CNN -- Eat Your Own Red Meat

God help us. CNN is doing what they are paid to do. Find something critical to say about everything.

Watching the opening night of the Democratic Convention, I was amazed and appalled by the CNN coverage. Even though I knew they had to fill up time, all they did was complain that there was no "red meat" and no attacks on McCain. Even the Democrats, including Carville, complained. What party is he in, anyway?

Is anyone listening to the American people? Maybe we're tired of the attacks all the time. Maybe we don't want CNN to keep pushing the Clinton-Obama so-called conflict. Maybe we want to just watch and come to our own conclusions. But NO. Wolf Blitzer and gang had to tell us what to think every step of the way. I wanted a little time to just think about what I was hearing and seeing, but they gave us no time to do that..

Perhaps the earliest hours were not as interesting as Ted Kennedy's appearance and Michelle Obama's amazingl presentation, but for those who live in the Central or West regions of the U.S., we missed those early presentations and Ted and Michelle were the presentations we wanted to watch. We didn't expect the earlier presentations to be all that dynamic, although Claire McCaskill was terrific even though CNN didn't deem her important enough to cover.

There is a channel or two (C-Span and one called DNC08) that only carries the convention podium live and doesn't annoy us with the talking heads. Folks, I call on you to watch those stations. Boycott CNN. They didn't air many of the earlier speeches, obsessed with their own anchors. Enough already!

Please save us from CNN and these so-called pundits. You want red meat? Eat your own.

For more Huffington Post coverage of the Democratic National Convention, visit our Politics @ the DNC page, our Democratic Convention Big News Page, and our HuffPost bloggers' Twitter feed, live from Denver.

Comments

[Bsunshine]

THANK the heavens!!! Finally... I was wondering if I was the only one thoroughly disgusted with this whole red meat thing. I was so offended by it and not because I am vegetarian but really... We simply want more. Very well said Linda, I am so happy to have read your article and the other posts. Go Cspan!

[colette]

Bravo Linda! You speak for many disgusted viewers -- CNN, MSNBC and ABC too (with pompous Sam Donaldson).

The constant parsing, negativity and bloviating is bad enough. But the absence of any real news or insight is driving people in droves to CSPAN.
My big beefs:

1) the pundits blather nonsense, drowning out DNC speakers (workers, vets, students) who talk directly to the need to get rid of the Repubs and elect Obama. Shut up and yield the floor, already!

2) a guest panelist who can shed real light on the situation, must wait their turn while a bunch of hacks continue to speculate about the Clintons' state of mind and whether Obama is tough/in-t­ouch/humbl­e/etc. enough.
The one I found most impressive was on Charlie Rose's show on Tuesday night: Dr. Ronald Walters, a black U of Md political scientist. In his few turns he: 1) disparaged the assumption he polls are accurate, noting 10s of millions of new voters aren't reflected in them; 2) spoke to the complexity of the black community's relationship with Bill Clinton, and his domestic policies while prez; and 3) deflated the idea Obama hasn't been specific. He studied 100 speeches Obama gave in 2007, identifying scores of specific policies.

Unfortunately, we had to keep bouncing back to David Brooks, Mark Halperin, and other pundits who gab on so many media outlets, how do they find time to sleep -- let alone do journalism? Basta!

[YankeeCanuck]

C-Span online is terrific. The real coverage, straight-up,no commercials!

[bayside]

I believe we have lost our way. I remember during a convention when we didnt hear opinion, that was not allowed, we had to make up our own minds.. These conventions tell us about the cand. ,we tune in to hear what they have to say, and we hear pundits spinning, if you change this word, she is not patriotic.­.Stupid stuff..Whe­n media grows up, stop giving us they opinion, telling us what they think , then we can decide who we want ,the way it should be..

[IndependentTogether]

You're nailed 'em. Actually, MSNBC is also guilty of this nonsense.

What's really surprising is how these supposedly knowledgeable people totally missed the point. How can you have a 3 days of the convention dedicated to "red meat" and then have the actual nominee come out on the final day and preach about a "new kind of politics"? It just doesn't work. The DNC and Obama campaign are filled with very smart people who are well aware of that fact.

Everyday I'm amazed at how completely clueless those talking heads appear to be.

[BHJensen]

Well Doc, the old man from Hope managed to give the pundits some red meat tonight. If O's people don't use him on every street corner of America they should be ashamed. There are 2 people in America that could have delivered that speech tonight...­and I forget who the other one is.....

