The 24 Hour News Cycle

I am so weary of the 24 hour news cycle. Here's how it works...first John McCain is outraged that Barack Obama is not outraged at the Iranians stealing elections. Then the governor of South Carolina disappears over the weekend and Iran disappears from the headlines. We learn by Wednesday that the lying bastard was in Argentina cheating on his wife, his four great sons, and the whole state of South Carolina with a mystery woman who was just a friend in the beginning, but then something "sparked". Before he could finish apologizing and comparing himself to King David. who sinned something awful, but went on to do great things for the Lord, poor Farah Fawcett succumbed to the cancer that she had been fighting for so long. We had only seen Ryan leaving the hospital about forty times and been through her life as far as the Tri Delt house at UT where a publicist saw her in the Top Ten Beauties pix, when breaking news shocked the World. The King of Pop was transported from his rented Holmby Hills mansion unconscious and probably DOA to a Los Angeles hospital.
That's how it's been this week on the cable and in the blogosphere. Busy week, huh? We can be so enraptured by the martyrdom of Neda on the streets of Tehran one day and by the end of the week she is forgotten as the street people dance on the grave of Michael who hadn't had this much publicity since his acquital on charges of child molestation.
And don't forget the ever present "Houston connection". The doctor who was with Jackson when the 911 call was made, debunked when the paramedics arrived. No one has seen him since. We've seen his car being impounded by LA homicide and the high powered criminal defense lawyers he has retained were on Fox news at 9:00. He has a clinic and a sister in Acres Homes, so Local 2, Khou and ABC13 will no doubt be at the forefront of the story.
It is a sick society that runs on the 24 hour news cycle. Reporters disrespect the Chief Executive at press conferences because they need a sound byte by the time Oprah goes off the air. One sick, but talented song and dance man dies after a life of psychological abuse, medical procedures gone past the point of being ethical and misuse of prescription medications and we begin a continuous reel of pictures of the ambulance, the doctor's car, the star on the walk of fame, the likeness made from sand, and his performances from age 5 to the present, cue Thriller.
Enough already. Who do the cable channels think is watching this crap around the clock?
We haven't even had a funeral yet....oh my. The rest of the summer could be taken with Jacko lying in state with millions of his fans filing past to pay their respects and then the memorial service where the cameras will focus on the grieving Liza Minelli, the ex-wives and the unmasked children.
We have some serious public policy issues that should be the focus of the nation's attention. But that shit doesn't sell. Who cares if we become an impotent debtor nation with substandard health care and no economy? With leaders who are following their impulses to Argentina, and busily scoring points with mindless opposition and barely concealed racism, we have to depend on the media to keep us distracted. Otherwise, Americans might wake up and realize we are in a pretty precarious position.