Debt ceiling debate reveals cable news bias

As we tick down to the August 2 deadline for raising the nation's debt ceiling, Congress and the President seem to be engaging in a very dangerous game of chicken. Just how dangerous is up for speculation.

After the President's speech, and Speaker of the House Boehner's reply, the experts at the cable news channels tripped over one another as they offered their views of the evening. They speculated on who gave the better speech, who garnered more support for their cause, will we reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, and finally, what will happen if an agreement is not reached.

The opinions could have been constructive in helping the American people understand just what is at stake as we tick down to the debt ceiling deadline. The panels at each news channel could have analyzed both speeches in an objective manner, pointing out the high and low points in each man's address. They could have given conflicting reports on the facts, then let their viewers decide who is right and who is wrong. We didn't get that.

After the dueling speeches, I flipped between Fox News and MSNBC. What I found was anything but objective journalism. Predictably, MSNBC thought President Obama flattened the Republicans, and Fox News gushed over House Speaker Boehner's rebuttal. To Fox's credit, they did include a Democratic Party strategist whose name at the moment escapes me. It is possible I could have missed it, but I saw no one offering conflicting views over at MSNBC. I did see the President's media maven joking with the MSNBC anchor, but nothing informative to help the average person understand what is going on here.

A quick recap on the general opinions offered is this. Fox believes President Obama has no ideas, no solutions, and is intent on spreading fear through "class warfare." MSNBC believes the new Tea Party Republicans in Congress are not patriots, but anarchists. And it has been said many times during the past few weeks that the President and Congress are acting like spoiled children. Who do you think is really driving this debate?

The mudslinging and generally childish behavior exhibited by both cable channels last night points to a larger systemic problem within our political system. Most people who read this have probably formed their opinions based on which channel they chose to watch, not the actual speeches delivered by both men. Both Obama and Boehner are counting on their supporters to form their opinions based on what MSNBC and Fox tell them.

Yet a line from an old Buffalo Springfield song is really what should be driving this debate; "Nobody's right when everybody's wrong." It took us a decade to get to this point. The problem will not go away between July 31 and August 2. It will take some time, but it does have to go away.