Bill Moyers lead off his self titled Journal last night on PBS with a lecture on his conversation with Rev. Wright last week. Moyers, ever the partisan scold, failed to see how anyone could question his judgment in giving a platform to Rev. Wright to do some damage control to his (and by proxy Sen. Obama’s) image. As is clear, Moyers failed last week, coming across like an infomercial rather than a reporter, and Rev. Wright only succeeded in appearing more radical, and more asleep through the last 20 years than his forgetful flock in the pews must have been.

Moyers solidified his position as the leader of the soft-spoken partisan hacks with this solemn attack on a broad swath of the population:

“Behold the double standard: John McCain sought out the endorsement of John Hagee, the war-mongering Catholic-bashing Texas preacher, who said the people of New Orleans got what they deserved for their sins. But no one suggests McCain shares Hagee’s delusions, or thinks AIDS is God’s punishment for homosexuality. Pat Robertson called for the assassination of a foreign head of state and asked God to remove Supreme Court justices, yet he remains a force in the Republican religious right. After 9/11 Jerry Falwell said the attack was God’s judgment on America for having been driven out of our schools and the public square, but when McCain goes after the endorsement of a preacher he once condemned as an agent of intolerance, the press gives him a pass.”

Does anyone out there actually think that Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson was given a “pass” by the press? The press has been merciless to the two televangelists throughout their careers, pursuing Rev. Falwell even after his death with torment and bile. Of course Revs. Falwell and Roberson have made some rather radical statements over the years. The press has responded, many times over, which has on occasion produced some remarkable acts of forgiveness, charity, and perhaps ultimately redemption (which will go unreported) for the televangelists.

Rev. Hagee is another story. McCain has little if any association with Rev. Hagee, having never been a congregant, nor a representative of the San Antonio preacher. Hagee is being smacked by the Catholic League, no wilting violets there, and also the mainstream media, who have curiously become interested in Catholic Civil Rights in his case. I am not convinced by Mr. Moyers that McCain has actively sought out Hagee’s endorsement, nor am I even slightly persuaded that McCain (or any other candidate) is responsible for the endorsement of radical preachers. Receiving support from a radical is an everyday part of politics. Supporting a radical is truly questionable.

In his equivalency test, Moyers outright rejects any standard whatsoever for the performance of one’s preacher. Sen. Obama may have been a strong supporter of Rev. Wright for 20 years, but to question that, well it must be racism Bill tells us. “It is all about race, isn’t it? ” pleads Moyers.

No Bill, it isn’t. It is about people with minds that hate, and how the media portrays them.

Moyers continues the failed dialog in the US that has been going on for too many years. In his case it has become a monologue, with PBS broadcasting condemnation of anyone who dares scrutinize the flop leftism of 1969. Moyers can condemn some pandering anti-Semetic statements by Billy Graham in 1972, but cannot move to next step where Rev. Graham matures and redeems. Are 36 years of uplifting messages enough for Rev. Graham? Can Rev Wright (or his replacement Rev. Moss for that matter) make it a week without spite and conspiracy?

The media can certainly criticize the right wing preachers without fear of any backlash from other broadcasters. So why not have a go at actual criticism of a broad range of radicals public figures, without subjecting us to grim lectures for not towing the party line?