Cronkette gracefully suffered one my patented rants late last night while watching TV, so I thought I'd show my appreciation by making everyone else have to deal, too. Sorry.

If you missed it, Ted Koppel had Bruce Springsteen on Smartline. (read the highlights here) Mr. Serious was really grilling the Boss on the eve of that whole pro-Kerry rock tour in the swing states, leading with "Who the hell is Bruce Springsteen to tell anybody how to vote?"

Bruce was pretty articulate, which I guess is to be expected from a guy who's reached god-like status translating the American and human condition into song for the last 30 years. He answered Ted with a fair question of his own: Why do we let lobbyists and businessmen, people with an obvious agenda, stand up and tell us how to vote? Why do wetake them seriously and not artists? Last he checked, it was the role of the songrwiter and the artist to examine his/her reality and respond accordingly.

Ted didn't seem to get it. It flew right over his toupee. "But those lobbyists have a clear interest in mind. What's your interest? Why do this?"

Bruce, not even blinking at having to spell it out, explained his interest was the country his children will grow up to live in.

Anyways, you can read the highlights. But Cronkette pointed out that nobody in mainstream media ever took the Bush Administration to task like this last year before the war. Sure, there was a little debate, but nobody brought any of these tougher, hard-hitting questions directly to the White House's doorstep. The country, after all, was all whipped up in a frenzy.

She inadvertently triggered a rant in agreement. I guess she hadn't seen the bourbon I drank before the show. It's so true though. Michael Moore makes a political movie, and whether or not you agree on every point, raises a lot of important questions about Bush and hopes to generate a much-overdue dialogue about the direction of this country.

Press asks the White House for comment.

Scott McClellan predictably shrugs off the movie as fiction and it's on to the next question.

Period. End of inquiry.

Meanwhile, Moore is left holding the bag, fielding a bevy of tough questions from all sides - answering reporters & pundits who have scoured his movie, his sources and his facts with a fine-tooth comb over and over again. But they don't bring that same fine-tooth comb to talk to Bush. And Bush is the reason for Moore's movie in the first friggin place!

Same thing with Springsteen on Smartline. The media holds the critic up to the fire and doesn't seem to care about the points he raises in response, like they've heard it all before.

Of course, that's not to say that Moore doesn't love all the attention and publicity. Or that landing an interview with anyone on the Bush Administration is equally as easy as approaching Michael Moore. It should be easier though, if you think about it. These guys serve the American people.

And the right loves to go after all these liberal hollywood actor and musician "elitists" (I guess elitists back the candidate who wants to reverse tax cuts for the obscenely rich in order to relieve middle class families) - asking them what place they have voicing their opinions in the mainstream. Meanwhile, the Republicans are happy to have their own Jessica Simpsons, Toby Keiths and Ricky Martins aboard. (A fabulous line-up, btw. Hm, if musical taste were an indication of political astuteness...)

The one that really gets me though is Rush, who Smartline featured in their edited imagery bookending the Springsteen segment. How does this guy continue to get a free pass while Moore gets dragged through the thick of it? I mean agree or disagree with him, at least Mike's sober when he speaks. No one else has a problem with this?

Why are we questioning the artist's relevancy in political activism, and not asking an oxy-cotin addict what business he has preaching on nationally syndicated radio? While HIGH?