Upon returning home from class Wednesday afternoon, I expected CNN to be covering the financial meltdown and nothing but. This was the case during the first thirty minutes I watched of Wolf Blitzer's show The Situation Room. The Dow Jones Industrials had just dropped nearly 450 points after dropping over 500 on Monday. The market seemed near collapse after the bankruptcy filing of Lehman's Brothers, Bank of America buying out Merrill-Lynch, and now AIG, the nation's largest insurance group was being bailed out by the Federal government with an $85 billion loan. The television coverage was nail-biting. Wolf had all the best analysis and I'm pacing around my room watching the U.S. economy collapse live on television. TV hadn't been this riveting since the season finale of ABC's show Lost.
Before cutting to a commercial, Blitzer gave a rundown of the upcoming segments on the show. First up after the break: a segment on Sarah Palin's in demand glasses. The mind reels in the absurdity of this. Largest economic downturn since the Great Depression or a candidate's high priced specs? Hmm, I thought the former would be a more popular topic. Alas, I watched the two minutes on Palin's glasses and how women everywhere are flocking to their closest LensCrafters to hunt down a pair of Palin's hot lenses. The segment left a negligible impact on my life and didn't make me love or hate Sarah Palin anymore than before. It left me a bit perturbed with the current state of our news. This could be the most turbulent time in the United States in quite some time and Americans are rightfully concerned. My pacing stopped, my brow raised and I said politely, "what the f***?"
Really Wolf? After the daily stress you cause me when you constantly pitch the new bestseller written by one of your cast, you show me this? Who in the editing room decided that, while the market may have reached the point of no return, let's squeeze in two minutes for glasses? Although my solace in all of this, the demand for these glasses might be the best part of the McCain/Palin economic plan. If that's the case, I may go ahead and pull my money out of the bank and put it in the mattress.
This is another example of how the media tends to put the public's best interest behind what sells. While Palin's media star might have faded this week (sorry Sarah, the economy comes first) it beguiles me that someone actually thought this was a good idea. Now call me crazy, and too nitpicky, but I as an American have other priorities and NEED to be informed, now more than ever. We are less than fifty days from choosing a new President and the polls have these guys in a dead heat, and this is what you give me? At this point I wouldn't care if Palin had a similar ocular problem as the X-Men character Cyclops and shot bright red streaks out of her eyes that can cause massive destruction if it meant she had an answer for this economy.
So for now Wolf and company, ask questions, get your analysts analyzing, and let's get America informed for once so that they'll know exactly who these candidates are not by what accessories they wear but how they are going to better America. Just ask people who actually wear glasses. They'll agree with me in a large majority. Trust me, people who wear glasses are scientifically known to be significantly smarter than those that don't.*
We have 46 days ladies and gentlemen until this insanely long show comes to an end. After that, we can discuss Palin's glasses, her clothes, and yes, even her lipstick, I don't care. Give me the issues, what's important and if you find out that Americans DO care about the specs, please, let me know. I'll laugh, then cry, and find another place to live, because that's the point I'll truly be frightened of our society.
*There is no evidence that people that wear glasses ARE smarter than those that don't. This has been long rumored, especially among those that are nearsighted. Nearsightedness can cause your eyes to bulge out slightly, and we all know what causes this, a larger brain capable of understanding more.
4 comments:
While I believe networks should be allowed to show whatever content they wish, I agree with you whole heartedly and also ask, "How does CNN know that this is what people want to see right now?" I also saw this segment live and find it amusing that you and I were pacing our rooms at the same time watching the same coverage, then were enraged and frankly surprised at the switch to such a superficial topic. At that point, I really didn't even want to hear what the candidates were pontificating about the economic crisis. I just wanted to be informed about what was actually happening. Sarah Palin's glasses were far from my mind.
Those are some nice Glasses.
How do you post video's, the video link on the post page wont take url's.
Ben,
We are proof that people with very different political beliefs can agree on something: the news has some "special" people scheduling segments. At least we can focus on the issues on Friday during the deba.....oh yeah, it might not happen.
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