American Television - A Wasteland the size of the Gobi Desert

 

Like many of you, I watch a lot of TV, too much, way too much. I am of the first generation to grow up with TV. My folks enjoyed it, but watched very little. Actually, I watched very little, but not by my choice. As I grew, I watched more and more, until, with the exception of my wild days in the '60s, I just seemed to automatically turn the set on when I entered the house. I still do that and recently have begun to ask just what is wrong with me.                                    

I get up in the morning to the news and usually within 20 minutes I have absorbed the days doings, at least all they are going to explain. For reasons I do not understand, I leave it on for hours of analysis that explains nothing. The rest of the day is spent turning from one ancient rerun to another. Blessedly, I get the Golf Channel and four days a week I can watch a tournament or two.                                                                                                                                                              

Now I execpt full responsibilty for my addiction and I am going to work on that, but I sometimes wonder what the various networks are thinking. For example, the USA network shows Law and Order SVU, NCIS, Modern Family, and occasionally CSI. That, plus a few movies, is their lineup. And when I say a few movies, I mean a few. They have a handful of second rate movies they show repeatedly. TNT shows Charmed, Supernatural, Bones and Castle, day in, day out, again broken by a scattering of movies.  

 At one time, i could count on Discover, National Geographic, and the History Channel for some decent programming, but no more. Now, Discover is dominated by shows about commercial fisherman, Nat Geo is obsessed with Alaskan Law enforcement and History is a blend of Pawn Stars, American Pickers, and Ancient Aliens. Yes, sometimes those things are interesting and they do, here and there, throw in a few other features, but they do not vary things a lot.  There used to be The Learning Channel, TLC, that did a lot of fascinating, educational programs, but last time I checked, they seemed to show little but wedding and party planning. Bravo used to have some great cutting edge programs about the Arts, now all they show is Real Housewives. Anyway, you get my point.     

Again, this idiotic addiction is my fault and I am writing this because I imagine that many others out there are suffering the same hang up. There is more, however. All of the networks make huge money by selling advertising on these shows. If we do not watch them, their revenue would drop, and they would either go broke or get better programs to regain their viewers, that is how our economic system works, supposedly. I would be curious to see if that really would happen. I suspect not. I think that many businesses are not concerned with making money. If you own a huge conglomerate of businesses, it is often uselful to set one or two up to lose money. This allows you to manipulate your corporate taxes. It also may be a sign of something even shadier, something very sinister. That will be the topic of my next post. In the meantime, just say no to Pawn Stars.

The Debates, Part 2, or the Continuing Search for a Marginally Competent President

I really find politics terminally boring, but today I have to write about the debates again. This morning, I turned on the news, never a great idea, and was greeted with Donald Trump ranting about how strange this years elections are. He seemed amazed that Carson keeps claiming he once stabbed someone while authorities keep saying 'no, he didn't.' In other words, a Presidential candidate is being defensive about the commission of a felony. Normally, the commission of said felony would be the issue, but Ben is upset because others say he didn't do it. Let's be clear. The felonious act isn't the problem, the false claim of guilt is. This is totally upside down.

 

The even stranger thing is that 'The Donald' is acting as the voice of reason. Why is this buffoon even running? And how, in the name of all that is Holy, is he near the top of the polls. This is a man who is most famous for yelling 'you're fired' on his idiotic TV show. This supposed business genius has, here and there, gone bankrupt, yet we are to trust him with the management of the country. I can just imagine him in a high level conference with Vladimir Putin. Imagine the reaction when he screams, 'Vlad, you're a loser. You're fired.' Putin is not known for his sense of humor and Russia does still have a nuclear arsenal.

 

Then we have the rest of the pact. Jeb Bush has turned on his former protégé and dear friend Marco Rubio in hopes of grabbing enough points to save his failing campaign. Mike Huckabee is whining that he doesn't get enough time in the debates which is true and not surprising, given his miniscule poll numbers. Then we have Ted Cruze who seemingly is loathed by other politicians who are forced to work with him. He is polling fairly well, probably because voters remember his stirring reading of Green Eggs and Ham during a Senate Filibuster.

 

On the Democratic side, things are even stranger. Bernie Sanders is still polling well and still refuses to go after his opponent, leading me to believe that the American public just likes him because he looks like a kindly Grandpa. And in Ms. Clinton we have a candidate who quite possibly will have to campaign while occasionally making court appearances to defend herself against multiple felony charges.

 

People, there has to be a better way to pick the man or woman who will, at least in theory, be the most powerful person on Earth. Either that or we just admit the whole thing is a dog and pony show and that we are run by a few corporate heads. The latter is the truth but, we are a Nation that clings to past illusions like Linus clings to his security blanket in the old Peanuts comic strip. Oh well, at least I got that out of my system. Next time, I'll write about something of interest. I'll try to leave politics alone for a while. Promise.                                                                            

The Presidential Debates, or the Great American Follies

 We are currently being overwhelmed by political debates, or so we are told. Let us be clear about something. Two people, taking opposing sides, in a formal discussion of an issue, is a debate. What we are getting is a bulk rate press conference. Get a bunch of candidates, most of whom have less chance than Homer Simpson of being elected President, put them at the mercy of some network reporter, and let them have at it. That seems the plan.                                  

In such a format, there is no time for anyone to say anything of substance, not that anyone of the group was going to do that. All you wind up with is a bunch of sound bites and a lot of sniping and grandstanding. The moderator has little chance of maintaining control and they generally seem to have little interest in getting down to matters that really concern the potential voters. Instead, they pick up on small points that can be inflated into controversy and seem to goad the participants into getting down to personal attacks. No one comes out looking good and usually the person with the biggest mouth is considered the winner. Thus we have the specter of Donald Trump continuing his reality TV show in the White House. At least the show would be guaranteed a four year run.    

On the Democratic side, well, why are they even wasting their time? Does anyone in their right mind really believe that Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Socialist, can beat Hillary Clinton? The Democratic Party might well win the election if they just announced that since Hillary was a done deal, they were going to forego the debates. Maybe they could fill the time that has been allotted those debates still scheduled by agreeing to air episodes of the Flintstones. It would be a lot more entertaining and just as informative.                                                                      

The debates are not something that we have to have. The Constitution (does anyone still remember that document?) does not demand them and not every election has seen them. The first I remember was between Kennedy and Nixon and it was fascinating. Both men were knowledgeable. neither engaged in personal sniping, and important issues were discussed in some detail. Now we have twelve on a stage and not a one of them is able to present a coherent discussion of any issue. America, is this really the best we can do?