Deep thoughts, cheap shots, and bon mots: XI

So I've taken my last road trip as a driver. I just don't have the patience for the stupidity on the highways. A nice Thanksgiving holiday in Reno was ruined by the SIX HOUR drive to get back. Yes, there were a lot of cars on the road, but said roads were clear, and the crawling, stop-and-go (mostly stop) traffic was due solely to the bovine ignorance of drivers moving back and forth among the lanes, trying to "gain" a little ground. I mean, seriously, how stupid can you be to not realize that by blocking/slowing down traffic to move back and forth between the lanes YOU are what's causing the slowdown? Doi!

And don't get me started on the COMPLETE ignorance regarding proper use of the left lane on the highway. The cluelessness, selfishness, etc. of fat heads who just troll along in the left lane when people keep passing them on the right is both astonishing and disgusting. I made Kyle promise to lobotomize me if I ever suggest another road trip where I'm doing the driving!

Is it just all the boomers turnings into timid old geezers on the road or what? Ugh!

As for Reno, it is what it is - a poor man's Vegas, but driving distance to SF! I did do my first ever BLACK FRIDAY while there, but had no problems. Probably mostly coz I waited until after 11am! But I hit Best Buy, Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target and only had a "real" wait at Michaels of all places!

Can't imagine ever doing the insanity of getting up at 3/4 am, so maybe that's why it was a bit of a letdown, but it's a letdown I can live with!

Back on the home front:

Oh. My. God. That new football coach on Glee looks exactly like the Ugly Stepsister in the Shrek movies. Anyone know if they planned that?

I don’t know which is the worst of this trio: The idea that Bristol Palin would even be considered a “star” and thus “eligible” to “compete” on Dancing With the Stars, or the idea that there would be a “conspiracy” to keep her voted on (she’s “scoring” the lowest, by god!), or the fact that so many people would even care! I mean, seriously, if people took the time and energy they expended on such ludicrous subjects as this and devoted it to volunteering or trying to better themselves in some way, maybe this country wouldn’t be so fucked up.

And spare me the outrage over the TSA’s new screening procedures. If they had happened to implement this while a Republican were in office, there’d be no outcry—or, excuse me, the outcry would be SHOUTED DOWN BY DITTOHEADS AND BECK FREAKS BECAUSE BY GOD WE NEED TO BE SAFE AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT YOU CAN LEAVE, COMMIE GACK RAGE SLOBBER RANT SHRIEK HATE HATE HATE!!

Now the Wikileaks on the other hand - what fun! I mean, seriously, who is surprised at ANY of the "revelations?" Hell, there's shit we know about that's worse and we never really did anything about it (like, say, illegally selling arms to our enemy Iran, and then using that money to illegally go around Congress to fund gangsters in Nicaragua and so on). MAYBE, just maybe, this country's "diplomats/leaders" wouldn't do so much fucked up shit if they knew it would all come out. Oh wait, we actually torture people now, so I guess it really doesn't matter if it's leaked or not.

You know, I almost started to possibly think about maybe trying to talk myself into seeing that movie “127 Hours.” I’m sure it’s good—I like the Director, I like James Franco, etc. But I know I could not deal with the amputation scene. I mean, I have a STRONG will to live, but man-oh-man I don’t know that I’d be able to do that (shudder)--let alone watch someone else do it!

Even though I was on Facebook from its very early days, I have to say I’m astonished at how ubiquitous it is now. Particularly in terms of advertisers using it in “product placement” ways – and by encouraging you to “Like” their product on Facebook. Has any business ever had so many other businesses promoting it, providing free advertising, helping to expand its reach, etc.?? It’s astonishing.

As for Wiki-leaks again, the best part about the whole thing is the guy who started it says he's next going after Big Business! Yay!

Oklahoma Postcard

While I rarely think about it (mostly because of the lack of storms in SF), one thing I really do miss from Oklahoma is thunderstorms. When we had one in SF the other night, it took me awhile to figure out what the hell was going on. I heard the thunder 2-3 times before I got up to look out my window and glare at whatever massive trucks kept rumbling down Hyde, only to be greeted with a crack of bright white lightning – followed by another boom of thunder. All alone, I actually gasped and said “Ooooh!” aloud – as excited as a 10-year-old-girl finding a real live pony under the Christmas tree!

Then it got even better. The flashes of lightning were SO bright, I was literally standing there slack-jawed; I probably looked about as stupid as a Kentucky voter.

