I hate t.v. news. It's 2% news and 98% obnoxious ads for things I never want, hawked by people who are constantly yelling - and yes, I'm speaking to you, Mr. Oxyclean with the dyed-too-dark beard. I can listen to NPR only when I'm the car, which makes getting dressed and listening to the news largely unworkable. That said, since the gym gets lousy radio reception, I did watch the morning news today as I gamely attempted to stave off the coming obesity, finding myself lumbering about on a treadmill at our local Gold's Gym. (Me, and one hundred men, mostly bears, and perhaps one or two lesbians and/or German women.)
I always sound like Jane Craig (Holly Hunter in Broadcast News, one of the best movies everrr), when I'm watching CNN or MSNBC in the morning and they show a clip of something which is not informative, not illustrative of a larger issue and not otherwise affecting my life.
To wit: this morning a woman was interviewed because her trailer had tumbled over the side of the interstate. Was it a tornado? A metaphor-laden weather system commenting on the current economic crisis? No. This woman had been evicted from the trailer park and the sheriff had demanded she move the trailer. The woman gives $200 to a guy named Pumpkin to move said trailer but the trailer got stuck on the interstate where it was blocking traffic, which is the sort of thing that will happen when you hire a housecat to do a man's job. The sheriff then swoops in with two tractors and they attempt to push the trailer off the highway but instead of sliding, the trailer goes ass over tea kettle, landing in a crumpled heap of pink insulation, cheap cookware and a tattered GED. CNN shows all of this - in HD, no less - and then they interview the woman: "That's my house! I know it ain't look like much but it's my home! It WAS my home..."
Yes, but it's not NEWS. They only showed it because there was tape of it, and because it's vastly more entertaining than the fact that the White House had apparently told Congress that it had $25 billion that it could give to the Big 3 automakers, suggesting strongly that the mattresses in the White House need to be given a thorough once-over because suddenly I'm thinking, where does the White House get money like that? And why is it just lying around? And what do you mean: you can just bail out other business with non-TARP funds? Seriously?
But again, I'm unclear on the details because the crawl ended before CNN cut to a commercial for Active-On.
I HATE t.v. news.
