Now that I'm on a mini-sabbatical, I get to watch network news again. Yippee! I watch ABC World News Tonight because a) I always liked Peter Jennings, b) have you seen Katie Couric lately? and c) my NBC station barely comes in (seriously, the reception is so bad that I often have to call people after Heroes to find out what actually happened).

So, last night I caught two interesting stories. The first was the sleazy, almost gleeful reporting of Harlan Hucklebee's Willie Horton moment. All I've got to say about that one is to ask why in the world we, as a nation, would even consider electing another Governor of Arkansas? It sure seems like an awful lot of questionable dealings go on down there. Let's not export all of that again, okay?

The second notable story was about Bush's new mortgage relief plan. Bush's plan would freeze rates for five years for eligible borrowers. ABC News anchor Charles Gibson was quite indignant (you can watch the video from the right sidebar here) that the proposal didn't cover everyone. It only covers those who:

• Have a subprime mortgage that resets in 2008 or 2009
• Are current on that loan or have never been more than 60 days late
• Have no more than 3% equity in their house
• Will not be able to afford their mortgage payments at a higher interest rate

What bothers me about the story is the way the debate is framed. The "controversy" is over the fact that not every subprime borrower will be bailed out. The reporter and anchor don't even question whether or not the rest of us should bail them out. The small government/personal responsibility angle isn't even presented and that's what's so frustrating about our media.

When we bitch about a liberal media bias, we aren't talking about stories like the Huckabee scandal (all politicians will get their dirty laundry aired) we're talking about stories like the mortgage plan. With Fox News getting the Christian conservatives and CNN courting the liberals, I'd think a smart network news team would realize that there's rating points to be had by incorporating a little libertarianism into their broadcasts.