Three cheers for Charles Pierce!

Charles Pierce, author of Idiot America, a book I have not read, was recently interviewed by David Shuster on MSNBC:


In this interview, Pierce does two things of note. First, he calls the Internet "the internets," and I find that to be endearing and awesome. Second, and more importantly, he ignores Shuster's questions, which advance the birthers' non-story and instead opts to highlight again and again the fact that this is a non-story and that the "mainstream media" is just playing patsy to "rightwing leaders" who are controlling the conversation. It does not matter why Liz Cheney gives credibility to birther claims, for that matter so does Lou Dobbs. What matters is that the media is giving her a soapbox on which to make these claims.

Pierce calls it the "decline of expertise" and I agree with him. However, I would take it another step further. It is not only that fringe voices are given soap boxes in the media alongside rational, independent-minded experts to generate controversy and ratings, but it is also, as Glenn Greenwald has regularly commented, the increasing proliferation of anonymity in sources, which has caused such a decline. Liz Cheney picks favorable stages: Larry King Live, and Morning Joe where she can spout her nonsense without much debate. She is not held to answer by her direct questioners for her fringe beliefs. In much the same way, anonymous commenters are allowed to spout invective, irrationality, and outright lies without consequence to themselves, but sometimes grave damage to serious discourse.

Shuster does not wish to engage him in a discussion about such a decline; however, it is something I'd like to see taken more seriously.