Dumb and Stupid-er????

I give up. It's getting cold even here and the pirate dogs and me are getting to feel like it's time to hibernate. Maybe when we come out of that state things will be somewhat normal?????

This morning I posted a link to an Onion satirical article on Facebook. The gist of it was "moron" picketing in WA state thinking they were in Wa DC. The last sentence was that to combat the ignorance, the gov was gonna spend $3-trillion on education. Would that were true......

Throughout the day I check Google News to see where the Dow is (affects my retirement) and just to stay in touch with the "real" world (outside the office). And the Onion is prescient---we have been taken over by morons!!!!

Take Fox News---please, preferably off the airwaves. These idiots, led by Greta van Susteren, are trying to paint the administration as having an Enemies List and Fox News is #1 on that hit parade. Shades of Nixon and the Plumbers, whom I'm sure they would have supported!!! Problem with Fox News---all ego no grey matter. All bluster and no brainwork.

The premise that stupidity is rampant in our fair nation is the subject of a column in the Berkeley Daily Planet on the dumbing down of America. Basically the author's take is that oversimplification due to constant noise has led to a degradation in the thought processes of the American public.

Now what I've thus far presented are opinions. I could scrape up more of them, I'm sure. But let's end this discussion with a fact that conclusively makes the case for this premise that we are stupid as a people. The governor of CA, Arnold Schwarzneggar, today signed a bill supporting the building of a 75,000 seat football stadium in the LA area. This phenomenal WASTE of money in a state that can't educate its children, can't balance its budget, has made drastic cuts in services, and needs to free prisoners to cut the prison population or be in contempt of court!!! LA needs a football stadium as much as the rest of us need to contract AIDS and Swine Flu at the same time!!!!!

Dumb, dumber, stupid, and stupider. Time to hibernate. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Countdown

Well, it's about 100 days until we elect the successor to Dubya. But that's not really the countdown this post is about.
I have to admit that during the primary season I got caught up in Keith Olberman's program on MSNBC, Countdown. I thought it a refreshingly liberally biased take on the primaries and political reporting. I watch BBC America World News to get my facts so Keith was an intellectually affordable luxury. After the presumptive nominees were chosen the show lost some of its appeal. Some of the segments have become downright aggravating. The last segment with some VH-1 comic commenting on a political issue is getting repetitive and boring. This segment is neither news nor entertainment but rather a sop to the "low information voter" who, quite honestly, is not what I perceive to be the target audiece of Keith's show.
The final straw for me was the week after July 4 when Rachel Maddow subbed for Keith. The show reverted back to what had intrigued me during the primaries. A liberal take on issues and some reasonably intelligent commentary. And something was missing----The Worst Persons in the World segment. Rachel did not do this regular segment. And it vastly improved the show!!
I first saw Keith do this schtick on NBC's Sunday Football Night in America and found it amusing. But on Countdown, it has become tedious. Not that someone should not point out the follies and foibles of humanity, especially the dastardly actions of some citizens. But Bill O'Reilly and Rupert Murdoch really don't compare to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan. And is FoxNews (FoxNoise to Keith) really as bad as the Jangaweed in Darfur?
So I guess I'll keep up with BBC and increase the number of DVDs I get from Netflix to fill the hour left in my tv watching formerly occupied by Keith. That is, unless MSNBC brings in Rachel or gets Keith to change his format. Although Olberman may appropriate Edward R. Murrow's sign-off, there's no comparison between the quality of their "newscasts." "Good Night and Good Luck!"