Watch the Birdie or The Tiger and the Tush
After months of procedural wrangling, the U.S. Senate finally began debate on the proposal by the Democratic party to overhaul the nation's health care system. The momentous occasion received dedicated coverage on most news media outlets, coming in third behind two other stories critical to the country: golfer Tiger Woods crashing his automobile and the party crashers at the Obama's first state dinner.
For anyone who faithfully follows news reporting in the United States, it is not surprising that any story that contains the word "crash" in it will normally rise to the top of the pile on the cable channels on any given news day. The recipe is well known: start with some violence or greed; add a blond in a red dress (what I would call "a bit of tush"); mix in a billionaire sports figure cheating on his wife, and voila, the priorities of the TV viewing brain start to happily shift away from reality to the much more lucrative "reality television." As the agonizing debate over the public option, Medicare reimbursement rates and other news faded into the background, those who control what we see on the tube salivated as usual. The American public would once again be given an opportunity to prove that the distinction between reality and television truly matters to no one.
Thinking about the health care debate as it is presented on TV, I was reminded once again of the "watch-the-birdie" toys that photographers have traditionally used to amuse small children so they will sit still for a portrait session. The problem is that while we are busy watching the birdie we are not asking critical questions such as: how can Republicans and conservative Democrats criticize the public option part of the health care legislation as being too expensive when a broad range of analysts, including the Congressional Budget Office, say that by mandating real competition in the insurance market the public option offers the only real chance to cut health care costs over the long term? If recent polls that suggest Americans are getting sick of the health care debate are accurate, we may see yet again that the citizens of this country are incapable of figuring out why they should support policies that are clearly in their interest.
The looking glass as Lewis Carrol saw it, can be a powerful instrument, one that often provides a unique view into the contradictions and absurdities of our world, however distorted. Unable to distinguish between reality and television, the public will likely continue to watch the birdie, and remain blissfully unaware of the hand that continues to rummage through their pockets.
After months of procedural wrangling, the U.S. Senate finally began debate on the proposal by the Democratic party to overhaul the nation's health care system. The momentous occasion received dedicated coverage on most news media outlets, coming in third behind two other stories critical to the country: golfer Tiger Woods crashing his automobile and the party crashers at the Obama's first state dinner.
For anyone who faithfully follows news reporting in the United States, it is not surprising that any story that contains the word "crash" in it will normally rise to the top of the pile on the cable channels on any given news day. The recipe is well known: start with some violence or greed; add a blond in a red dress (what I would call "a bit of tush"); mix in a billionaire sports figure cheating on his wife, and voila, the priorities of the TV viewing brain start to happily shift away from reality to the much more lucrative "reality television." As the agonizing debate over the public option, Medicare reimbursement rates and other news faded into the background, those who control what we see on the tube salivated as usual. The American public would once again be given an opportunity to prove that the distinction between reality and television truly matters to no one.
Thinking about the health care debate as it is presented on TV, I was reminded once again of the "watch-the-birdie" toys that photographers have traditionally used to amuse small children so they will sit still for a portrait session. The problem is that while we are busy watching the birdie we are not asking critical questions such as: how can Republicans and conservative Democrats criticize the public option part of the health care legislation as being too expensive when a broad range of analysts, including the Congressional Budget Office, say that by mandating real competition in the insurance market the public option offers the only real chance to cut health care costs over the long term? If recent polls that suggest Americans are getting sick of the health care debate are accurate, we may see yet again that the citizens of this country are incapable of figuring out why they should support policies that are clearly in their interest.
The looking glass as Lewis Carrol saw it, can be a powerful instrument, one that often provides a unique view into the contradictions and absurdities of our world, however distorted. Unable to distinguish between reality and television, the public will likely continue to watch the birdie, and remain blissfully unaware of the hand that continues to rummage through their pockets.
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