Pick-a-Party, Pick-a-Pundit

As the presumptive Repubican presidential candidate is narrowed down and President Obama fresh off his SOTU performance, erstwhile muse yours truly meditated this evening over the political airwaves.  In this corner: Fox News Channel; in the other corner: MSNBC.  I can see the eyes rolling already.  But if the eyes did indeed roll it is because you know in whose corner the pundits manage from.  The longer I watch American national politics the easier it is to just "sense" the right/left cheering sections.  To better bring into bold relief my experience this evening let me just say parenthetically that I never fully knew how Republican Fox is until I watched how thoroughly Democrat MSNBC is.  Being a conservative I have nevertheless liked to think I can distinguish between a donkey and an elephant, bearing in mind that the conservative label does not always equate with being a Republican any more than being a liberal equates with being a Democrat. 

If you believe that a particular cable outlet has the market cornered on  offering a "bold critique" on one of the parties, I challenge you to step out of your normal viewing routine and take a gander at the depised "enemy channel."  You know, the one that no self-respecting R- or D- would be caught dead watching.   What I found to my own shock and shame was that while I was nauseated at how "my side" was lambasted by "their" pundits, I quickly realized was that the same demagoguery so roundly drew my applause when engaged by "my" politcos.  How could this be?!  Specks and beams in our eyes do so get in our way do they not? 

In summation:  both the Democratic and Republican parties have their own controlled media outlets that even any causual political participant would do well to factor into the voting calculus.  And when we enter the voting booth on election day remember this pithy phrase:  BUYER BEWARE.