Toying With the News

As you may know by now, I'm none too fond of most of the news media, especially the local guys and gals. I hate the way they tease a story in order to get you to stay tuned, as in, "Will meteor showers destroy all life on earth this weekend? Tune in at Eleven." I hate that.
I also hate the fact that even the supposedly hard-hitting news and talk shows have become obsessed with celebrities. I don't really think they need to interrupt King of Queens to tell me that Nick and Jessica have broken up. And, what's with this Queen Latifah fixation?
I'm sure the fact that there are about 150 talk shows on the air has a lot to do with the hype and tripe that are constantly thrown at us, the innocent, viewing public. And what about those so-called debates that they have on Hannity and Colmes or Bill O'Reilly, or whomever. They're not debates at all. It's just ten minutes of "Let's scream at one another."
One guy says, "The president is a lying, scheming thief."
The other intellectually replies, "Oh yeah, what about Bill Clinton. He had his enemies put to death."
And the first guy comes back,"Well, Bush is secretly murdering our guys in Iraq."
And then the second guys says, "Oh yeah, what about Bill Clinton. He had his enemies put to death."
Why can't any of the hosts moderate an honest-to-goodness, intelligent debate. If one guy makes a ridiculous assertion, stop him and ask him what proof he has. When the other guy responds by hurling accusations about someone else, stop him and make him respond to the first guy's assertions.
That would be revolutionary television. But, my opinion is it ain't going to happen, because there's still plenty of spinning, and wiggling even in the no-spin zones.
But, as bad as television news has been for the last several years, something has happened recently that helps me realize that no matter how inane the news guys are, there's always room to sink further.
Case in point: On two or three newscasts recently...yes, you heard me correctly...I'm talking about what's supposed to be legitimate newscasts. I'm not talking about Access Hollywood or anything like that.
But, on two newscasts, they did a story about this couple that broke up a couple of years ago. The girl left her long-time beau and started hanging out with another guy. But now, after two years, it appears the gal has got eyes for the original guy again. He's supposedly back in the picture, better than ever.
Pretty asanine story for the network news, wouldn't you say. But you'll never guess who the couple is. Tune in tomorrow.
No, I'm just kidding. I'll tell you now. It's not some rock star and his live-in lover. It's not a Hollywood duo. Nope, this couple that broke up and are now getting back together are, (ready?) Ken and Barbie!
Ken and Barbie? Please. It's bad enough you news idiots think Jessica and Nick are newsworthy, but now you're doing stories on toys...pieces of plastic, semi-anatomically correct (or so they tell me) dolls.
This is just too absurd. What, with all the fighting and killing in the world, with the Muslims upset about cartoons, with the war in Iraq and the ongoing war on terror, don't you think that we, the intelligent viewers deserve better. Come on. Pull out the heavy artillery, for heaven's sake. We want to know what's going on with G.I. Joe.