In the wake of Deep Throat

The unveiling of Deep Throat has surfaced a lot of buried memories. DarkSyde, who has been doing some fantastic science writing over at Kos, has this plea for our neutered press corps:

The promise, appeal, and power, of Democracy [lies] not in capitalism, or in Divine Manifest Destiny, or in abstract ethics, as important as those issues are; the appeal of Democracy is firmly rooted in holding leaders accountable for the consequences of their actions on the electorate, and the capacity to remove them from power when they betray that trust. Democracy works because it represents a fundamental interest: Leaders work for the people, not the other way around.

But we the people can't make those decision based on stories about Runaway Brides or who Michael Jackson may have licked on the forehead. We need actual, tangible, investigative reporting. The kind that gets you blacklisted from White House Events and earns you a Pulitzer Prize Nomination. …

Bust the lid off, blow the cover, take chances, don't be neutered, get it done, report the truth, and do not ever, ever, stop. Reach inside, remember why you became what you are, and please, start working for the people, and not the other way around. You more than any of us have the power of the Written Word. Use it.

Maybe they'll remember, too, and start reporting again.