With the Iraqi government taking historic steps towards carving out a peaceful future and Congress in session, a hot topic of conversation across the country is the runaway bride of John Mason and whether he’s a fool for wanting her back. To say that cable news jumped the shark with this latest obsession would be a lie, as it’s definitely happen already. What we’re witnessing now is the kind of transformation the talk show arena experienced years ago. One day America was watching Phil Donaghue facilitate a discussion on postpartum depression, when a network executive or two came up with the idea of pushing the envelope with an edgy, in your face format. Soon the social issues were scraped and replaced instead with cheating transvestite crackheads pulling off each other’s wigs on the Jerry Springer show.
Network suits were responsible for this, as they are the current state of 24-hour ‘news’ in our country. The metamorphosis that took place with the talk shows is happening to drive-thru news right before our eyes, and like everything in the ratings vacuum, they’ll eventually go too far and be forced to stop wasting our time. How soon before this happens will eventually come down to a matter of taste. And while disgust is an emotion America can now feel collectively on cue, unfortunately it’s the ‘drive-thru news’ outlets that generally light this fire within us. With this being the case, outside influences will have to serve as the proverbial bucket of ice water. Something’s got to give, because the difference between Jerry Springer and you’re average cable news talking head is he doesn’t insult our intelligence by pretending his show is something that it’s not.
Surely there are times and places for quenching our thirst for bad behavior, and like mixing politics and religion, combining the Jerry Springer show and news is a bad idea. What it does is provide comfort to those of us who make our own mistakes and want to feel better about ourselves. Remembering that bad decision to spend four hundred bucks on an idea to get rich selling Amway products doesn’t feel so bad after seeing an entrepreneur/car thief get their face smashed to the pavement on an episode of Cops. Just like the relief an unhappily married couple feels seeing a woman who faked her death and ran away rather than walk down the aisle. The difference though, is that Cops comes on the channel that also shows reruns of Married With Children, whereas the hours of in-depth segments concerning the runaway bride are sandwiched between acts of Congress and updates on the war in Iraq.
Truth being, the 24-hour news channels have an opportunity to actually inform us of what’s going on in government. The hours of airtime are ripe for interviews with legislators and the bills they’re intending on passing. Instead we get the same hack ‘experts’ who are called up and handed points of view to holler at one another concerning an issue that more than likely is of little to no consequence in the grand scheme. The business is now defined by a never-ending mining operation for stories that can get people talking about anything other than government. Unfortunately, relevance has been in market decline, and the runaway bride is just another example.
I concur the runaway bride story has been a waste of airtime very Springer-esqe. I think the reason is people are tuning out the artificially negative media coverage of Iraq. I’ve been angry at the news for exploiting the deaths of the men and women of our armed forces but using the shock value as an attention getter.
It’s always the same old story, rodeside bomb kills # of soldiers, can Democracy gain a hold in Iraq? Maybe this was a revolt by the public forcing journalists to cover a substandard story as punishment for their substandard reporting of international events.
There is no “side” to a runaway bride that effects the future of America. You can be for the guy in that we praise his ability to forgive or you can be against the guy for being dumb enough to take her back. Mostly, you just sit back and laugh. No one shitting on our Nation, our culture, our society, our government, our military, our judicial system our religion or our way of life.
Since the media refuses to report the good stuff that happens in life we will force them to waste their 2nd rate journalism skills on a 3rd rate story thus looking like fools.
the runaway bride is a role model, if more women who were about to marry a tool ran away the divorce rate would be much lower.
What would you rather see happen Right? If a roadside bomb explodes and kills 20, are you arguing that it should not be reported? I’ve been presented this argument before that the liberals who run the news organizations (who these people are…what their names happen to be, nobody knows), they’re being presented a positive piece and a negative piece…so they decide to run the negative piece fifteen times and the good piece goes in the garbage.
