About a week ago, I happened to read a “letter to the editor” from former Senator Bob Dole that really resonated. In it, he laments the confusion of the media in its failure to reflect the concerns of most Americans in reporting current events. In part, Dole says, “Perhaps I’ve lost touch with the soul of America and what it stands for, but for one, I’m tired of the constant media chatter about (John) Walker and terrorist prisoners……..Tell us more about real heroes, those who have kept America free and continue to do so.” Count me as one with Dole. Am I completely out of the loop? Almost everyone I know is repulsed daily by the news leads on the major TV networks and the constant drivel about the “victims of the week” and their “feelings”. Have we become simply a nation of whining voyeurs? The Walker and Al Qaeda prisoner stories are complete fabrications of the sensation-driven news producers. The sad part is that we buy it. One more thing: Enron is a big story, but it’s an important business story kept alive as a political story by those who still can’t accept the 2000 election results, a complicit media that craves the politics of class envy, and a few Enron/Ken Lay business peers who are overcome with schadenfreude. Again, I’m with Bob Dole: wake me when the media circus is over.
