R.I.P. Fourth Estate

Last night I went to sleep feeling very glad for the West Virginia mining families that had been feverishly praying against all hope for the miracle they would again embrace their husbands/brothers trapped in the mine. This morning on the drive in, "stunned" would be the word best describing my reaction listening to the horrific turn of events the Hoguester was reporting. The MSM broadcast this travesty around the world.

The MSM, formerly known as the Fourth Estate, lived down to my lowest expectations of it last night. Rather than act like professionals, analyzing and then reporting hard verified facts, they descended yet again into rumor mongering to get the scoop. The "fake but accurate" TexANG memos, the Superdome brutality that never happened and so on had bent American journalism's credibility to the breaking point. This mining rumor to cold cruel facts incident finally broke it for me. I'm not gleeful about the demise of the Fourth Estate and the limp wristed running about of the MSM trying to relive past glories looking all the more foolish for it. The Fourth Estate is very necessary for a free society to survive. It's death is not something to cheer but rather something free men and women should fear. It appears the "New Media" aka weblogs, must inherit this mantle, restore the professionalism of the long dead Fourth Estate and bury the juvenile MSM for the good of the nation. God willing, it'll be up to the task.