Watching television can be harmful to your mental health. I could claim that I don't watch television,
but that would be a lie. The truth is that I'm addicted to almost every type of
media. This doesn't mean that I believe everything I hear, in fact, I don't
believe anything I hear on television. That includes public TV and the
Mainstream News.
While I was helping my wife with our everyday household
chores, I had Current TV on. I like Current TV (sometimes). This evening I
became more than a little bit frustrated than usual. The reason for my
frustration was the criticism of the Romney campaign.
Don't get me wrong, I have my own criticism of the Romney
campaign, but I also detest the Obama campaign and listening to three solid
hours of whining about the Republicans while extolling the virtues of the
Democrats was just too much. In my mind, it's like listening to people arguing
about who is worse, Hitler or Mussolini except these people on Current actually
picked sides.
The way I see it, Current TV was wasting precious media time
by engaging in partisan politics in a corrupted, malevolent world. I mean who
cares? Is Romney worse than Obama? Does any of it actually mean
something? If Romney was elected President, would anything change? If Obama
stays in office, would the world be a better place?
When Current TV arrived on the scene, I was hoping that they
would be the light in a dark wilderness. I was hoping that the left would
actually have a voice, hoping that issues of substance would emerge, that a
serious debate would allow Americans to hear both sides of an issue. Instead,
all we got was more collective chatter about things of no importance.
Today it was about Obama's introduction of legislation that
would tax anyone making over $250,000 to the level it was during the Clinton
era. Notwithstanding the fact that the legislation doesn't stand a chance with
the Republican Congress, does it really matter? Would we really bring more
money into the treasury? Even if we could get this passed and we saw more money
coming in, what would we spend it on? Do you think for a moment that we would
actually spend this money to promote the general welfare of the American
people? Probably not, it would end up more than likely, in the defense budget.
The defense budget. What is this all about anyway? What
happened to that peace dividend we were supposed to receive with the fall of
the Soviet Union? Instead of diverting
all of these military expenditures into social programs, or to create jobs by repairing
our infrastructure, it went to an even larger military. Now, with no real
external threat, we spend almost as much on our military than all of the
nations on the planet combined.
With all of the so-called "reporters" and all of the "news
channels" that exist within our media, has anyone actually asked anybody in
government why we need to spend all of this money? That would be a great
subject for a documentary. Now that is what Current TV could be doing
instead of telling us that Romney and the Republicans don't deserve your vote. If
Current TV really wanted to be a media force for good, these are the questions
that they could be asking.
With all of the articles and books that I read, and all of
the time I spend watching people's lips move on that little box (actually a big
flat screen), you would think I would have seen that debate. Either I missed
it, or there was never any debate all. This could only mean that the American
people agree with the Generals and the politicians, that we really need all of
this money in our defense budget.
It's a sad commentary that I should be writing an article
like this one in the twenty-first century. This is not what I environed when
watching The Mickey Mouse Club and
listening to them telling us that we would be leaders in the 21st
Century. Look at the leaders we have. Our president gets together with Dr. Strangelove
every Tuesday to decide who dies that week from drone strikes. I would
recommend that he give back his Nobel Peace Prize.
Where are our heroes? Everyone can't be an anti-hero. Does
Al Gore actually watch Current TV? (He's part owner). I wonder if he's disappointed.
I know that I am.
It's about time people started demanding better. Not just
with Current TV, but with all media. Money can't be the prime motivator for
everything. I know money is important, but it shouldn't be the only motivation.
I didn't start out to criticize Current TV; I really wanted to point out the deficiencies
in all of our media outlets. Even Fox TV has Judge Napolitano going for it.
Could you imagine what kind of hell Current TV could raise if they would just
drop the partisan politics?
Just imagine what kind of ratings a show with real reporting
could have. The show Newsroom (HBO) is based on just that. It shows exactly how
hungry the public is for the truth. Walter Cronkite is credited by some for
ending the war in Vietnam. When he broadcast this report, he changed
the world. People in America are waiting for someone to change the world again.
I know that I am.
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