I don’t buy it. If it happened, and the headline on the paper says it happened, there are some conservatives I know who blame the paper for printing it rather than blaming the bomber for setting it off. If it happens, are we not supposed to know about it?
The mechanism behind blaming a liberal media for bad news is the same as a discussion I’m having in another blog about how this one person feels any bad news being reported is just proof that someone doesn’t like Bush. The premise is that there’s first and unlevel playing field, and second that the folks reporting are simply ‘playa-haters’. Worse though, it allows a good number of poeple to simply assume that the headlines are false or unimportant. It’s a decision made to simplify life rather than contemplate the more unattractive elements of it.
Now on this score I agree, but noone ever gets to the root of the problem. Are stories being written and not printed? Are there no stories? If so, why aren’t there stories? Rupert Murdoch’s operation at Fox News complains the most about this, yet where the stories from his organization? If you complain about it, but choose not to spend the money to actually go out and get the story you claim your competition is ignoring…I thought that’s what ‘news’ was all about.
Covering stories from Iraq costs a lot of money, and the conservative element who complains about bad headlines have a choice to send reporters over there to seek out the kind of stories they feel are being ignored, but it doesn’t happen.
So either there aren’t enough of those stories to be found in that country, or the argument of there being a ‘liberal media elite’ works well enough, so why should they waste the money? I don’t know about the first one, but I’m convinced of the second one.
The divorce rate is as much the fault of men in relationships as women. If more women left their men standing at the alter looking like a jerk, the divorce rate wouldn’t change.
I don’t think the news organizations meant for this to be a message to go along with the story. I think it was all about it being unique and capable of eating up air time.
Runaway Bride, Michael Jackson, etc. are over reported to distract us all from Iraq.
Runaway Bride, Michael Jackson, etc. are over reported to distract us all from Iraq.
By Jackie May 10th, 2005 at 9:47 pm e
I think you’re right in a sense Jackie – the thing I wonder about though is whether it’s all ratings based, and if so, are we being exploited or just given what the majority of us want? The cable news vaccuum is becoming what I consider to be a detriment to our country’s ability to govern itself. Since there is no regulated clasification of what can be called ‘news’, the networks are able to slap the label on just about anything they want to.
Are they making slaves out of us?
Chris…I can only assume you are referring to me when you say: “how this one person feels any bad news being reported is just proof that someone doesn’t like Bush.”
I would appreciate it if you linked your post to the actual exchange when you use it here. I fear you mischaracterized my ascertation…and it will be alot more clear if people actually read it. It actually is more about the person who uses bad news as a political ammo than it is about the bad news. It is a cundrum that i observed, bad news for our coutry, is good news for democrats.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Political-Paridise/browse_thread/thread/d0b7520d738ff696/49139640bc7a7646?hl=en#49139640bc7a7646
Breaze, you’re absolutely right. Please accept my humble appology for not citing a reference. I’m still learning when it comes to running a blog, and when citing the point of view of someone within the community it’s only right that when I refer to a point of view that belongs to you, I cite the reference so the reader can make up their own mind.
I’ll be sure to keep this in mind going forward. It’s your intellectual property, and for me to have twisted it for my own purposes on a seperate issue was wrong.
Thanks for leaving your fingerprints on the site! It’s nice having folks I mix it up with elsewhere on the net posting here. Especially a conservative who doesn’t always preface their comments with how I’m an idiot liberal…the right-wing blogs I frequent are notorious for that. Political Paradise is excellent in terms of how civil we treat one another. I’ve got a link to our Paradise group on deadissue’s front page. I was thinking of pasting our discussion from Paradise over to this site…on the latest article. What do you think about that? Continuing on with the discussion in Paradise, then pasting the discourse over to here after the thread has grown a bit.
Not sure about protocol when it comes to this…
Sorry again for that Breaze, won’t happen again. Hope to see you around here often.
I have two words,Sweeps week.
Runaway Bride, Michael Jackson, etc. are over reported to distract us all from Iraq.
