FIGHT

Posted at 8:11 p.m. ET

Discussion-show host Mike Scully (http://WWW.WVOX.com) alerts us to an excellent piece by Peter Kirsanow at NRO Online's "The Corner."  Kirsanow shows how to put a little fight in the GOP, something that's lacking these days.  Like many conservatives, he's disgusted by the marshmallow behavior of his fellow Republicans:

The refrain from most of the GOP talking heads over the last twenty four hours concerning Gwen Ifill's role during the VP debate is that she's a fine journalist, who, now that the fact of her book is public knowledge, shouldn't be precluded from moderating the event. Heck, it may even work to Palin's advantage because Ifill will be under intense scrutiny to be fair and balanced.

This rationale points to the GOP's ( and, to some extent, conservatives') nearly wholesale capitulation to liberal media dominance and is one of the reasons the GOP base find themselves so frequently dispirited: no objection, no fight, no pushback to a howling conflict of interest.

Well said.

So many times we see Republicans act "gentlemanly" and turn the other cheek —to what end? It simply emboldens the media toward even greater bias. How does that serve the interests of the country? Democrat fingerprints are all over the current financial mess; Dodd and Frank were integral to the debacle, yet the GOP does nothing to counter the prevailing narrative that this is a McCain—House Republican problem—and McCain's poll numbers plummet.

The party has become, for some reason, pre-Reagan.  It will pay the price. 

The conclusion of McCain's convention speech exhorting us to "fight, fight, fight" has been quickly forgotten. There's no honor in failing to challenge brazen media bias and distortion.

But, you know, there are friends, Washington pals, some good reporters at lunch...

The GOP seems to depend on Rush Limbaugh to correct the record, and query where we'd be without him? But the GOP better start doing it's job and forthrightly, aggressively challenge blatant media transgressions each and every time they occur. The economy's at stake. Success in the war on terrorism is at stake. The Supreme Court is at stake. Do your duty. And part of that duty is not meekly surrendering to rank media bias.

And that's a rallying cry I can believe in.  Wake up, McCain crowd.

October 2, 2008.