The Media -- the Dregs of Society

Something occured to me while watching the debate the other night. The first question was to Kerry, and it was along the lines of "could you do a better job fighting terror than Bush." Of course, he answered yes.

Recently Dick Cheney has taken a lot of heat in the media for saying that electing Kerry would increase the chance of another terrorist attack. I hate Cheney with a white-hot passion, but this is a bum rap.

What does it mean when Kerry claims that he could fight terror more effecively than Bush? It means that he would decrease the likelihood of another attack. What other possible standard for "better job" could there be?

Now it's a fact that if X is less than Y, then Y is greater than X. (I realize not everyone has the benefit of my advanced level of mathematical training, but you can trust me on this). If, as Kerry implies, the odds of an attack would be lower in a Kerry administration, that must mean that they would be comparatively higher under another Bush administration. Apparently it's unacceptable to say that things would be more dangerous with your opponent in charge, but perfectly OK to say that they'd be safer with you in charge, even though they mean precisely the same thing.

This rhetorical hairsplitting is the sort of thing politicians and their operatives like to engage in for obvious reasons, but it's ridiculous when the media plays along with the "controversy." I don't particularly think the media are biased, since it goes both ways. They're simply dumber than stumps.

Journalism and mass communications are among the easiest majors on any college campus, and they attract some of the stupidest people. That's a fact. Then there's a further weeding-out process after graduation, wherein the few smart journalists realize what a horrible mistake they've made and change careers. What we're left with is the dregs of the dregs. And the TV journalists are the dregs of the dregs of the dregs. (Local, as opposed to national, TV journalists are dregs to the fourth power, and small-market TV journalists like the ones in Asheville are dregs to the fifth).