Bad news for our democracy. A new, irresistable Potemkin village has appeared that will put the abuse of our executive branch on the back pages.
Our sensationalist media has a story to harp on endlessly for the next two weeks, now that there is closure to the Don Imus saga, and Anna Nicole Smith remains deceased, with her son's father identified.
Virginia Tech is a huge, tragic story and deserves sober and thoughtful coverage. That's not what we're going to get, of course. We'll have 1-part fear-mongering, 1-part terrorism analogies, and tons of "survivor" stories and psychological profiles of the shooter. Endlessly. For two weeks. Anything to avoid talking about the other, even more important stories that today's News Media covers in passing because it's not good television.
What we WON'T see this week as a result, after the jump.
What won't get covered in any meaningful depth this week as a result:
-- Gonzales testifying to Congress.
-- The "lost" emails that no doubt exist.
-- France's revelation that the CIA was warned about Al-Qaeda hijackings.
-- The blatant political corruption of our executive brach on every level,
replacing "rule of law" and the scientific method with decree by
executive fiat.
But that's old news. Practically news that never was, based on how scantilly it was covered relative to its significance.