The Bush White House and the Republican party have no need of official spokespersons. They have the national media at their disposal. Like dogs in Pavlov’s legendary experiments, the press have been trained to salivate at the appropriate moments, which always involve promoting Republicans and telling lies about Democrats.

Republican operatives must have followed John Kerry from one end of the country to the other, lying in wait for the slimmest opportunity to twist his words, and determine the perfect moment to concoct righteous indignation where none was needed. His joke about ‘being stuck in Iraq” was not worthy of mention by any stretch of anyone’s imagination. The press leaped to do Karl Rove’s work for him, and in less time than you can say news cycle, the phony controversy was a headline across the country.

The GOP succeeded in pulling the strings of their press puppets and Kerry was caught in the trap. After first fighting back and calling the Bush team liars, he then back tracked and called himself stupid for bungling a joke. Kerry was finally forced to apologize under pressure from Democrats.

Kerry had been crisscrossing the country on behalf of Democratic candidates but was forced to cancel those appearances as if he had a bad case of cooties. The episode brings into sharp relief the huge burden facing Democrats. It is nearly impossible for them to communicate with the public when the media are so obviously in bed with the Republican party.

Kerry’s retreat to Palookaville was just one example of pro-Republican media bias in the waning days of the 2006 election. When actor Michael J. Fox appeared in a campaign ad on behalf of a Senate candidate who supported stem cell research, Rush Limbaugh went for the jugular. It is well known that Fox suffers from Parkinson’s disease and his symptoms are obvious for all to see.

Limbaugh accused him of changing his medication dosage in order to look worse before the cameras. Not content to tell lies, he made fun of Fox’s suffering by mimicking his movements.

Even after Fox denied Limbaugh's charges, the media insisted that Limbaugh had apologized when the exact opposite is true.

Instead of reporting that Limbaugh stood by his original statement, the Los Angeles Times, ABC, USA Today, the Associated Press, NPR and the Baltimore Sun, among others, all falsely insisted that he had apologized.

Exhibit C in the media hall of shame goes to the Senator George Allen beat down. Allen's staff literally beat up a blogger who asked questions they didn’t like. Mike Stark is a law student and author of the blog Calling All Wingnuts. He asked Allen about warrants for his arrest, and if Allen had ever spit on his first wife. Allen goon/staffers tackled Stark to the floor and threw him out the door.

The press dismissed Stark as a mere “heckler” and a “protester.” A CNN anchor felt compelled to officially let Allen off the hook. “Sometimes you just don't know who you're dealing with. He did have a back pack on.” Now there is an important lesson for every American. Don’t wear a backpack when asking politicians hard questions.

CNN and their counterparts made no effort to pick up on Stark’s legitimate question. There were several arrest warrants issued for George Allen in the 1970s but those records have been purged. Instead of justifying physical attack based on backpack usage, they might have thought to follow up on the original question. Why were arrest warrants issued for Allen? Getting the facts is obviously not a priority.

The Kerry/Fox/Allen episodes raise serious questions as the 2008 presidential campaign looms just around the corner. Democrats who are lionized today will be torn apart before any votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire. It won’t matter if candidates botch jokes or not, White House press secretary Tony Snow, a true joke, will demand apologies where none are needed. The New York Times and the Daily Picayune will all follow the party line like obedient Pavlovian puppies and make life easy for the GOP.

Democrats won’t help themselves if they turn on their own they way they turned on John Kerry. Criticizing his remarks without pointing out the blatant media bias behind the story is a sure path to defeat. Democrats have two enemies, the press and themselves. Apparently they have learned nothing from 2004. They tossed Howard Dean under the bus after the manufactured “scream” story and went on to nominate the ineffectual John Kerry. The Republicans have already honed what they think is a winning strategy for 2008. The Democrats show no sign of having any strategy to combat it at all.