Why I Hate Television News

Miss South Carolina, (above), points to the notion of how ill-prepared our society is to play well with others. You see, Miss South Carolina, as smart as she is about hair, make-up, and what dress to wear for what portion of the pageant, she is equally and alarmingly ignorant of history, geography, current events and discourse. She does deserve this criticism, because she entered a contest that in some fashion purports to allow her a one minute public affairs question and answer. In plain English, she is stupid on subjects where it used to count. Though many of our fellow citizens are good at acquiring things they are negligent, at best, at acquiring knowledge -- unless that knowledge can be converted to currency.

If Miss South Carolina resided in my house, I would take her electronics away from her, tell her that she spends too much time trying to look pretty, and too little time studying and preparing to be a productive friend, family member and citizen.

So, when Miss South Carolina's publicist booked her on the Today Show one would have expected some type of chastisement at the hands of Matt Lauer. But Matt Lauer is an idiot himself. Touted as a "news person" he is really a "news personality". No longer can we expect the William Shirer/Edward Murrow/Walter Cronkite news person. We are left with Matt Lauer and his types, both conservative and liberal, who elevate the celebrity to something newsworthy. Thus, it comes as no surprise that he actually sympathetically laments for Miss South Carolina. Note in the following "news" interview how he hardly lets Miss South Carolina answer. Knowing a kindred spirit, he answers the questions for her. Thus, stupidity is elevated to a sympathetic condition rather than misplaced values or laziness. Watch:

Our Fourth Estate has gone from William Shrier/Ed Morrow/Walter Cronkite to Katie Couric/Matt Lauer and you name him or her. Shrier would have laughed at her, Morrow would have lectured her and Cronkite would not have wasted his time.