Instapundit, the Wall Street Journal, Little Green Footballs, and other websites have been commenting on the death of the mainstream media. As evidence, they cite the results of this election. But it seems to me that they are alive and kicking. Dan Rather is still on the air, despite losing some 3 million viewers since his last election coverage. They managed to avoid declaring a winner--because it was Bush, no doubt--until John Kerry conceded. Then they cast doubt on the legitimacy of Bush's win. Last night, on PBS's Newshour, Margaret Warner indicated that the Democrats could have challenged the Ohio results in court. The problem is, Ms. Warner, that such a challenge would have been tossed out and Kerry would have not only looked like a sore loser, but an idiot who couldn't do the math. Because John Kerry lost Ohio by a decisive margin. He didn't have the votes.
Until major media outlets report the Republican victory as a sweep--which it was, with gains in the House and Senate even more dramatic than Bush's close Presidential margin (indicating more doubts about Bush than about Republicans in general)--it indicates that the media has not only not given up, they will continue to snipe and sabotage the administration, like the "insurgents" in Iraq.
If Bush doesn't want this media insurgency to spread, he needs to move more quickly than he did in Iraq.
For example:
* Demand the retirement of Dan Rather from CBS, today.
* Investigate the exit poll scandal by NEP and Mitofsky Associates, paid for by AP and major media, that led to "rumors" of Kerry winning Florida and Ohio. Begin civil action for fraud against the perpetrators.
* Put media critics like Tim Graham of the National Review on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting--to put an immediate stop to stunts like Bill Moyers' claim, on PBS's Charlie Rose show, that Republicans wanted a "coup."
Otherwise, two years from now, Bush could be facing a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate, and possible impeachment.
