Why Can't We Get "Real?"

Montana man uses his
divorce papers to start fire
to burn down his wife’s business.

Why can’t we get “real” (as we once were). I am more and more convinced that news 7/24 is probably the worst idea ever. I don’t want to invoke “the good old days,” as in fact they weren’t so great. But at least back then when we got some news it was real news, not just BS or infotainment. We listened to the news on the radio, perhaps a whole half hour of it, and we read newspapers, and when we went to a movie there was always a short news item before the movie itself. We didn’t really get much news, but at least it was news, not pap.

Why should we have to hear what Newt Gingrich has to say on a daily basis. Newt Gingrich is no more than a has-been who holds no office, in fact lost his office in disgrace, and obviously says whatever he thinks will get him more attention. One day he’s for attacking Libya, the next day he’s not. He is, in fact, a nobody. He keeps telling us, because the media allows him to, that he might, maybe, perhaps, depending, think about running for President if enough suckers send him some money. He does this for publicity and to dupe money out of people stupid enough to believe he is something other than a hypocritical blowhard, having cultivated an image of being some kind of intellectual giant (among Republicans it doesn’t take much to be an intellectual giant). He is not going to run for President, and in the remote chance that he did he would get exactly nowhere. He is a true phony. If it weren’t for the demands of news 7/24 we wouldn’t even be hearing about him.

Then there is Giuliani who spent millions of dollars last time he ran for President and received, as I recall, one (1) useful vote. He, too, is as phony as can be, probably has no intention of running again, but craves attention, and gets it from a media that has nothing better to do.

Don’t forget the Housewife from Hell, Sarah Palin. She, too, pretends she might be running for President. She has managed to convert her 15 minutes of fame (thanks to John McCain who apparently has no shame at all) into a fortune, and blissfully ignorant, tells us now all about foreign policy, economics, and how she and McCain might have won had she been first on the ticket. Again, I doubt she really will run, and if she does she will get absolutely clobbered.

Michelle Bachmann also makes noises about running for President, a development so ridiculous I hesitate to even mention it. There is some doubt in my mind if she is truly sane, at best she is a bit “dotty” and rarely if ever gets anything right. I cannot imagine how she gets re-elected unless her constituents there In Minnesota are just as dotty as she is (what a thought).

Equally as absurd in terms of news are people like Christine O’Donnell, Angle, and the “Rents too High” guy. No doubt there are others in this category as well. My point here is, why do we have to hear about these candidates at all. For the most part they are unqualified for the offices they aspire to, have nothing of substance to add to the dialogue, and basically are just a complete waste of time except for taking up space and time on the pretend news that has replaced what used to be real news. This is, I think, mostly the result of news 7/24 and the need for constant “fill,” being too cheap to actually hire lots of real reporters and sending them around the world to bring us the facts of what is actually happening. It’s cheaper just to get stuff from the central source, jazz it up with a bunch of nonsense, and inflict it upon a gullible public. This sad situation also has to do with the control of the media by just a few giant corporations who prefer it this way. After all, an educated public might actually challenge their outrageous behavior.

There are, I guess, a few genuine candidates for the Republican nomination, Romney, Huckabee, and now Pawlenty would seem at the moment to be legitimate. We don’t hear any more about them than we do about the phony ones, and in some cases even less. Perhaps additional serious candidates may emerge but they haven’t as yet, and none of the above three are any great shakes, so to speak. Republicans apparently believe the way to defeat Obama is to constantly demean and criticize him no matter what he does, so they seem somewhat unconcerned about having a first-rate candidate (if they can find one, doubtful from the ranks of Republicans these days). Given the record of the Tea Party Governors and Congresspersons so far , I doubt that even Superman or Superwoman could save them. No matter how much one might dislike President Obama it appears that once again he may well be “the only game in town.”

LKBIQ:
Political language -- and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists -- is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George Orwell

TILT:
“French fries” most probably originated with the Belgians.