A well deserved F

That's exactly the grade I would award them. Ironically, the only place I've been able to find halfway-decent news coverage for American current events is on BBC.

     As I was surfing through some satellite channels last night, I tuned into CNN just for fun (and because I was bored out of my skull). Anderson Cooper was discussing the recent protests taking place across America with David Gergen, James Carville and Mark Williams. I gathered from this "discussion" that it's now considered very rude for Americans to exercise their right to free speech, that we have no business participating in any type of dissension and that, since our president is Black (sorry if that offends anyone, but it's true), taking part in any such behavior or openly disagreeing with his policies is an indication of widespread latent racism. I'm not making this up; all of those comments were actually voiced on the air by men whose opinions are far more influential than any of ours would be.

     I have to give Mr. Cooper and his panel their due credit, though; I haven't laughed so hard since Cartman had it out with the underpants gnomes on South Park.

     I've been told that I'm a reasonably intelligent person (although some members here might disagree), but there's one thing that's puzzled me for years. I've pondered it patiently, I've studied on it tirelessly and I've even taken the trouble to obsess over it from time to time, but I just can't figure it out, so maybe some of you can help me to understand this conundrum: How the hell do these people keep their jobs??? How do they get millions of people all over the country to listen to them and believe what they say???

     I don't mean to single out CNN, by any means, because the anchors, commentators and guest speakers on Fox News or MSNBC are just as bad. It seems we've all segregated ourselves into our chosen camps, and we all have our favorite spokesman who is only too eager to do our thinking for us in order to save us the trouble of forming our own opinions on current political issues. Some of us believe anything that spills from Rush Limbaugh's gaping maw, others are willing to take a punch to defend Sean Hannity's latest idiotic comments, and yet others insist that the drivel peddled by Glenn Beck is the Gospel Truth. What happened to us? Have we become so fat, so incredibly stupid, so hopelessly lazy that we'd rather rely on these ill-informed men to save us the chore of utilizing our own minds?

     We all need to wake up and realize that the mainstream media is no longer the independent faction it once was. Walter Cronkite has passed away, and with him passed any shred of integrity once possessed by members of the Fouth Estate. Those who dare call themselves his modern peers are merely prostitutes who sell us that part of the story cleared for release by the lobby member who owns the broadcast. We must stop accepting these biased newscasts out-of-hand and learn to ignore the misinformation mongers who make millions per year due entirely to their abilities to tell us what our opinions should be.

     That's my opinion; that's my OWN opinion.

     What's yours?

     Jim

Thanks Em!!! Without the internet we might as well be mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed ... well you know!!!

"How the hell do these people keep their jobs???"     The re-education machine is vital, ask any Politburo.

"How do they get millions of people all over the country to listen to them and believe what they say???"      Dumbed down education system over time, along with indoctrination that trivia is more important than facts, helped along with subliminals out the waz to prod those easily persuaded. Voila lemmings over the cliff syndrome.

"favorite spokesman who is only too eager to do our thinking for us in order to save us the trouble of forming our own opinions on current political issues."       Predigested pablum is much easier to consume so meaningful time can be spend watching tabloids, sports, soaps or dramas spun by the news.

"are merely prostitutes who sell us that part of the story cleared for release by the lobby member who owns the broadcast."      Without the internet the Politburo would be 'feasting on mutton' for a very long time. ;-) Doubt Mao, Hitler and others would have been as successful if the internet existed back then.

Just my opinion, welcome more.