Truth be told, I appreciate the “good” things about growing up mostly in Oklahoma. That slow, safe pace of life; an appreciation for “the simple things” in life; etc. And, of course, most importantly, home to the greatest college football program in the history of the game – and I’m not saying this just because I went to the University of Oklahoma. A comprehensive, objective analysis done by ESPN came to the same conclusion Sooner fans already knew: We’re Literally #1 all-time. So there! :)

But speaking of storms making an impression, I just last week read a Smithsonian Magazine special issue of travel writing. Paul Theroux wrote about his cross-country trip by car. Here’s the section of the article wherein he drives through Oklahoma:

Wide-eyed, because it was my first look at the heartland, I saw Oklahoma as a ravishing pastoral, widely spaced towns proclaiming on enormous billboards their local heroes: Erick ("Home of Roger Miller, King of the Road"); Elk City ("Home of Miss America, 1981"). And at Yukon ("Home of Garth Brooks"), I could have hung a left and driven down Garth Brooks Boulevard.

I had always associated this part of America with dramatic weather—tornados, searing heat, thunderstorms. My expectations were met as dark pinnacles of storm clouds massed in the big sky ahead, creamy and marbled at their peaks and almost black below. This was not just a singular set of clouds but an entire storm front, visible in the distance and as wide as the plains—I could not see where it began or ended. The storm was formally configured, as a great iron-dark wall, as high as the sky, bulking over the whole of western Oklahoma, it seemed: the vertical clouds like darkening watchtowers.

This was fearsome and satisfying, especially the croaky weather warnings interrupting the music on the radio. I approached the towering storm and was soon engulfed by hail, wind and dark curtains of rain slashing across the flooded road. There was nowhere to stop, so I just slowed down, with everyone else. After an hour, I had passed through this wall of weather and was entering the dry, sunlit outskirts of Oklahoma City.

This relatively young city—it dates only from 1890—a tidy, welcoming place of broad streets, has a reputation for being God-fearing and hard-working ("Work Conquers All" is the state motto). Since 1995 the city has been known for one traumatic event, the bomb outrage by the murderer Timothy McVeigh, who had drifted here from Kingman, parking a rental truck full of explosives that leveled the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, many of them women and children. The site was walking distance from my downtown hotel. Surrounded by trees, with some of the bomb-cracked walls still standing, the memorial is the most peaceful and spiritual place in the city.

"Everyone who was in the city has a memory of it," D. Craig Story, a local attorney, told me. "I was 50 blocks away in my office that morning. I had just picked up the phone to make a call. The big window of my office bowed in—didn't break but looked like it was going to turn into a bubble, the air pushing it. The sound of the blast came a few seconds later. Then the news of it."

I said, "This seems like the last place such a thing would happen."

"That was one of the reasons. At first we had no idea why we were chosen for this. But it was because this is such a quiet place. Trust. Good people. No security. Very simple to gain access—to park a truck in a street, even at a federal building, then walk away. We were the easiest target." He shook his head. "So many children..."

Leaving Oklahoma City past the Kickapoo Casino, through Pottawatomie County and the towns of Shawnee and Tecumseh, I came to Checotah and passed a billboard, "Home of Carrie Underwood—American Idol 2005," and wondered whether billboards, like bumper stickers, suggested the inner life of a place. Farther east another billboard advised in large print: "Use the Rod on Your Child and Save Their Life."

And then there’s the State Fair. If anything besides family would ever drag me back to Oklahoma, it’d be the State Fair. I remember when I was living in Northern California for the first time, and went to the California State Fair. I naively believed just because California was bigger, is “all that,” that their state fair would be exponentially better. Well, it was exponentially, all right—exponentially worse. Small. Unbearably hot (Really? Sacramento in August? That’s the best you can do?), with a midway out on an asphalt paved parking lot with NO greenery whatsoever, etc. Very disappointing.

And while the musical/movie “State Fair” was written with the Iowa State Fair in mind, the Oklahoma State Fair is part of that same “class” of Fair. Of course, Oklahoma is the only state to have an eponymous Broadway musical. And a darned good one! :)

Now folks who’ve grown up in your San Franciscos and your New Yorks probably don’t feel like they’re missing much by not having an awesome state fair, the preeminent college football team in the country, thunderstorms, and their own Broadway musical, but then most “Okies” find it hard to appreciate the “virtues” of an urban metropolis (e.g., the diversity, the “hustle & bustle,” the varied cultural offerings, etc.), which is where I think “nature” plays a role: some folks are just “wired” to appreciate one culture/lifestyle more than the other.