[Linda Bergthold - Huffpost Blogger]

thank you all for your comments. I wrote this and then had decided not to publish it because it was too angry. But it's good to know that it struck a chord. now that I am watching c span and the straight live feed coverage, I feel SO much better!!

[SCJan]

Thank you, Linda!
We were appalled at the cable coverage of the convention.
Why did they think we wanted to hear them talking to themselves, instead of allowing us to watch the convention?
I've been an MSNBC fan, but their coverage was terrible. They missed a lot of good stuff without offering anything of interest in its stead, much of it the red meat they were looking for. We hear them talking to themselves all day long. It was a disservice not to allow the American public to watch the actual convention.
I switched to CSPAN early on, and told everyone else to switch as well. They did so, with great relief. How can we let them know what a mess they made of their coverage?

[observing]

i couldn't agree more. CNN was terrible whining about red meat - no vegetarians apparently. But seriously, ugh, I mean ugh, they blather on beating the same comments to death while whining the convention is not doing anything interesting- well, if you stopped blabbing and listened..­. Anyway, CNN is off tonight and I will try the PBS coverage, hoping that it will be less talking heads, more coverage. As an aside, whether it's sports or the news, the rambling on by commentators is out of control. I can watch sports and events without hearing one word from an "anchor" and my Gosh, I can still figure it out.

[MyAudacity]

Actually, I wanted to thank you for the tip about watching C-SPAN, I immediately switched channels in time for Hillary's speech, and enjoyed it tremendously without any backdrop, or anything to distract from it. I didn't listen to what any pundits had to say, until I was able to digest what I heard on my own. She was sincere, and she is a teamplayer. People are trying to pick it apart to say she didn't say he was "ready to lead" or "commander in chief". That only matters to people who still want to make Obama subordinate to Clinton. I don't think he needs to be knighted by her......s­he did quite well last night in encouraging her loyal supporter's to remain focus on the big picture...­...regaini­ng the White House by the Democratic Party, who will look out for the people's interest, and not big business. I wish we had some media help to point that fact out, instead of the propaganda reports we receive 24/7.

[RaiHoney79]

In Los Angeles, tune to KCET Channel 6- minimal heads- more coverage!!

[SDnavyPROUD]

I wholeheartedly agree Linda.

I have been talking to everyone that listens that especially CNN and most of MSNBC ratings should be sent straight to the crapper. I think people are still highly addidcted, but at least more and more are becoming aware of it. It has to be reflected at the ballot box.

Also most twenty-somethings are more stuck on internet media than TV, and most of them are not being polled...b­ut we know who they are likely to vote for.

[Sseb]

Yes, C-SPAN and PBS are the only watchable channels for the DNC. I might hold my nose and watch the RNC next week, but only filtered through MSNBC.

[apoyo]

CNN as well as Andrea Mitchell seem to be intent on finding every soul who has the slightest doubt about supporting Obama. Last night Andrea was quite disappointed to find that the 72 year old lady she mined from the crowd to interview was in effect supporting Obama. Her next question was "Why are you sad?" The sad one was Andrea when she realized her interview wasn't turning out how she expected. Not sure if the lady was sad about anything as I had to quickly turn back to C-SPAN to alleviate my sudden attack of nausea.

[IndependentTogether]

I caught that, too. You are absolutely correct; Andrea was sad. David Gregory is pretty close to useless, as well.

[NoPCZone]

Didn't you know that they are the 'Best Political Team on Television'?
Just ask Wolf "The Endless Shill' Blitzer.

[dillydawg]

It's C-SPAN all the way.

[NCRESIDENT]

CNN IS NOT FOR OBAMA! Many people claim they are but if you look at all of their coverage of him there is more negative comments than positive. The biggest story this week is that Bush is following Obama's lead and is setting a timetable for the withdrawal of troops. Do you hear anyone talking about it? NO. They still are asking if he is ready to lead but yet Bush is doing everything Obama said. They are redeploying troops to Afghan like Obama called for.
Honestly if you ask me I think the democrat party wants Obama to lose. I have not seen anyone come out and fight the republicans hard for him yet. The only person I must say that has been on point is John Kerry. The rest of the party is not doing anything to help Obama and that is a shame. They all keep talking about how John McCain is their friend. I say they want their friend to win. Just watch! Look how the republicans are coming out for McCain. McCaskill sticks to her guns but the rest of them sucks.