I possess very strong opinions pertaining to the ridiculous "news" culture that we live in... The notion that we MUST ALWAYS be provided with the newest reality TV scandal, cocaine exploits of Charlie Sheen, Iphone App madness, or the latest in political talking points only aides in perpetuating a culture of morons who think they "know" something because the news told 'em so...
I will admit that those stories provide entertainment and quell some sort of voyeuristic tendency that many of us possess-- We can see into the shit lives of others and feel pretty damn good about ourselves... That does NOT mean however, that it should be considered "news."
Additionally, the outrageous pundit "analysis" on these "news" stations is theater. You are NOT receiving both "sides" of an issue regardless of what the title on the scrolling bar tells you. The "experts" are being paid to act a specific way and say a specific thing with the hopes that it will provide the same 'rush' for viewers that "The Bachelor", "Survivor," "Jersey Shore", etc. offer... a sense of turbulence and instability in a highly edited and controlled world...
Frankly, it is very annoying and I truly believe that anyone who tunes into those channels should feel completely offended (much like a MAN in a strip club... that's a future post :) )
Following, is a wonderful commentary that follows along the lines of my last post regarding narcissism in American culture...
Here is an excerpt,
"It's obvious that our government is unsure how to speak to us about [Egypt]. It would be nice if they treated us like grown-ups and said "we supported Mubarak for fairly obviously reasons for many years and so we're a bit wary of seeing him ousted," but that is not how the State Department has ever communicated.
So our liberal Tumblr users feel self-satisfied because they are keeping up with the latest images out of Cairo and our Bush apologists can feel like his entire foreign policy has been justified and our finest foreign affairs bloggers can happily argue with each other over Israel, as they always do, and meanwhile in Egypt thousands of people will fight for their fundamental human rights, a struggle that has very little to do with your opinions on anything."
And, here is the column.... enjoy.... http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/31/narcissism_egypt/index.html
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