Hey CNN! I've got news for you. "Issue #1" is NOT the Economy, Stupid!

It’s Bush and Cheney’s 3 trillion dollar unjustified war in Iraq, which has cost more than 4000 dead Americans along with God knows how many others from Iraq and elsewhere. Stupid!  

Why CNN would want us to believe that the economy is the number one issue facing the American people is anyone’s guess. I suspect it has less to do with CNN’s (and the rest of mainstream media’s) undying concern for our wallets and livelihoods than it does with their desire to frame the issues in such a way as to influence the upcoming presidential election.

I’m sure CNN can back up its proclamation that the economy is the number one issue facing Americans with reams of polling data supporting this assertion. However, for me and most of the people I talk to, the number one issue is our occupation of Iraq with 140,000 or so American military personnel. I can only surmise that my demographic must not have been included in CNN’s polling data.

Someone needs to tell Ali Velshi and the other talking heads in the CNN Mutual Admiration Society who repeatedly remind us that Issue #1 is the economy, that our economic troubles are only a symptom of the real Issue #1 – the 3 trillion dollar fiasco of a war we find ourselves in.

Perhaps the people at CNN believe if they say something loud enough, and often enough, the American people will actually start to believe it. If they keep telling us that the economy is our number one problem perhaps we will all reach the same foregone conclusion as CNN. After all, if a trusted network news organization like CNN constantly presents this as an accepted fact, then it must be true. Right? I have come to expect such tactics from the good people at Faux News, but CNN? The fact that CNN is falling in line behind the others to carry water for the war machine shows just how complicit our media has become with the right wing war agenda.

The way I see it, the economy would be a “non-issue” if we hadn’t thrown 3 trillion dollars down a huge military/industrial black hole. Let’s face it! Bush and Cheney’s war has been a bad investment. We’ve not only lost our principal, with absolutely nothing of value to show for it, but we’ve guaranteed ourselves that we’ll be paying to dig ourselves out of this deep hole for a long, long time to come.

We can only imagine the return we might have, could have, and should have gotten from our investment if, for example, we had taken that 3 trillion dollars and invested it in hospitals, schools, roads, and other constructive endeavors, instead of squandering our resources on global military domination.

It is amusing to watch these so-called “news” anchors falling all over themselves as they discuss “Issue #1: The Economy” from their comfortable studios. Sometimes I get the feeling I’m watching magicians perform clever acts of prestidigitation. We all love a good magic show. They are fun to watch and filled with excitement as we try to anticipate what the performer is going to pull out of his hat next. The secret to being a good magician, of course, is distracting your audience’s attention in another direction while performing your slight of hand trick out of the audience’s view.