But during this Thanksgiving holiday, I want to give thanks for the fact that I was able to spend a significant amount of time in both a "red" and a "blue" state - and can thus appreciate both (well, some aspects). Happy Thanksgiving!

To Afghanistan & Back

Funny Times Interviews Ted Rall and Matt Bors (from the November 2010 Issue of Funny Times).

In August, three cartoonists embarked on a month-long journey to Afghanistan, the frontlines of an American military/industrial/political quagmire, to gather an alternate and uncensored view of what the hell is really going on. Regular Funny Times contributors Ted Rall and Matt Bors, along with Steven Cloud, traveled as unembedded journalists, without security or the support of any major media organization, to get an up-close look at Afghan life nine years after the U.S. invasion. They brought a lot of sketchbooks.

Ted Rall was able to raise $25,000 in seed money for the trip by tapping into his fan base via the website Kickstarter.com. Hundreds of people donated small amounts to support sending Rall to Afghanistan, "though," he said, "I'm not sure how many really wanted to pay for me to come back." Rall later enrolled Bors and Cloud to accompany him, "because as dangerous as it is to travel in Afghanistan, it's even more dangerous to travel alone."

Entering from Tajikistan and leaving through Iran (where they were the first Americans to be granted a visa to cross the Afghanistan-Iran border in decades), they traveled throughout the north, away from the major fighting near the Pakistan border. But the Taliban's infiltration of formerly calm provinces caused them to alter plans more than once, forcing them to fly over areas where no Afghan would drive them -- for any amount of money.

Funny Times: What do you think is the most important thing that Americans should know about Afghanistan that isn't getting reported?

Ted Rall: There is lots of reporting from Afghanistan, but it's so obsessively focused on U.S. troops that it is effectively useless. Oddly, the war is irrelevant to the lives of the Afghan people. It's possible to spend day after day, even in major cities, without ever seeing a U.S. or NATO soldier. Most of the battles occur in remote areas near the Pakistani border. And there are virtually no independent reporters traveling un-embedded.

The main takeaway is that the U.S. isn't even trying to provide basic security for the Afghan people. American forces have the technology and Afghans have the intelligence necessary to stop the neo-Taliban and their new criminal gangster allies. But they aren't lifting a finger to do so. As a result, the Afghan people are being terrorized -- and not only by them, but by the Afghan National Police, who are hopelessly corrupt, underpaid, and underequipped.

FT: What were the people's attitudes there about Americans? How were you received as an American, or is that something that you avoided mentioning?

Matt Bors: Afghans love Americans regardless of what they think of our government. Unlike many Americans, they are able to separate people from the actions of their government, probably a result of a lifetime of repressive and corrupt governments that never paid attention to the people's needs. They assume it's like that here. I don't disagree.

FT: Cartoonists in Afghanistan? What were you thinking?

Bors: Why not? I couldn't think of a good reason not to go other than fear of dying, which I didn't think should prevent me from going someplace as interesting and important as Afghanistan. I'm sure I'll get hit by a Tram now that I'm home safe in Portland.

FT: Matt, you'd never traveled anywhere outside the U.S. before, even to Canada. Why would you choose to have your first overseas travel be a trip to Afghanistan?

Bors: Ted asked me to go with him. So I did. I've been drawing about, reading about and thinking about Afghanistan for the last nine years. It was time to get an up-close, unfiltered look at the place for myself. Besides, Ramadan during August and the height of the counterinsurgency -- what's not to like?

FT: After this experience do you think you'll ever go out of the country again?

Bors: Yes. I'd like to visit other war-torn hellholes that my country has invaded and report back on what I see. The main problem is figuring out how to pay for it. But I'm determined to head into some other conflict zones at some point. Some day I may even take a real vacation.

FT: Ted, you wrote To Afghanistan and Back about your experiences as an embedded journalist during the invasion of 2001. What changes did you notice in the country since your last trip?

Rall: Actually, there was no embedding program in 2001. I was independent; lived with locals. In fact, what happened to my convoy -- three of my fellow journalists were killed, others seriously wounded -- was a big part of the reason the Pentagon came up with the embedding program.

Infrastructure is a big change. Back in 2001, it was the 14th century: no electricity, no food, no water, no phones, no businesses, no nothing. Donkeys were the principal form of transport. Now there are cell phones, cars, and the donkeys are gone. Electricity four hours a day might not sound like much, but it's enough time to charge your devices. Technology makes it easier for travelers, and also for Afghans. I know that their lives have improved in that respect.

