It's The Great Pumpkin--Er, Rotten Tomato. Charlie Brown

Anybody with conservative sympathies has been offended by the blatant left leaning support of the what the American Right likes to call the MSM or mainstream media. From the dawn of this "profession", journalists have espoused their so-called unbiased bona fides in a rather fetishized sort of way. They liken themselves to fact finders and truth tellers in a manner comparable to the sagest of justices, except justices are constrained by the bounds of legislation and precedent in determining the objective manner of presenting their material. Odd how the only such constraint on a journalist is a prudent copy editor and, with any luck, a conscientious reader--such is the impetus for journalistic neutrality.

However, year in and year out we Americans put up with the latest skirmish in silly interparty media wars. The latest installment, Obama v. Fox News seems almost a caricature.

What I, and many other Virginia residents witnessed tonight on WJLA ABC7 at 8:00 pm is but a footnote in the escalating media political wars.

Last week, I caught an ad for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: quintessential Halloween Americana. I set the reminder on my cable immediately. Tonight, my husband and I sat down with my freshly bathed, pajama clad three and four year old children for a special stay-up-late night. To our surprise, the local ABC affiliate, WJLA had rescheduled the showing for this Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm in order to run a "Special News Hour" on the upcoming VA governor's election.

"Special News Hour" indeed. This was nothing more than an unattributed ad for Democrat candidate Creigh Deeds.

I wonder what the Virginia ratings are for the first showing of "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"? Really. The show first came out in 1966, so it's been shown every fall for over forty years now. I can't imagine that the ratings are that poor. It's as much a fall tradition in the U.S. as pecan pie, Monday night football, leaf raking, sage dressing and hot spiked cider.

In the first minute following the announcement of the rescheduling, the news anchor's introduction went right into talking about Creigh Deeds and Obama's push for support for the candidate. Immediately. Not even a pause. Not until AFTER the first commercial break [incidentally, a plug for Creigh Deeds as being endorsed by the Washington Post, shock of all shocks] into the "Special" did they even MENTION Bob McDonnell's name. It could have easily been three minutes.

So, what's the over/under that the average It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown viewer has remained on the channel at this point? Really. We aren't talking about a debate. People will tune into a debate. How long does it take someone to locate the remote or gather the kids for bed with the promise that they will get to stay up tomorrow? I would guess about a minute and a half--tops.

I called the local affiliate. I have never before felt compelled to do this, but this example of partisanship was so blatant that it could only be considered offensive. I think it's because it took the viewer completely by surprise. I'm prepared when I watch an ABC news program to lean to the left side. I was not prepared for this. There were no ads the night before when I was watching DWTS. There were, however, ads for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. No commercials by the local affiliate, though. One would think that if it were so important to reschedule a piece of American iconography that there would have at least been one prime time announcement. Unless, of course, the intent of the network was to use guaranteed ratings to "trick" people into tuning in and catching the first few minutes of the "Special".

Anyhow, this was not some sort of last minute decision. It could not have been. When I called the local affiliate, the woman who answered was PREPARED. I'm talking, canned answer prepared. "It's playing tomorrow and rescheduled for Saturday, what's the problem?" Not the problem. The problem is the calculated Creigh Deeds push in those few minutes before they lost viewership. "It's a 'Special' on the upcoming election on ALL the candidates." As she was saying this, the clock on my Verizon FIOS digital cable box read 8:13 and the first images of Bob McDonnell were showing. 8:13 pm.

ABC news should be ashamed of itself. Of course, it's not and my writing of my anger is mere support of their position that Republican opinions on the media and journalism are per se illegitimate. [Insert dripping sarcastic tone here]

And so the impartiality wars go.