This is the start of my fifth year writing this blog, a fact I find rather mind boggling. For various reasons I haven't been posting much lately and I'm not sure when that will change. Too many projects and too little time is one of the reasons, increasingly writing in 140 character bytes is another.
A major reason for that recent lack of posts is that I haven't felt like writing about politics lately. Actually I haven't been paying as much attention to national politics as I normally do. Fair and balanced was once just a joke on Fox News but increasingly it could be used on the political reporting of the MSM in general.
It's hard to find a news source, televised or otherwise, that doesn't cater to a certain segment of the population. While many Republicans are rightly criticized for talking exclusively to their base more and more everybody is talking to somebody and nobody is just reporting the news. Than there is the ratings game where reporting has taken a backseat to profit. Watch one of the network evening news shows sometime. If it can't be reported in apocalyptic tones in all likelihood it isn't going to be reported at all.
Don't get me wrong, opinion has its place and is necessary, it's just that today it's hard to find political news that isn't partially political opinion. Panel shows have become the worst because it's like the talking heads are just talking to the heads on the other side of the table. Being a talking head, no matter what the politics, has become a very profitable career choice and they need to protect it. I suppose the problem is that the heads and other reporters are as much trapped in the bubble as the politicians they accuse of being trapped in the very same bubble. I still have my favorites, I'll always love Rachel, but I don't watch them as religiously as I once did.
It's just hard to find anybody to believe that isn't already telling you what you already believe and therein lies the catch 22. In the end you just have to believe yourself. Traditionally I don't believe in New Year's resolutions because I think they are doomed to fail but I may make an exception this year. I think I'll try to read a better mix of things this year and believe myself more without subconsciously looking for somebody to tell me what I want to hear. It might be a good New Year's resolution for the nation as a whole.
Happy New Year people.
A major reason for that recent lack of posts is that I haven't felt like writing about politics lately. Actually I haven't been paying as much attention to national politics as I normally do. Fair and balanced was once just a joke on Fox News but increasingly it could be used on the political reporting of the MSM in general.
It's hard to find a news source, televised or otherwise, that doesn't cater to a certain segment of the population. While many Republicans are rightly criticized for talking exclusively to their base more and more everybody is talking to somebody and nobody is just reporting the news. Than there is the ratings game where reporting has taken a backseat to profit. Watch one of the network evening news shows sometime. If it can't be reported in apocalyptic tones in all likelihood it isn't going to be reported at all.
Don't get me wrong, opinion has its place and is necessary, it's just that today it's hard to find political news that isn't partially political opinion. Panel shows have become the worst because it's like the talking heads are just talking to the heads on the other side of the table. Being a talking head, no matter what the politics, has become a very profitable career choice and they need to protect it. I suppose the problem is that the heads and other reporters are as much trapped in the bubble as the politicians they accuse of being trapped in the very same bubble. I still have my favorites, I'll always love Rachel, but I don't watch them as religiously as I once did.
It's just hard to find anybody to believe that isn't already telling you what you already believe and therein lies the catch 22. In the end you just have to believe yourself. Traditionally I don't believe in New Year's resolutions because I think they are doomed to fail but I may make an exception this year. I think I'll try to read a better mix of things this year and believe myself more without subconsciously looking for somebody to tell me what I want to hear. It might be a good New Year's resolution for the nation as a whole.
Happy New Year people.
