Wacko!

If I have to endure one more dumb article on CNN, MSNBC, or the likes about ludicrous crap like this, I think I might just go nuts. Lose it, go crazy, be one fry short of a Happy Meal™, wacko! OK, it’s not that bad, but seriously, what do the copy desks and editors really think this serves to tell? In fact, the problem stems deeper than that: Americans today believe that the President of the United States has complete and utter control over every facet of their lives, whether the economy or even the availability of flu shots! This medium cannot convey well enough my screams at all the delusional idiots that believe this to be true, as there is no farther truth from it. This discussion has little to do with your political views, but rests totally on the roots of reality.

In this reality, the President has little effect on the economy. He can pass tax cuts, make changes to overtime, or institute tariffs on steel, but these are minor ripples in the juggernaut that is the largest world economy. The Federal Reserve Board, headed by Alan Greenspan, has the true power in controlling the interest rates at which money is lent to banks. It drives investment by businesses and the flow of money in and out of the economy. It can affect inflation and exchange rates. Tax breaks do not have any where near that kind of power. People, of course, buy into the whole election year mumbo jumbo (from both sides, mind you) that the President is the root cause of the successes (see here) or failures (see here) of the economy. This is a demonization of reality, a hijacking of what elections should be decided upon, and yet the American people put up little fight because the media tells them this is important stuff that will decide the election.

The article linked to above that spawned this political rant really set me off. As I read down the list of CNN headlines, I see Poll: Bush doesn’t catch flu vaccine cold and thought it bizarre. What could that mean? I dug deeper to find the true meaning, when a more clear headline appeared stating “Poll: Most don’t blame Bush for flu vaccine shortage”. Buh jebus! Why would they? If they did I think I might just blow my top, ranting for the rest of the week. But rest assured, the American people are not as dumb as I may have led you to think. Still, what sort of pollster thought this a relevant questions to ask? President Bush has no control over private enterprise in England or the string of events that caused the shutdown of the vaccine production plant there.

Still, this was published, and its being published gives some credence that GWB should be at fault or it would not have been published at all. Some would argue that I am reading too far into this, that CNN is simply giving the result of the poll. But I would counter that the power of suggestion is like a gigantic magic wand, a power the media often conveniently forgets that it has and uses quite whimsically. CNN does not publish the results of every poll (or we would never see any real news), so why choose to publish the seemingly innocuous results of this one? Suggestion or persuasion that someone deemed somehow relevant, when in reality it is not. The media will go to any lengths to dig up some unrest, some displeasure that they can report on the 5:00 news, even if it means creating it surreptitiously.

But then, I find a nice little piece via Google News entitled Kerry Campaign Launches Radio Ad in Florida on Bush Flu Failures and I barf. Is this a desperate move or does this simply underscore how politicians use the media to spoon-feed ideas to the American people in how they should think? Both campaigns have shown their willingness to use TV, radio and the Internet to send such irrelevant messages to voters about this sort of crap, and it is pure crap.

In conclusion, I will say that the President of the United States has a tremendous amount of power, but he does not wield unlimited, omniscient powers to fix or prevent everything that affects this nation. Keep that in mind when you step into the poll both one week from today.