The Assault on Reason

I was reading Al Gore's new book yesterday. He argues that reason and civic discussion are becomingly increasingly absent from America's political landscape. Part of the reason is the fact that news organizations have become profit centers and therefore are required to draw audiences with distracting, eye-catching stories, rather than focusing on issues that really matter, and are falling short in helping to educate the country's citizens.

Here's an example from today's CNN.com home page.

Listed with news on Iraq is the terribly important story about 3 pigs who trash a foreclosed home. And let's not forget the story about how a crowd is snipping off pieces of a beached whale.

When I see CNN (just one example) doing stuff like this, it makes me realize that we get the government (war, economy, environment, energy, immigration and healthcare outcomes) we deserve.

And if you don't believe me that it's all about entertainment, just take a look at the "headlines" that have accompanying video. How many of these are important?

At least they led with the War in Iraq.