I couldn’t disagree more. Michael Jackson is on trail for serial molestation in addition to other charges and he is a huge celebrity. America loves celebrity which explains why the tabloids such as National Enquirer, The Sun and The New York Times (wink to Chris)
do so well.
People know the liberal media is out to get Bush and won’t print anything good about Iraq and so they would prefer to hear about the runaway bride because maybe some truth will be reported about that.
Or maybe they found she voted for Bush and are trying to ruin her life. Either way, Iraq is not the only thing that is happening in the world and I know I don’t want to hear a bunch or liberal propaganda so I’ll go where the real news is.
It’s just not that important. I don’t think he’s getting as much coverage as Scott Peterson did. None of these cases matter on a national level besides the tendency of people to look at a car wreck as they pass by. It’s of little consequence in reality to anyone but the parties involved.
This is a myth. It’s a nice way to justify ignoring certain things when it’s convenient. I remembered today the politics following the bombings of our embasies in Africa…I found myself on 24 hour guard duty Christmas Day thanks to that…but the attack plans of Clinton were countered at every step with, ‘No War For Monica’. We were attacked, but any response according to the media would have been about Lewinski.
Was that the ‘liberal media’ as well? The last years of Clinton’s presidency was a focused attack that centered around the same thing from start to finish. Republicans stretched it out as far as it would go, with the media following suit – yet when it’s time to categorize which way the media is slanted, the only word you hear is ‘liberal’.
I think it’s more about ‘if you say something long enough, people think it’s true’ than it is a true assessment of the media in the role it plays in American politics today.
You’re not serious about this Right…are you? Your point of view is that nothing of what you hear or read on Iraq is worth consideration at all? Why? How can a factual news release detailing an attack that took place be of no value to someone like you or I?
I don’t understand how it’s irrelevant or wrong in any way.
You’re not serious about this Right…are you? Your point of view is that nothing of what you hear or read on Iraq is worth consideration at all? Why? How can a factual news release detailing an attack that took place be of no value to someone like you or I?
I’ll tell ya, when you hear from many sources first hand about what is going on over there (family and friends in the military) and then you see what the media let’s filter through you kinda get numb to what media is trying to sell.
Why listen to half a story? All you’ll end up knowing is half a story and I would rather hear nothing at all than to know only half of the facts. I don’t wan to be imersed in a one sided view of things.
I found myself on 24 hour guard duty Christmas Day thanks to that…but the attack plans of Clinton were countered at every step with, ‘No War For Monica’. We were attacked, but any response according to the media would have been about Lewinski.
One one side you have said that Nixon was way worse than Clinton and that Clinton only had an affair. Well, it sounds like your mad at the people who investigated Clinton for the ethics violations and illegal activity. No war for monica wouldn’t have happened if there was no monica.
Clinton is responsible for his actions and everything that occurs because of those actions. I put the blame solely on Clinton that you had to stand around for 24 hours on Christmas because he couldn’t keep the salami in the package.
After Whitewater, Savings and Loan and the other stuff he and hilary were involved in I wanted the investigators to do their jobs. With all he was involved in we had a right to find out what other skeletons were in the closet.
Republicans stretched it out as far as it would go, with the media following suit – yet when it’s time to categorize which way the media is slanted, the only word you hear is ‘liberal’.
Because he was soo guilty, Slick Willy was diggin his own hole. A midget could highjump the ethical standards Clinton had set for himself. A fall from grace, if you will, by ones own demons is a lesson for us all.
Hey, you’ll be happy to know that Foxnews.com has separated the opinion form the news by making O’Reiley and Co. a pay for video service. Now you will be free to find out what is going on without the fear of accidentally receiving conservative content :- )
Hey, you’ll be happy to know that Foxnews.com has separated the opinion form the news by making O’Reiley and Co. a pay for video service. Now you will be free to find out what is going on without the fear of accidentally receiving conservative content :- )
By Right Thinker May 19th, 2005 at 9:16 pm e
FoxNews’s ratings have fallen like a rock since the election. People have gotten awfully sick of the hypocracy of ‘fair and balanced’.
