Where has all the news gone....?

This is one of those posts I've been thinking about writing for a while but thinking.... don't worry the situation will change soon and it wont make sense to write it.

For at least the last 3 months every few weeks I think about writing this statement;

"Where has all the news gone?"

If you are in America you don't need to read anymore you know exactly what I'm talking about - For those of you elsewhere I'm talking about the total absent lack of news about any other topic other than the 2008 USA presidential election.

Yes, the primary run offs started out earlier this election, more than ever before, and yes it was a little more interesting in that you had both a black man and a white woman running (which is a good thing for the country but probably means in the next election we'll have a "black / female running" 4 years from now......Unfortunately it will be Condoleeza 'I speak fluent french better than you' Rice's turn to run..... (so with the possible election of the anti-christ herself plan for a rash of toads to fall from the sky and a plagues of boils to curse the country in 2012).

But now that Barrack and Hillary have settled who's wearing the pants it's just gotten worse.

I would estimate at least the first 10-12 minutes of every 30 minute news broadcast is dedicate to the election. This wouldn't be so bad but whats worse is "they are saying nothing at all".

And if I see one more 'friend/spokesperson of ....X....' come out and say something totally non-committal like "well of course I think 'X' is interested in making sure xyz but all aspects need to be taken into consideration blah blah blah".

Like these people aren't even officially speaking on the candidates official platform it's just like...I think or I expect.

Come out with something solid - take a 1 page add in every metropolitan paper and be done with it already. No wonder the presidential candidates need to raise so much money for campaigning it's because of all the time they waste saying absolutely nothing concrete at all.....just in case they piss off some faction of voters pushing a single campaign pledge.

I wouldn't mind so much, but such a large percentage of airtime is being allocated to this and pushing all the other news out of the cycle.

You know one thing I loved about Paul Keating as Prime Minister is that when he had something to say he would come out at a news conference and say "sit down scum bags I've got 5 minutes to tell you something I'm going to take 3 questions and then we're done" and no one could ever 'misconstrue' his direction.



I think this reflects a bigger issue.

I just don't get how naive Americans can be about how tenuous their position is in the global economy.

All of the press lately around Fannie and Freddie collapsing has been about "how do we prevent home prices falling and help out sub prime mortgagees", not a single news story I've seen lead with the statement;

"Maybe sub prime mortgagees should have been given loans they couldn't afford in the first place".
Or
"WTF do we do when the Chinese ask for all their USA treasury guaranteed securities back?"

..... And I'm yet to meet an American who understands the concept that if their house goes up in value...they have to work harder and longer hours to pay for the next one.

Could just be me or could be the lack of their news coverage.


Cheers,
Dean