CNN’s Campbell Brown made headlines by asking tough questions of a McCain surrogate, letting the poor guy twist and embarrass himself, continually counter-punching with the same unanswered question. It was brutal and much needed (like the poor guy eviscerated by Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball trying to label Obama an appeaser like Chamberlain in WWII and not being able to answer the question, what exactly did Chamberlain do to make him an appeaser?).

The McCain campaign was so upset, they ‘punished’ CNN by cancelling a long-planned appearance by John McCain on Larry King Live. Indeed the travelling campaign media are looking like embedded (or is it in-bedded?) hacks as the candidates are thrown softballs to bat back with glib, pat policy answers that never make the evening news.

In 30-years we’ve gone from ‘Woodstein’ (Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) breaking the Watergate case wide open with tough, determined journalism to such celebrity based drivel and pabulum that we worry more about Paris Hilton than the future of our world.

Corporate MSM is now owned by a small group of very large conglomerates and the pressure that can be brought to bear on news (and entertainment) divisions can shut entire networks down and end careers if one does not watch their step. There was a time when the line between publishing (advert sales and circulation) and editorial was sacrosanct, never to be crossed. Those two sides were a Chinese firewall never to be breached. 

Us Magazine takes a shot at Ms. Palin and the fanatic fringe right calls for a boycott of the magazine and their advertisers for attacking their Sarah and the new Republican VP nominee’s credibility. The Republicans take glee and report that between 5,000 – 10,000 subscriptions were lost in moral outrage to the article. 

Well… 48-hours later, that’s not quite true but it does make for great copy. An Us Magazine spokesperson put it into perspective: “We got about 1,000 cancellations over the issue, but remarkably, about 1,000 bonus subscriptions from supporters which I was not expecting. Who knew there was a motivated left? It also drove the third highest day ever on our website in terms of visits. Basically…the whole thing mirrors the McCain-Obama race. The two sides see everything in completely different terms. So the impact is a wash at the moment, which is shocking.”

No sooner had the atta-girl Campbell come from my mouth then she was pandering to the right talking about how great Palin and McCain’s speeches were. It was evident she had been spoken to by a superior.

We have 8-weeks and both sides need to be asked (and answer) tough questions. Sarah Palin needs to come out of the witness protection program and show why she will be ready on day 1.

The MSM need to do their job and stop worrying about plusher seats on the Straight Talk plane.