Watergate Was Child's Play

I miss the days of Woodward and Bernstein.  In case you're young and you don't know, they were REAL journalists, not the media drones we have today.  Through solid investigation they sniffed out a bigger story from a "third rate burglary" of the DNC in the Watergate complex that revealed a system of political plots and crimes.  Their detective work resulted in the indictments of 40 White House officials and eventually the resignation of President Nixon.  They didn't stop until they exposed the truth.

Reporters today don't have that same daring and determination.  I miss investigative journalism (sniff).  I miss a media that despite personal political beliefs would investigate the death out of a smoking gun no matter on which side of the aisle it fell.  Our government is ripe with smoking guns these days and we have a press corps snoozing on the sidelines disinterested in the thievery and destruction happening on Capitol Hill.

Journalists today are lazy and overly political.  They take biased talking points as fact and use press releases to write their stories.  They bury stories that don't mix with their own ideology and they highlight what appeals to them, thus distorting the truth for the American people.  While we don't have a state run media, we have a media so entrenched in promoting pet social and political causes that they prefer not to do any real work, any real digging to expose the atrocities happening behind the scenes.

Of the following list of recent woes, tell me, just tell me, how many of these were fully sniffed out by journalists?

1. Campaign slush funds used for lavish personal trips--why is this legal?
2. Government contracts in "no bid" situations using foreign companies.
3. One waterway project budget increased from $779M to $ 2.9B in a bill re-opening government.
4. Certain political groups targeted or shutdown by overseeing government agencies.
5. Government can without due process kill an American citizen on foreign or domestic soil.
6. Government can detain without due process an American citizen for any length of time.
7. Government purchase of 2 Billion rounds of ammunition over the last few years.
8. Eighty-two congressmen have paid family members working in their offices.
9. Physical barriers purchased or rented and the manpower to erect them to prevent citizens from entering federal land.
10. Fake federal employee created as an alias to send emails written by real staff member.  Fake employee given award.

Why haven't these things and the multitude of other infractions been investigated to death anywhere but on blogs?  The reason so many people in power--whether a government agency, politician or agent, or a business owner like Martha Stewart--detest bloggers is that they threaten a person's status and power.  They also mostly point out the truth.  Bloggers are blasted for being "rogue" or "conspiratorial," and truthfully, any nutjob can have a blog, I've got two!  But the point is that the only real investigation is not happening in newsrooms across the country.  We have an army of media asleep on their watch.

Reporters need to leave their political ideologies at home and when they enter the workforce they need to understand that their job is not to "report" the news, but investigate it.  Ask questions!  Don't take talking points as fact; they need to do their own research and determine the truth, even if it doesn't align with personal beliefs.

God, I miss Woodward and Bernstein...