What are you saying here about a video service? I’m looking it up, but what’s the deal w/ O’Rieley?
FoxNews’s ratings have fallen like a rock since the election. People have gotten awfully sick of the hypocracy of ‘fair and balanced’.
Really? Are you saying people are flocking to other news outlets or are all news outlets losing viewers. Well, I have to confess, I like the fair and balanced approach. I like getting several sides to an issue or just plain reading emotionally-free news. I don’t need someone else telling me what to think about something, I hate thos sneaky, snide comments and secret sources, ala NYT.
What are you saying here about a video service? I’m looking it up, but what’s the deal w/ O’Rieley?
At the botton of the page with Asman observer, Gibson, et. al., it used to be you would click and read their opnions but now it’s video clips and you have to be a paid subscriber.
When you’re in the military it’s essential to keep a frame of mind that you’re over there for a good reason and you’re winning. It’s an extremely personal thing and to be negative could mean the difference between life and death. I’m not a soldier anymore, and I don’t have to maintain a positive frame of mind about such things, but have the luxury of looking at it realistically. Cutting yourself off from the media outlets you don’t like is understandable, but if I were to post a link to NYTimes.com here – to disregard the information contained within automatically is…an intellectual crime. You’re depriving yourself from information that’s entirely pertinent.
Just as I’d read an article from FoxNews and take it for what it’s worth…the quotes, the first hand accounts…it’s all worth our time. Vetting what’s pertinent and what’s meant to install a point of view in our heads is part of it all. I rarely read an article and walk away with my point of view changed. That requires some thought and pondering…some pounding of the keys.
The embassy bombings had nothing to do with Monica. I was pissed as a soldier knowing that none of the stuff I was doing, none of what we were all going through mattered in the least. We weren’t some top-secret group of military elites, we weren’t but a brigade of combat arms units and an engineer batallion…and the embassies weren’t the world trade center…just a couple of embassies in a foreign land. What that taught me was this:
America doesn’t care about who dies where. It’s not about that…my base could have been blown up and the next day Republicans would have still been saying ‘No War For Monica’ while my charred remains were being sorted through for treasure. It doesn’t matter to this country that these things happen – and it doesn’t matter to these politicians either.
I was proud of the Democrats for not playing politics following 9/11, and it made me wonder why the same thing couldn’t have happened following the embassy bombings? Why was it that those deaths were worth less than those on 9/11? The same man was responsible, but when the embassy bombings took place, there was a Democrat in the White House…that’s the difference.
We see the same thing now. The ancors on FoxNews can say anything they want and the furthest it will go is MediaMatters.org. Meanwhile, Dan Rather and Newsweek are everywhere you turn. And Republicans will be saying it for years and years and years to come. Every time ‘media’ enters the discussion, Rather and Newsweek will be set off with a hair trigger. It’s some bitter hypocracy for me. It makes me feel like I did in Germany, like I was merely involved in a big game rather than part of a country that was truly ‘one nation, under God, indivisible’.
Right – what did they end up finding? It was a non-stop witch hunt, and the only reason it was allowed to happen was because of who was behind it. President Bush has done things during his time in office that Bill Clinton would have been cooked on a spit for. It’s unfolding right now, but him, Cheney and Rice absolutely worked off of a script and they trumped up the threat, essentially lied to us to get approval for their plans. There is a lot of money missing from Iraq…that’s in another thread though – I’ll pick this up over there.
I’m OK with finding out what happened, but it was overdone, and the media just followed along without a beat. The investigations made guys like Matt Drudge…who would otherwise be managing a WalMart right now most likely…a lot of money was wasted when it was all said and done. At the expense of a lot of people who needed the government to do it’s job at that time.