On the other hand, the high spirits and hopefulness I saw in 2001 are gone. They know the neo-Taliban will be running things next year or by 2012, that the rapists will be ruling the nights again as they did pre-1996. Afghans are staring into the abyss. They're scared and angry and know the future looks bleak.

FT: What was the scariest moment of this trip?

Bors: Using the bathroom after Ted. Also, there was a night when we were unceremoniously kicked off of a Lithuanian Provincial Reconstruction Team base, ending the only few hours we ever interacted with any soldiers during the trip. They drove us in a convoy of Hummers to the local, bullet-riddled hotel in the middle of the night, alerting the entire town to our presence. As they drove us, the only thing I could think about was how ironic it would be to get IED'd during the only drive we took escorted by armed guards.

Rall: On a lark, we tried to crash at that Lithuanian-run base in Chaghcheran. They said yes, but then changed their minds in the middle of the night and threw us out. To make things worse, they escorted us to an unsecured hotel full of hard Talib-looking guys. There was nowhere to go. We were stuck there for three days, knowing that we could be kidnapped at any moment. It was low-grade terror. We went about our business and hoped for the best. Worrying wouldn't have accomplished anything, so we didn't.

FT: What was the funniest thing that happened to you in Afghanistan?

Bors: At our hotel room in Chaghcheran we were attacked by at least 50,000 flies. I might be exaggerating slightly there, but not by much. They flew in our eyeballs, flew in our ears when we were trying to sleep. Eventually we were driven mad and started laughing hysterically and making up crazy stories about the flies, kind of like how crazy people in insane asylums act. You had to be there. But I'm glad you weren't.

Rall: The bargaining was always the craziest and funniest thing ever. In Afghanistan, a deal is never a deal. You settle on a price for a good or service -- a meal, a taxi ride, hotel room, whatever -- and you shake on it. Then, after you receive it, they demand twice as much as you all agreed. When you balk, they yell at you until you pony up more dough. What's funny is that, by American standards, they have no leverage. After all, you've already eaten the meal or stayed in the room or been delivered to your destination. And you're leaving town. And yet, it works. It drove Matt and Steve crazy. I thought it was funny watching their response to this perfidy.

FT: What was the high point of the trip for you?

Bors: The whole thing, really. To tell you the truth, most of the time it was very boring. It would take a day to drive from town to town, the heat was insane and I was seriously sick for a week of the trip. It was dusty and smelly and uncomfortable. But it was also the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life. There were moments where we would be walking the streets, meeting Afghans, making plans, changing plans and just making up the trip as we went along. More than a few times I couldn't believe I was actually in the thick of it, in Afghanistan.

Rall: Watching Matt and Steve's faces as we boarded a 1950s vintage Soviet-made Yak-10 out of Kabul airport.

FT: Did you go into any areas controlled by the Taliban? Did you talk to any people who you suspected of being Taliban?

Rall: Yes, we frequently passed through areas controlled by the Taliban. It might be more accurate to call them \"not controlled by the government.\" The Taliban come and go in areas with low government presence. Anyway, yes, we talked to people I'm pretty sure were sympathetic to or were actual members of the Taliban.

FT: Who are the new Taliban?

Rall: They're the madrassa kids, alienated twentysomethings looking for a mission in life. Unlike the old Taliban, they have little sense of destiny or religion. They're amoral and dangerous.

FT: What was your sense of the people of Afghanistan's relationship to the Taliban?

Bors: In the north they didn't seem to like them all that much, but they never have. The Pashtun south is where the Taliban draws support. The Taliban has been coming in on motorcycles and terrorizing the countryside, essentially imposing their will, intimidating people in the countryside, attacking police and setting up a shadow government. It's to the point where Afghans don't want to leave the cities for fear of running into them.

FT: Where did all our U.S. taxpayer money go?

Bors: Afghans ask that question all the time. We dump tons of money into contractors who, if they build anything of use, don't usually employ Afghans, plus overcharge and steal. Money given to the government is put on planes by Karzai's friends and flown out of the country.

FT: How much longer will it be before we declare victory and leave? Or do you see some other scenario playing out?

