was right about one thing: The pioneering role that blogs will play in clearing a path through the muck during the 2008 election and beyond. His wife Hillary will no longer be able to float inaccurate campaign sound bites without being challenged.

The media is currently engaging in overkill; putting undue emphasis on how much money each presidential candidate has raised in the first quarter of 2007. They’ve stressed on so many occasions that money was a prime indicator of a candidate’s popularity, that a new benchmark has been set. The amount of money raised by the first quarter of the year preceding the election determines a candidate’s standing heading into the primaries. While Barack Obama’s campaign is being hailed as a huge success for raising 25 million dollars, John McCain’s is already being characterized as in serious trouble for only raising 12 million. But single primary vote has yet to be cast.

Although I am skeptical any time a Republican and a Democrat actually agree on something, the former Presidents may have a point at least where the mainstream media is concerned. There is far too much bias and there are far too many inaccuracies in mainstream journalism that go uncorrected or unretracted these days. It is simply mind-boggling. Politicians are baited constantly with loaded questions designed to put them off balance and on the defensive. But I’ve got news for both of them. Read My Lips: It “is” more than just the media. The degeneracy of American political discourse cannot be blamed simply on a salacious media. That would be a gross oversimplification.

It takes two to tango. It is a symbiosis. A mutually beneficial relationship. If there weren’t so many scandals and so much hypocrisy emanating out of every corner of Washington, it is quite doubtful that coverage of events would have ever reached these lows. Perhaps if a few of the nation’s prominent, egalitarian leaders like Nancy Pelosi would stop abusing the press, it wouldn’t come back to haunt them.

Politicians are perfectly happy playing to the cameras, but only as long as they’re in control of their own message. They hog the camera for their tightly controlled photo-ops. They selectively leak information when it suits their own purposes, while shunning the media when they’re caught in a lie or scandal.

We’ve now had what a clear majority of Americans of all political persuasions would likely characterize as the two worst Presidencies in history, back-to-back. And while they were bad for different reasons, both of these men have similar globalist tendencies that continue to be bad for this nation. The problem of media coverage of politics in this country is twofold, yet very simple: Hypocritical politicians that embark on partisan witch-hunts, propose sweeping immigration amnesty legislation that will alter this country forever or treat combat or disabled veterans like criminals, coupled with a mainstream media that sensationalizes everything including politicians, treats them like rock stars and has become more obsessed with ratings or being the first, than getting the facts straight.

Technorati Tags: Bill Clinton Nancy Pelosi 2008, George H.W. Bush