Gotta Turn Off The Tube

Watching the news is as dangerous to my well being as I thought blogging was last week. We're entering the political silly season locally - the fire works I'm sure are about to begin. Opinions are showing up in postings and I'm watching with a great deal of interest. But for now I can take a breather and wait and watch it unfold.

Then we cross over to Spokane where the West saga drags on and on and on. I watch coverage of this man and see such a benign expression on his face I wonder if there is any there there. I cannot imagine being able to face the public without so much as a wince. I cannot imagine having no shame for the allegations to which he has admitted and feeling righteous in declaring he has committed no crime. Of course that has yet to be determined but wow, I couldn't do it.

On to the national news and the horrendous hypocrisy of the president's "spontaneous" visit with our troops that filled everything from at least 4 p.m. on last night and the press secretary's denial after denial with the split screen showing the rehearsal. I won't even go into the tapes of police manhandling arrestees. Shame? Chagrin? Nope. Spin.

The most frightening I think was watching the multitude of pundits expressing their take on all of it. Have you ever noticed much the same emptiness as portrayed by West? They tsk, tsk or spout the talking points of the day - both sides - but there always seems to be a smirk or a chuckle - like its all an abstract that doesn't really affect us. Well I'm not sitting in the public eye because of my profession pulling down six figures or more for my opinions. I'm sitting in northern Idaho with my dog and my husband and I'm outraged by all of it and it really does affect us. Ask anyone who has family back from Iraq with severe stress problems; the mom and pop stores that are going to fold because gas and heat are turning shoppers into hermits, the "downsized" who can't afford insurance premiums after their COBRA runs out or the elderly who can't get medical attention because doctors don't take medicare patients.

I talk about all of this with friends and we're all affected. Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper showed some spunk and spirit during Katrina and its aftermath. I hope what they have is contagious and these messengers of ours get back to asking the hard questions and acknowledging we who watch them need our side told too.