When did we forsake greatness and instead embrace shallowness and self indulgence as a national ideal?
I cannot help but notice that yesterday, when Steve Fossett became the first human to fly the globe on a single tank of gas, the headline services had his feat ranked fourth or fifth. Events in Iraq and other more serious - or politically inflammatory? - news were given top billing. We should all feel a bit of national pride that it was an American who pulled off this feat, but the story was reported with a healthy perspective on its general relevance to the grand scheme of things.
So why is that this morning a fat (she did lose twenty pounds!), old(er), near-billionaire cow getting out of prison and heading home for five more months of palatial estate arrest leads every broadcast news show and tops such stories in the print media as the possibility of Syria pulling out of Lebanon, al Qaeda threats, and better than expected job growth?
Somehow, the standard press response that they report the news that is most important to the herd they serve, and only present it in the order of greatest relevance to the general consumer's daily life comes off sounding just a trifle lame.
At least, that is one author's rarely humble opinion.
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