He cheated on his wife. I don’t approve of it, but it happens all the time in this country. Bush Sr. cheated on Barbara.
I honestly think that in hindsight, this is about the only shred of anything a Republican can hang onto when it comes to Clinton. The rest is speculation. The Republican Congress he had to work with was ultra-obstructionist.
The right-leaning media outlets are pushing the obstructionist angle hard when it comes to social security. They’re doing it because at this point, there’s no comparison between the Democrats and what Reuplicans did during the 90s obstructing Clinton.
When you think about it. Clinton had to work with that Congress and still was able to balance the budget – whereas Bush has a Congress full of people from his party, and the defecits are still rising. One had the ability to lead and manage people, and the other is basically a walking rubber stamp.
I was proud of the Democrats for not playing politics following 9/11, and it made me wonder why the same thing couldn’t have happened following the embassy bombings?
I speciffically wanted to address this because it’s important to me because of the military involvement of my family and it’s a very important piece of the puzzule as to why conservatives and centrists alike freaked out.
Bill Clinton killed any credibility with any of the people who do not share his exact views, if your not on the inside then your outside. Liberals were pissed and Republicans and moderates were bewildered.
Now, you have a guy in the White House, lying under oath, abusing his powers as preseident to cover up the scandal, who has had run ins with Whitewater and Savings and Loan and you wonder to yourself how did this guy get into office.
It’s all over the papers and tv then suddenly an embassy gets bombed and like a winner of the California lotto Clinton springs forth, thanks God for the luck and prepares for war. So now everyone, includin some of his own people might be thinking, what are his true motivations?
We’ll never 100% know about that because what everyone in America does know is Slick Willie is a professional con, a liar, he doesn’t know what the definition of the word “is” is. It’s not a stretch at all to conclude this is the kind of guy who would sacrafice soldiers to keep the heat off.
We know he fled to England or Canada or whatever to avoid th draft and he protected against the vietnam war so his love of the military sure isn’t wll known. Had the monica thing never had happened there would not be a Hurricane of suspicion surrounding his every move.
This is why it wasn’t “just sex” as some liberals knee jerk in response. Clinton hobbled the effectiveness of the Commander & Chief by demonstrating he is unreliable, unethical, desperate, coniving, unrepentant, undisciplined, unscrupulous, apathetic to the to stature of the office of the president and untrustworthy.
Clinton made America question his leadership and his fitness for the presidency, it’s amazing he wasn’t impeached but the liberal spin deflected a lot of the charges.
There is no one else to blame other than Bill Clinton himself because he created the environment in which all this stuff happened!!!!
Read the post above first.
Meanwhile, Dan Rather and Newsweek are everywhere you turn.
Foxnews hasn’t killed anyone or tried to swing a national election with fraud. HUGE difference from sharing an opinion.
Right – what did they end up finding?
Everyone but him went to jail. McDougals and others, the one guy died in prison but Clinton’s political ties kept him above the law. We’re seeing it again with Hillary’s fund raising scandal.
President Bush has done things during his time in office that Bill Clinton would have been cooked on a spit for.
It all goes back to reputaion. Bush wasn’t a conartist before he went into the white house. It’s like saying when I have a kid on my lap it’s ok but when a child molestor does it everyone flips out. Clintons history is well know, you can’t just ignore it.
He cheated on his wife. I don’t approve of it, but it happens all the time in this country.
Does it happen all the time to people who have nuclear launch codes or to people who, if blackmailed, could cause considerable harm to the country. Hell, there are thousands of pedophiles roaming the country on a daily basis, why pick on the Catholic church.
The presidency is a very important job, the president is not an ordinary guy you can run up to in a crowd and high five, you will be shot. If I were to cheat on my wife I’m sure the soviet parliment wouldn’t try to draft a bill asking my lover to satisfy my urges so I won’t go to war. I’m just some guy with no imfluence on the country or world events.
When did Bush Senior cheat on Barbara? This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this. No the NYT again.