THIS is the "Top Story" on CNN? The Secret Service guy in the background, posting this on Facebook and saying at the time, he was "checking out" Sarah Palin?
Don’t get me wrong with the tone of this post. The Secret Service / prostitution scandal is disgusting. The story about the GSA and what they spent on their Las Vegas meeting was disgusting. As representatives of the government both groups should have obviously known better. There’s no doubt people have the right to be upset about those stories.
However, in the big scheme of things…are these stories that REALLY deserve to be at the top of the headlines for the past 2 weeks? A bunch of guys visiting prostitutes? Yes, not good, but not exactly something that’s a shocking story. The GSA thing? Disgusting, but in terms of money, it’s less than $1 million. The point of this blog is that the media is SO focused on “gotcha” journalism, that the REALLY important stories are crowded out by what are, really, quite minor stories.
I go to CNN today, and at the time, the story at the VERY top was “Former Secret Service Agent Checked Out Palin”. Really, CNN? You couldn’t find anything better to have as your feature story this morning? A former Secret Service agent posting on Facebook that he “checked out” Sarah Palin? THIS is one of the top stories affecting Americans right now?
Oh, I get it, CNN, you’re milking this Secret Service thing for EVERY last drop. But GMAB. A SS guy posting on Facebook that he was “checking out” Sarah Palin? OK, yes, the guy is an idiot for actually posting that on Facebook, but I’m not even sure it’s an “offense” worthy of any discipline to the man himself, much less a story that deserves the top headline on one of the leading “news” (hah!!) sites in the U.S.
One thing Republicans have done a completely MASTERFUL job of since the financial collapse…turning ALL of the attention away from corruption and greed on Wall Street, and focusing ALL of America’s hatred towards our very own government. I’m in government. I see the truly WONDERFUL work we do, many things that people just can’t live without, other things that truly enrich people’s lives. But yet the entire political discussion in the U.S. right now seems to be focused on the evils of our government and just how fast we can whittle it away down to nothing. Wall Street corruption? Nobody blinks an eye anymore when a corrupt CEO gets paid $30 million a year. But yet a SS guy “checks out” someone and it becomes the major news story of the day.
When I see “major” news stories like a SS guy checking out Palin, what crosses through my mind are folks like Paul Ryan, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell, sitting back and LAUGHING at how they’ve hoodwinked America into believing government is the root of all evil. All while they propose budgets that reduce services for those that need them, and funnel more money to their very rich benefactors. Well played, Republicans…you’re getting EXACTLY what you want. And, as always…the American public is too damned ignorant to pay attention.