Bors: Obama may try to do that during his term. They want to make sure the Karzai regime won't completely collapse so we can achieve the nominal victory, which is how we end all wars since Vietnam. But we will never leave entirely. It was recently revealed by Bob Woodward that Obama is operating a secret CIA-led Afghan paramilitary group to conduct a ground war in Pakistan as well as his drastic increase in predator drone strikes. This is where the "bad guys" are, but our continued assaults only seem to radicalize more people as we kill innocents and back corrupt governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Rall: We'll be largely out of there by the end of 2011, I guess. Obama can't go into a reelection campaign with this albatross around his neck.

For many more cartoons and insights from their epic journey, go to the Afghanistan Cartoon Blog at Rall.com and the August Archives of Matt Bors blog at Mattbors.com.

The Social Network

Why Watching “The Social Network” is Just Like Watching a Car Accident in Slow Motion: coz it's fascinating, absolutely fascinating – but in an appalling, uncomfortable way that is nevertheless still morbidly fascinating.

What the movie says, or holds a mirror up to, about class, sexism, greed, celebrity worship (and here, like the movie, I use the term “celebrity” very loosely—almost as loosely as Sean Parker uses his morals), emotional intelligence (or lack thereof), Capitalism, American narcissism, and more is both refreshing and appalling.

And the good news is, if all of the above ills aren’t in your country already, don’t worry they’re soon to be exported to you at no charge (well, technically no charge).

While the movie is also refreshingly smart, luckily for us, the mainstream media just boils it down to a simple Facebook App: Mark Zuckerman – Good or Bad? Frankly, I’m surprised this movie is doing as well as it is—I know for many people it’s simply the “zoo” factor of wanting to see how this guy made/stole Facebook.

But the movie is also very smart, with multiple layers of “truth,” fascinating character studies, intensive & intelligent dialogue/word play (two words for you, SueLin, if you haven’t seen it yet: Aaron Sorkin), a sometimes hard-to-follow structure, etc. Frankly, I’m just surprised so many people (insert Facebook thumbs up graphic here) it.

I think one of the best things the movie did was help illustrate the difference between “book smarts” and “emotional smarts” – Mark Zuckerman is obviously very, very smart in terms of “book learnin’ type smarts.” But, my god, if there’s any person alive and not medicated or institutionalized with less “emotional smarts” I’d be scared to meet them.

And while, in the end, I do “agree” that Mark Zuckerman is an asshole, I also believe – like a typical liberal – that it’s understandable how/why he does the things he does. Does that “excuse” him from being held accountable when he does “bad” things? Of course not. And, in the end, as everyone knows, he paid a price for his arrogance—what amounts to, in Capitalist America, a fine for being an asshole. Case closed.

As for whether or not he “stole” Facebook from the Winkelvoss Twins….I’m sorry, let me pause right here. The Winkelvoss Twins! See? It’s names/characters like these that illustrate how “real life” is still more fascinating than that artificially constructed crap called “Reality TV.”

Another aside: great line from Aaron Sorkin when discussing the movie with Stephen Colbert. He said something to the effect of “Facebook is to real social interaction as reality TV is to reality.”

Anyway, back to the Winkelvoss Twins. One of the best lines in the movie is when Zuckerberg is talking to someone about whether or not he “stole” Facebook from the Winkelvoss Twins (I just love saying those two words in my mind – Winkelvoss Twins. I guess it helps that they’re attractive, God Bless America!), and he says "If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

IMHO, it’s pretty obvious what happened: This brilliant kid (and he was just a kid!) took a good idea, blew it up and made it his own , fell in with a bad crowd (Sean Parker of Napster notoriety) and screwed some people over – including his only real friend apparently and made enough money to pay off the people he stepped on along the way. Well, boo hoo if you don’t like it, that’s America, baby! That’s how we roll, bitches! And if you don’t like it, you can go live in Communist China! So there!

Besides, I don’t know who said it, but there are few original thoughts these days. For instance, all “edumicated” folks these days know that the Wright brothers didn’t “invent” airplanes or flying – nor were they even the first to do either. But it’s the American way to accept the version provided by whomever puts together the best marketing job early on – for the gold standard in this type of ability see Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus (the scales fell from his eyes in the sound of “ka-ching!”).

Which brings us to the ongoing conflict in America between its role as not only the flagbearer for Capitalism but also the flagbearer for religious zealotry—and not just Christianity. While some religions (e.g., Scientology) actually embrace filthy lucre, most of them—ostensibly—have historically condemned money—or, at the very least, an unhealthy obsession with it. Particularly Christianity.

And yet here we are, the greediest populace on the planet and yet also the most heavily self-identified moralistic populace on the planet. But that’s a whole other subject that even “The Social Network” wasn’t able to address.

