Sometimes it looks like the mainstream media have just given up, and have turned into a farce. Gleaning actual information from news sources has become less effective than running for office in a sperm whale suit.

There are examples everywhere:

• amidst all the woe and whiny bleat, CNN teasing an upcoming report about a supermodel tsunami survivor by running older clips of said supermodel cahorting around in a bikini
• each talking head performing rhythmic demented head-bobbing during teleprompter reading: this in order to keep the visual image more interesting than the intellect-drowning hemorrhage of trivia on the audio track
• amazing feat of squeezing news into ever-shrinking snippets for attention spans put to shame even by cranky toddlers
• AP, AFP, WP, NYT making shit up just to bug conservatives
• wild-eyed regurgitation of garbage Drudge himself already covered and debunked three days ago
• slavish spewing of press releases from industry or government, as if they were reliable sources
• serious coverage of controversial issues simply by inviting two opposing speaker-gladiators to duke it out, thus confusing “equal time” with “objective” and “spectacle” with “education”
• infantile oversimplification of any technical subject, reinforcing mistaken impressions of the ignorant and aggrevating the knowledgeable

• proclamations of own importance, reliability, honesty, thereby providing evidence of the opposite

Look there only for a brain-lull masquerading as stimulation. A big sweet candy that goes down easy but leaves behind only rot. Tonight at 11, I’ll be watching, and so will you.