The American people love the media. We swim in it constantly, contented smiles on our faces. We know it's bad for us, the same way that we realize pizza and french fries are, and we don't seem to care. Yet, while we love the media, we hate the Media (note the capital "M"). When it confirms what we believe, it's fair and balanced; when it doesn't conform to our prejudices, it's biased. It can't win, but it'll never go away either, because we want it, 24 hours a day seven days a week.

Basically, we're conflicted when it comes to the news. Sure, we might criticize it occasionally, but we're encouraged not to -- there's an implied threat. Would you prefer the alternative? Would you rather not know what's happening in the world?

We have mixed feelings about politicians too, but we've never had the courage to throw the rascals out, even at their lowest. Trust and politics are two seemingly incompatible concepts. For good reason, too; even people who have never voted in their lives know who Nixon was.

For the people who lived through Watergate, Nixon is the fulcrum on which our distrust of politicians is balanced. Once, we believed everything they said -- why shouldn't we? Everyone knows that democracy works, and our collective wisdom ensures that we would never elect a crook. But, according to some, Watergate taught us that no matter how sound our judgment is we can still be tricked. Of course, only the most accomplished liar would be able to pull the wool over all of our eyes. It's not really our fault; can anyone blame himself when he's taken in by the Devil?

While the notion that the decline of Richard M. Nixon was the starting point of our distrust of politics is accepted wisdom, it's not really true. Read some of the things that got written about Warren G. Harding sometime. Even Roosevelt had passionate critics who, no doubt, lost their faith in the democratic system the day after his first election. Even if it wasn't a universal public sentiment, the current of anti-political thought was strong from the very beginning our nation.

No, Nixon didn't teach us how to mistrust our elected officials. But he did show us what despicable assholes they could be. As the transcripts of the White House tapes hit the newspapers, we got a clearer and clearer picture of the kind of man we elected. That "expletive deleted" business didn't soften the blow one bit -- this guy was a mean-spirited jerk.

Which brings us back to the media. We don't trust them, but our image of them has yet to take the nose-dive that it did for politicians. Politicians are angry, mean, bastards. Not so, journalists. But the mass media is still young, and we've got plenty of time to develop Nixon-sized scars at its hands. It would take a sad, bitter individual to focus our hatred upon.

I thought it might be Peter Arnett, but he apologized. Nixon never did that, not really. But Geraldo Rivera... now that's something else entirely. He's always fancied himself a bit of an envelop pusher. It's hard to stand out as a journalist, and I'm sure he thought that what he was doing wasn't hurting anybody. In his head, he's the best journalist out there, fearlessly giving the people what they want. Still, he did wrong and he didn't meet it head on by copping to his mistake; instead, we got a great example of his bitter, spiteful personality. With his talk of "backstabbing," and "rats," he revealed himself as the poster-child for people who aren't able to move on with their lives.

Grudges are ugly, especially when you're a public figure. Even so, he's still got a lot of work to do if he wants to be the Nixon of the news media. Remorselessly selling our boys out to the enemy is just a start. He can either recover, and continue to be the butt of every late night comedian's jokes, or he could push forward and downward, and become the man who created a universal feeling of ill-will between us and profession of journalism.

Then again, since there probably aren't going to be any "slow news days" in the foreseeable future, this whole thing will probably be forgotten soon enough. Still, keep your eyes open for his next move. It's bound to be interesting. And loathsome.

-B. C. Silvia