Posted on 09/23/2008 12:32:52 PM PDT by pissant
From Reuters and the Hollywood Reporter comes news that PBS filmmaker Ken Burns used a New York panel discussion preceding the news and documentary Emmy Awards as a forum to denounce the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, as proof the selection process devolved "into a high school popularity contest and an American Idol competition" and insisted "in the whole history of the republic there has been no one with as thin a credential" as Palin.
The reporter on this story, Paul J. Gough, treated Burns as an eminence and not as a partisan liberal who endorsed Obama in December 2007. He also completely ignored that Burns made a sappy tribute film to Sen. Ted Kennedy for last months Democratic convention in Denver, and then went on MSNBC to tout him as an "amazing, amazing man." At the same event, CBSs Bob Schieffer insisted the media coverage of Palin was fair, and that "It seems to me that some would suggest we should just accept on faith that Sarah Palin is qualified."
Gough reported that Burns declared at Fordham University:
"He (McCain) selected someone who is so supremely unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, and he has turned the selection process into a high school popularity contest and an 'American Idol' competition," Burns said. He said that McCain made a "cynical" pick in what he said was the most important decision of his presidential candidacy.
Burns, whose body of work has focused on American history, said that "in the whole history of the republic there has been no one with as thin as a credential" as Palin. He said it was, for McCain, a "Hail Mary pass" that will be decided in November.
Burns, who became famous due to a ponderously long documentary series on the Civil War, surely knows Abraham Lincoln had four terms in the Illinois House and one term in the U.S. House of Representatives not unlike the experience of Sen. Barack Obama.
Jill Zuckman of the Chicago Tribune reported the Burns endorsement of Obama on December 18, 2007. Experience was hardly his emphasis:
Burns said he liked Obama right off the bat and felt he could stamp out society's "creeping cynicism" with his "unironic posture."
"I have been attracted from the beginning to his authenticity," he said. With the country facing difficult times, he said, the nation needs "someone able to dream and suggest a future without being tied to the past."
He also said he appreciated Obama's stand against the war when other candidates supported it.
"I think this is a human being who knew in advance how unnecessary and foolish this war was," Burns said, adding that Obama knows how to distinguish between "fraudulent wars," and "those that really need to be fought."
Gough reported that Schieffer didn't take a stand like Burns did, but he did defend the national media's coverage of Palin after she was named McCain's running mate.
"Sarah Palin is a 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. The presidency is the most powerful office in the world," Schieffer said. "It seems to me that some would suggest we should just accept on faith that Sarah Palin is qualified."
Bob Schieffer is 71, so this assertion of frailty might sound a little strong. Conservatives weren't arguing that Palin's experience should be accepted "on faith," but that the Eastern elite media shouldn't rush to endorse instant Democrat judgment. Gough said Schieffer paid tribute to Palin and her remarkable and compelling life story but insisted that the media didn't mistreat her.
Actually Sara Palin is MORE qualified than George Washington to be President..
And Burns is a flaming sissy..
I truly enjoyed Burns' Civil War, but the Baseball one sent me to the showers. When trying to enjoy videos of old time baseball players one, I think, can only tolerate only so much gratuitous bludgeoning about historical race issues that have been corrected (nay overcompensated for IMO) already.
Ken should stick to documentaries over past events and stay out of current ones. I like his civil war series. I have heard anecdotal stuff that it got him kicked out of the Sons of the Confederacy though.
He is kind of like Oprah. Once he endorsed Obama, he lost his credibility to objectively rate the opposition. Because Palin is more likeable (and a better rock star) than Obama is no reason to diss her. If you read between the lines, that is his real beef.
Its not amazing if you are a Senator in a state of MORONS!
And Obamy’s 185 days as a senator qualify him? Ken, I do believe you have jumped the shark.
He was a One Hit Wonder. The Civil War was phenomenal. Everything he's done since sucks. His series on WWII was beyond boring. It was WWII for crying out loud - you have to work REALLY HARD to make WWII boring!
Excellent point.
Who is Ken Star?
JoMa
How sad... And to think I used to LIKE some of Burns’ films (especially like the Baseball one). I guess I’ll pass on them from now on. Oh, how I wish some of these people who are so full of themselves would just SHUT UP! It’s the same thing with movie actors, and musicians... Say it in your work (through a song, or in choosing a movie or TV show to work on, or a film to do), or don’t say it at all! Then again if they want to be idiots and alienate some of their fans, well then by all means tell them to keep yakking. It’s not like the majority of Americans will still respect them afterwards!
Heh. Another PBS parasite who probably thinks that the TOP of his party’s ticket, Barack Hussein Obama, is perfectly qualified to be President. It never ceases to amazes me how PBS attracts pantloads like Burns the way a fresh turd attracts flies.
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