In my opinion. the fixation of the nation on the horrendous death of little Caylee Anthony and the ensuing murder trial of her mother, Casey Anthony, is another example of Lindsay Lohan Syndrome - the tendency of both the media and entranced American public to distract the national debate from important issues that should be at the forefront of the national debate.
To be sure, the Anthony trial deserves to be reported, as does every one of the other atrocity that happens. Answers.com reports that 102 people are murdered every day in the U.S. no one murder is more horrendous than the next. Crime and our national response to it to secure each of us in our person and liberty is an important discussion that needs to happen every day. But the reporting and national fascination with this one murder and the trial that is ongoing is something else.
We are in a battle for the future of America and the only discussion about that battle in the media is under the control of GOP sympathizers like Candy Crowley of CNN and the gang at Fox which is well-known to be the PR arm of the Republican Party.
The debate is not really a debate. We're not even discussing the important issues that should be our focus. The 99ers are still unemployed, millions have lost the homes and millions more are at risk. The business community is hoarding cash instead of investing in jobs. Medicare is under attack. The list is too long to recount. Of course I'm preaching to the choir here, but I have to vent.
There are any number of issues that would have made better use of the time spent airing the Anthony trial. Consider what the same amount of time debating the potential of the People's Budget to solve our economic, employment, education and housing problems might have given us. Millions of Americans have lost their homes and millions more are at risk. The Progressive Caucus presented a People's Budget a couple of months ago and that may have been mentioned once or twice by a guest on a corporate media asset (what some people call news channels) or two. What value does airing the trial of Casey Anthony provide? Are we planning to vote on her guilt or innocence? Can we raise objections to the judge in the case to impact the outcome or direction of the trial? Is there any reason to believe that this distraction from fixing our broken economy and jobs market would give us an ounce of added justice?
No, the problem is not that the Anthony trial is reported. The problem is that we are using this distraction like a drug to ease the pain of our failure to elect progressives who will prosecute corruption and restore America's regulatory infrastructure. Heroine isn't the answer to pain you are feeling when your hand is sitting on a hot stove.
We need NewStand Media (NSM) now. It is on the horizon, but not happening soon enough. NSM could use your help. When we have this platform in place, we will be able to have a vigorous national debate.
In the meantime, NSM awaits the resources under development by our sister organization the Progressive Leadership Action Network (PLAN). Many of you are already aware of the PLAN initiative. Our book, FIX America! continues to sell well as we prepare for the tour in August. We could use help producing this tour. NSM is also providing links to news that is not currently on America's radar via twitter. If you want to see breaking international news, follow @NSMNewsTicker. PLAN and NSM are working daily to cure Lindsay Lohan Syndrome. Wouldn't you like to help us?