President Bush began this week with what was billed as a major Presidential Address to explain the reasons we are in Iraq, to offer assurances to America that we  have a plan that will succeed in planting a stable society in Iraq, and to offer a vision to America regarding the future of the war.
 
However, much of America was not able to view this event.
 
The networks chose instead to run these options for the edification of Americans:
  —ABC: the sit—com "Yes, Dear" (a show I have never heard of  before) complete  with canned laugh track
  —CBS: the movie "A Beautiful Mind"—fine performances, but roundly criticized for being a highly fictionalized version of mathmetician John Nash's life
  —NBC: the wretched  carnival freak show "Fear Factor" which featured a woman dunking her head in a water tank, then moving along to a trough of earthworms or grubs where she pushed her face into the teeming masses of worms and put as many as she could in her mouth before spitting them out into another trough. Presumably, there was a contest regarding the maximum number of earthworms that could be so transferred; however, I was so revolted by the spectacle, that I quickly turned back to the Bush speech.
 
There has been much debate regarding media bias. To my eyes, this example shows that the major networks would rather have us watching grub eating than President Bush comforting us in a time of war. Case closed.

Posted by Ed  05 24 04