The 24-7 news culture has created an environment in which the presidential candidates must compete in a thirty-second bite beauty contest.
The media mania dwells on disputes rather than substance, completely distracting the public from the serious issues that should define the candidates. What merits a person for the most important job in our country should not be determined on the basis of prettiness or pettiness.
It appears that this pattern of derailing people for the smallest infractions has to do more with news entertainment than the actual discussions we should be having about the political process. Clearly the most important decision the American public will make in the next two years will be who will occupy the White House in January of 2009. There is much to be rectified and renewed in the coming years.
The public is underestimated when the media says they can only respond to sound bites. Politics cannot consist of sixty second clips when we're in the middle of war, when social security is bankrupting the country, health care costs are pricing us out of the market, and our educational system is in decline. It is imperative we choose our presidential candidates wisely. I consider it far more important to understand how the candidates will deal with these and many of the other major issues.
The cable news outlets will have us believe it is more important to make this decision based on whom we would rather have a beer with...How ludicrous and insulting to the public!
Listen to the Town Hall meetings that are being held in Iowa and New Hampshire and you will hear deep concern and informed questions from those in attendance.
Let's stop listening to the drivel and demand more. Watch American Idol and Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty for entertainment, but understand that choosing a president to guide us to a better future isn't funny, it's very serious business.