The News You Will Never Hear

How often does the news need to be reported? Maybe once every two or three weeks... But we are constantly inundated with the latest on Brittany Spear's recent cosmetic surgery, the world's biggest hamster dying, and George Clooney's opinion of the presidency. (I'll deal with that one in a minute.) So why are we exposed to this continuous flow of inconsequential "news?" Because of commercials. If the news was only reported weekly or bi-weekly, billions of advertising dollars would be lost. Because reporters and anchormen tell us that what we are about to see/hear is important, many become obsessed with staying "in the know." Let me fill you in on something...most of what you see is not important. And even worse, by watching those news-creations, you are doing exactly what they want you to.

Next, George Clooney. I, for one, don't give a crap about his opinion on politics, or any other celebrity's for that matter. There are thousands of intellectuals (on both ends of the political spectrum) who have spent their lives studying politics, international relations, etc. Talk to them. Surely their opinions are better informed than those of the latest pop stars.

What are pop stars anyway? Who creates celebrities? Once again, the media.

I've heard that President Ford (Nixon's successor) was portrayed by the media to be incompetent. This man probably put in a solid 10-12 hours of work every day. However, the media presented the nation with an image of Ford hitting his head while exiting an airplane onto stairs. (The dude was tall...give him a break.) But the clip was played for weeks. Of course such an incident wasn't representative of his presidency...

I think the media does the same thing with the George Bush. They pigeonhole him as incompentent, and all of the political lemmings echo what they hear on TV. If you don't like his decisions as a president, that is one thing. But denouncing the man because he stuttered a couple times in front of a microphone is quite another. Get a mind of your own.


"Anchors Away" - Five Iron Frenzy

The advertising dollars buy the right to stifle antonyms, to sterilize the truth with fiction so we can sing their corporate hymns. And all of us were cowed and bought it, hardly anybody got it. While mergers made their spires grow taller, what they let you know grew smaller. And we were scared, or too bemused, and so we still turned on the news.

Tune in, tune out, goodbye, goodnight. They're buying you with fear and lies. Turn it off until it's right. That's the news, that's all, goodnight.


~ Libby

Song of the day: "Anchors Away" - Five Iron Frenzy