When Hypocrisy No Longer Matters
Remember Tim Russert? He was the dean of the Sunday-show hosts, anchoring Meet the Press for many years. He helped to define the way the media covered politicians for decades. As Couric notes, the big “moment” on Meet the Press was always when Russert would hone in on a politician’s contradictions and catch them in a lie or a flip-flop. The politician would sputter and evade and then Russert would pounce and bag his prey. Russert always irritated me — he seemed to focus more on whether a figure was consistent in their positions than whether that person was telling the truth or proposing something that was actually, you know, good. It always felt as if Russert would be perfectly happy if a senator had always supported starving America’s elderly to balance the budget, but God help the senator if he switched from a pro-starvation to an anti-starvation platform. But, for better or worse, Russert’s style of journalism dominated American media. According to journalists, the worst thing a politician could be was a hypocrite. Focusing on hypocrisy allowed journalists like Russert to claim that they were objective — Russert wasn’t passing judgment on politicians’ priorities; he was just making sure they were being consistent with themselves. Russert wasn’t making the rules; he was just calling balls and strikes. Russert died in 2008. I’d be fascinated to see what he would do in today’s environment because hypocrisy and lying are not just tolerated in today’s politics — they’re flaunted, even celebrated.
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