chorus of idiots

It never ends, does it?

Entire networks devoted to waving the flag and parroting the administration's press releases. Man-whores planted in the press room to ask softball questions. Exactly zero discussion about what the "nuclear option" really means, besides that the Democrats want to filibuster and the Republicans want an "up-or-down vote."

Never mind that an up or down vote really means up, and that the nuclear option would mean a rubber stamp for the Prez'dint's upcoming Supreme Court nominee. The Democrats want to filibuster judicial nominees, and the Republicans want an "up-or-down vote."

Still, we read all about the liberal bias in the media. The Washington Times, hardly a paper of record, contains an article blasting the major networks (mostly just CBS and Newsweek) for sloppy, liberal-slanted reporting. Two mistakes in two years, both of which were retracted, neither of which had anything to do with the other (aside from unreliable sources... which doesn't bother the right-wing press, as the anchors themselves are vicious liars), and all of a sudden the reason Fox News is so popular is because people are sick of the bias and sick of the bush-bashing.

If I were Bill O'Reilly, I would tell these people to SHUT UP. Just SHUT UP.

And if this were the Old West, and I had a gun, I would shoot them between the head.

This whole discussion is ridiculous. Here I've wasted two posts in two days, wrecking my vacation story, spreading partisan distaste and anger for everyone to read and join me in fist-shaking. The number of articles dedicated to why liberals are wrong and need to re-evaluate every position they've ever held (read: become republicans), or why liberals are stuck in their ivory towers and need to reconnect with the people.... it's all crap.

Maybe it's just a slow news day, and so we need to rehash all the things we've been saying since 2000. Maybe the problems our country is facing are so scary and so impossible to deal with that nobody wants to say anything, because when people hear about the oil crash, they just want to cry. Crying doesn't sell newspapers (unless it's over somebody on life support). Maybe it's because our president is so focused on building a short-term agenda to the exclusion of the country's long-term needs and (heaven forbid!) goals, nobody has time to take the long view. My feeling is that there are a large number of real issues that the press needs to take up and shout from the hills.

What about our economic future? How will we respond to the massive influx of educated, connected people that are coming from China and India in the next 20 years? Will we suck even more money out of higher education, so that the few people who compete against the Asian workforce have enough (tax-free) family money to survive even if they lose their jobs? Will education again become synonymous with great wealth? Will the lower and middle classes be doomed to service in a "volunteer" military, just to pay the bills? How will our oil-drunk society adapt as oil supplies decrease slightly, but demand continues to increase? Will my mother, who has worked her whole life, carved out some savings, and contributed to Social Security, have to take a smaller payment every month because the government assumed responsibility for paying airline pensions? Will anyone but the Pioneer's Club ever see the benefits of massively unbalanced tax cuts that have plunged the federal budget into unrecoverable deficits?

You would think that a Stanford professor would have time and inclination to answer some of these questions, instead of writing just another article about why people like Fox News so much. I can tell you that right now: They wave the flag, and Bill O'Reilly is a bully. It's like watching kids at recess surround a fist-fight. It's not educational, and it's barely entertaining. Still, as our education systems, health-care systems, and revenue systems fall apart, we all eagerly await our turn to be told to SHUT UP!!!

Just shut up.

Maybe it's time to move on.