At first, I was bothered by this comment over at WNYmedia.net.

But then, I realized that B. Merryfield just proved my point. The comment is a knee-jerk reaction that attempts to discredit my entire argument by accusing me of either lying or being lazy. The comment ignores the message that all of us, liberal or conservative, need to start holding the press to higher standards. We all need to open our eyes a little.

Checking facts is not my job. It IS however, the job of reporters writing for major newspapers.

B. Merryfield might be surprised to learn that I am a registered Democrat who voted for Senator Kerry. I didn’t mention this fact because it’s not important.

B. Merryfield says that I shouldn’t be “lobbing out disinformation and placing the responsibility for verification on the less-informed public.”

Who is this “public”? Am I not a part of the “public” simply because I have a blog and a degree in communication arts? Maybe the public should be informing itself. Maybe the public should be demanding higher standards from both its elected officials and members of the press.

Maybe the public should say “hey, we’re tired of this ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’ rhetoric” and start demanding real discourse on both sides of the aisle. Maybe the public should want more than talking points and sound bites being lobbed back and forth like tennis balls.

Maybe we should, but by and large, we don’t.

That makes me sad.