Election Reflections and What to Do Now

It’s as difficult to express as it is to believe: the astonishing depths that the political and governing processes have sunk to in this country. Artificial constructs (i.e., corporations) have human rights and can basically buy elections while two boys can’t kiss for fear of being bullied into suicide; people are allowed to vote even though they ignorantly swallow the most preposterous lies—or, worse yet, know about the lies but don’t care just because they could see themselves having a beer with the guy.

The scariest thing is things will continue to devolve—it’s only a matter of time before they start impeachment proceedings. The cynicism and hypocrisy is so stupefyingly appalling as to be basically inconceivable—or at least, you wouldn’t want to try and understand it coz you’d probably go insane if you’re a decent human being.

And that brings me to the single most disgusting aspect of the GOP and the people that vote for them. They bray incessantly about their “Christian values” while they consistently vote against the pillars of Christian values: helping the lesser among us, loving everyone, not worshiping money, etc. To see those ignorant Tea Party yokels wrapped in their Christian virtue while foaming at the mouth at the idea that someone might get something for free (food or health care or whatever) just makes me want to wrap my hands around their tremendously fat throats and squeeze the ignorance out of them. Oh, oops, excuse me.

That “Family Values” Christian Congressman in Louisiana is Exhibit A: he trafficked with hookers and was STILL re-elected—undoubtedly with an overwhelming percentage of the votes of self-identified Christians. Proven breaker of at least 2 commandments, but by golly he hates them there queers so…

Oklahoma is like the poster child for this: both of their Senators are, frankly, evil hateful old bastards who are a shame to the human race. They’re tremendous haters, work hard to defeat any kind of legislation that will give something to a fellow human being, etc. etc. etc., yet call themselves Christian and smugly and cynically manipulate people into voting for them with platitudes and falsehoods. They’re despicable beyond belief, and a classic example of why I no longer live in Oklahoma. In fairness, I know many wonderful, caring, fabulous people in Oklahoma but that just makes me even sadder to see them lumped in with the other yahoos.

Tea Party kook Rand Paul, who doesn’t believe in ANY government regulation now represents a state where an astonishingly large number of miners die every year. In other words, just because of jingoism and either cluelessness or evil, Kentuckians basically voted to help ensure more of their fellow citizens would die. I guess you guys just told Obama what’s what!

But in the end, what makes it most appalling is that ultimately, supposedly, this is a referendum on the economy, and enough people are still so incredibly clueless about the facts that they vote against their own interests!

Facts bear out that the U.S. economy does much better, overall, under Democratic administrations. And yet, once again, incredibly, the Republicans waved the flag around, demonized the queers, mocked the giving Democrats, and convinced people to return them to power to continue the complete dismantling of America’s moral authority as a nation that began with Reagan. Congratulations!

I was silly/hopeful enough after attending the SF Rally to Restore Sanity, and after seeing the huge turnout in DC, to think that the reactionary forces were overblown or would be beaten back. Oh well.

Thank god the Giants won the Series. I’ve never lived in a city while the local team was winning a series. It’s pretty cool. The one bright spot.

In the end, the media shoulders a huge chunk of the blame. I won’t even go into Fox news – they are so contemptible and w/o integrity they don’t even deserve to be called a media outlet. But it’s not like the others are any better: MSNBC is trying to be just like Fox on the other extreme.

The state of the media is best summed up in the opening paragraph of Chapter 7, The Media: Democracy's Guardian Angel from “America” the spoof textbook from Comedy Central. To whit:

"A free and independent press is essential to the health of a functioning democracy. It serves to inform the voting public on matters relevant to its well-being. Why they've stopped doing that is a mystery. I mean, 300 camera crews outside a courthouse to see what Kobe Bryant is wearing when the judge sets his hearing date, while false information used to send our country to war goes unchecked? What the fuck happened? These spineless cowards in the press have finally gone too far. They have violated a trust. "Was the president successful in convincing the country?" Who gives a shit? Why not tell us if what he said was TRUE? And the excuses. My God, the excuses! "Hey, we just give the people what they want." "What can we do, this administration is secretive." "But the last season of Friends really is news." The unmitigated gall of these weak-willed...You're supposed to be helping us, you indecent piles of shit! I...fuck it. Just fuck it..."

For suggestions on what to do, check out this excellent piece from the head of CREDO:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kieschnick/10-steps-to-take-now-afte_b_778429.html