Call it what it is...

Here we are in the throes of another presidential election. You've got people on both sides calling each other Red then Blue, or Conservative then Liberal. When we are really all people. Americans that love this country. That being said I had to make an observation. Last week Charlie Gibson from ABC News interviewed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. There have been many observations and conversations about the interview, none that I will make here. But I will say that Mr. Gibson is an accomplished journalist, not a commentator or opinion maker. He has many years of experience researching the facts and then presenting them as a journalist.
From Wikipedia:

Gibson graduated from Princeton University where he was news director for the university radio station, WPRB-FM ...[he]joined the RKO Radio Network in 1966 as a producer, but then switched gears given the Vietnam War and joined the Coast Guard and worked as a reporter/anchor for WLVA (now WSET) in Lynchburg, Virginia as one of five employees. He then moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA) in 1970, and took a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1973 before joining ABC in 1975.

So it can be said that he is good at what he does. And generally speaking the people who did not like the Palin interview are Palin supporters and those who applauded it are not. That seems to me right where it should be for a journalist.

Governor Palin is going to be interviewed on TV again, this time on FOX news. But not by a journalist. By commentator and pundit Sean Hannity. From the NY Daily News "Hannity - ...a commentator paid to express his opinions" and from wikipeida:

Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, conservative political commentator, and an author. His nationally-syndicated radio program, The Sean Hannity Show, airs throughout the United States on ABC Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts two television shows on Fox News Channel: Hannity & Colmes and Hannity's America. Hannity graduated in 1980 from St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary high school, located in Uniondale, New York. Described as "an indifferent student",[4] Hannity dropped out of New York University for financial reasons and later decided to pursue a radio career.[3] In 2005, Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University awarded him an honorary degree.

No where does it say that Hannity is a journalist. This is not a problem as long as the two interviews are not seen as equal; as they are not. There are many capable and talented journalists at FOX News, they are just not being utilized to perform this interview.

As the election draws near just remember to use your own judgement to make decisions about who to vote for. Don't support someone ONLY because of the political party they belong to. We are all more than just (D) and (R).